Paiute

The Paiute, also spelled Piute, comprise three distinct linguistic and cultural groupings within the Numic branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family: the Northern Paiute, the Southern Paiute, [Page 1667]and the Owens Valley Paiute. Despite their linguistic and cultural differences, the Paiute generally consider themselves a collective group, referring to themselves simply as Paiute, or as Numu or Numa, meaning “the People.” The Paiute live within the western and southwestern United States. Like other Native Americans, many reside on reservations and are fighting to maintain their cultural heritage.

The Northern Paiute are located within the western United States in California, Idaho, Nevada, and Oregon; the Southern Paiute are located in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah; and the Owens Valley Paiute are located in California and Nevada. Other names for the Paiute include Snakes and Bannocks. The desert, steppe, and forest highlands environments shaped a traditional nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Foods included fish, ducks, rabbits, mountain sheep, antelope, deer, lizards, insects and grubs, piñon (pine nuts), grass seeds, roots, rice grass, and berries. Their residences were portable huts of willow and brush. Traditional dress consisted of breech-cloths or aprons, dresses, belts, leggings, moccasins or sandals, hats, and winter robes or capes.

A Paiute woman weaving baskets in a photograph from around 1902. In 2010, the U.S. Census found 13,767 people of full or partial Paiute ancestry out of a total of more than 5.2 million Native Americans living in the United States.

The central traditional social unit was the extended family, which was economically and politically independent. Families separated for part of the year but would also gather seasonally into bands. Families and larger groupings were fluid in membership. Decisions were generally made by consensus. Religion played a central role in Paiute life and was polytheistic and animistic. Traditional Native American religious movements that had Paiute participation included the Native American Church, the use of sweat lodges, and the Sun Dance. Some Paiute adopted Christian religions as a result of mission efforts led by the Mormons in Utah, among others.

Cultural adaptations related to contact with other Native Americans included trading, the use of horses, and the cultivation of corn and other agricultural products. Contact with U.S. settlers did not immediately begin to significantly alter traditional Paiute culture but would soon have a devastating impact. Infectious diseases to which the Paiute lacked immunity, such as smallpox and cholera, were the leading cause of death resulting from intercultural encounters. The introduction of cattle and agriculture to the region disrupted hunting and led to conflicts over water resources.

Large-scale U.S. intrusion into the area occupied by the Northern Paiute began in the 1840s, although sporadic, largely peaceful earlier contact with explorers, hunters, and trappers occurred. Paiute territory included the path followed by settlers heading west along the Oregon Trail and by miners headed to California and Nevada after discoveries of gold and silver. Pony Express riders also crossed the region. Mormon settlement in Utah also brought large populations of U.S. settlers in contact with the Paiute.

Property disputes were often at the center of frictions between the Paiute and U.S. settlers. The Paiute also led raids on Euro-American camps, settlements, and mines, facilitated by the acquisition of guns and horses. Fighting between the Paiute and U.S. settlers and military forces included the Pyramid Lake War (1860), the Paiute [Page 1668](Pah-Ute) War (1860), the Owens Valley Indian War (1861–64), the Snake War (1864–68), and the Bannock War (1878).

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