Paiute

Paiute (sometimes written as Piute) refers to two related groups of Native North Americans speaking languages belonging to the Numic branch of the Uto-Aztecan family of Native American languages. The name the Paiute use for themselves is written as Numu or Numa, which means "our people" (some other Numic speaking peoples name themselves similarly, such as the Commanche whose self-name is written as Nemene, or sometimes Numa-Nu or Numa).

The Northern Paiute ranged over the Great Basin in eastern California, western Nevada, and southeast Oregon. The Southern Paiute occupied northwest Arizona, southeast California, southern Nevada, and southern Utah. Generally when the term Paiute is used by itself, it is used in reference to the Northern Paiute. The Mono people, who speak a language closely related to that of the Northern Paiute, are also some times referred to as Paiute.

The Northern Paiute's pre-contact lifestyle was well adapted to the harsh desert environment in which they lived. Each tribe or band occupied a specific territory, generally centered on a lake or wetland which supplied fish and water-fowl. Rabbits and Pronghorn were taken from surrounding areas in communal drives, which often involved neighboring bands. Pinon nuts gathered in the mountains in the fall provided critical winter food. Grass seeds and roots were also important parts of their diet. The name of each band came from a characteristic food source. For example, the Pyramid Lake Paiute were known as the Cui Ui Ticutta (meaning "Cui-ui eaters"), the people of the Lovelock area were known as the Koop Ticutta (meaning "ground-squirrel" eaters) and the people of the Carson Sink were known as the Toi Ticutta (meaning "tule eaters").

Relations among the Northern Paiute bands and their Shoshone neighbors were generally peaceful. Relations with the Washoe people, who were culturally and linguistically very different, were not so peaceful.

First contact between the Northern Paiute and Euro-Americans came relatively late, in the early 1850s. Although they had already started using horses, their culture was otherwise unaffected by European influences at that point. As Euro-American settlement of the area progressed, several violent incidents occurred including the Pyramid Lake War of 1860 and the Bannock War of 1878. These incidents took the general pattern of a settler steals from, rapes or murders a Paiute, a group of Paiutes retaliate and a group of settlers or the US Army counter-retaliates. Many more Pauites died from introduced diseases such as small pox. Sarah Winnemucca's book "Life Among the Piutes" gives a first-hand account of this period, although it is not considered to be wholly reliable.

Today about half of the enrolled members of Northern Paiute tribes live on reservations in Nevada, California and Oregon.

Major Reservations

Famous members of the Paiute tribe: