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Chemehuevi Indian Tribe History
Chemehuevi.
A Shoshonean tribe, apparently an offshoot of the Paiute, formerly
inhabiting the east bank of the Rio Colorado from Bill Williams fork to
the Needles and extending westward as far as Providence Mountains,
California, their chief seat being Chemehuevi valley, which stretches for
5 miles along the Colorado and nearly as far on either side. When or how
they acquired possession of what appears to have been Yuman territory is
not known. They may possibly have been seen by Alarcon, who navigated the
Rio Colorado in 1540; but if so, they are not mentioned by name. Probably
the first reference to the Chemehuevi is by Fray Francisco Garcés,
who passed through their country in journeying from the Yuma to the
Mohave, and again from lower Kern River to the latter tribe on his way to
the pueblo of Oraibi in north east Arizona in 1775-76. Among the
Indians whom Garcés saw, or of whom
heard, are the Chelemegué, Chemegué,
Cuajála, Chemegué,
Sevinta, and Chemeguaba, the first and last mentioned being apparently the
Chemehuevi, while the others are the Virgin River Paiute and Shivwits,
respectively, "Chemegué" here being
used somewhat in the sense of denoting Shoshonean affinity. In
passing down the Colorado from the Mohave rancherias Garcés
does not mention any Chemehuevi or other Indians in Chemehuevi valley or
elsewhere on the river until the Yuman Alchedoma ("Jalchedunes"),
some distance below, were reached. He found the Chemehuevi in the desert
immediately south west ,west and north west of the Mohave. The same
observer remarks that they wore Apache moccasins, antelope-skin
shirts, and a white headdress like a cap, ornamented with the crest
feathers of a bird, probably the roadrunner. They were very swift of foot,
were friends' of the Ute (Paiute?), Yavapai Tejua, and Mohave, and when
the latter "break their weapons" (keep the peace), so do they also. It is
said that they occupied at this time the country between the Beñeme
(Panamint and Serrano) and the Colorado "on the north side" as far as the
Ute, and extending to another river, north of the Colorado, they had their
fields. They made baskets, and those whom Garcés,
saw "all carried a crook besides their weapons," which was used for
pulling gophers, rabbits, etc., from their burrows. Their language was
noted as distinct from that of the other Rio Colorado tribes, as in fact
it is, these being Yuman (see Garcés
Diary, Coues ed., op.cit., 1900; Heintzelman (1853) in H. R. Ex. Doc. 76,
34th Cong., 3d sess., 1857; Pacific R. R. Rep., III, pt. 3, 1856).
Physically the Chemehuevi appear to have been inferior to theYuma and
Mohave. Ives properly credits them with being a wandering people,
traveling "great distances on hunting and predatory excursions," and
although they did live mainly on the natural products of the desert, they
farmed on a small scale where possible. Like the other Colorado River
tribes, they had no canoes, but used rafts made of bundles of reeds. Their
number was estimated by Leroux about 1853 at 1,500, probably an excessive
estimate for the whole tribe; in 1866 Thomas estimated their population at
750. In 1903 there were 300 on the Colorado River reservation and probably
a definite few under the Moapa agency. It is also that likely that a few
are not under any agent but roam as Paiute. Of the organization of the
Chemehuevi nothing positive is known.
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opinions of the Webmasters of the site.
Handbook
of American Indians, 1906
Index of Tribes or Nations
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