Yuma ( Yahnuiyo, 'son of the
captain,' seemingly the title of the son of the hereditary chief,
contracted and applied to the tribe through misunderstanding by the early
Spanish missionaries.—Hardy. They call themselves K-wichhna). One of the
chief divisions, or tribes, of the Yuman family (q. v.), formerly residing
on both sides of the Rio Colorado next above the Cocopa, or about 50 or 60
miles from the mouth of the river, and below the junction of the Gila. Ft
Yuma is situated about the center of the territory formerly occupied by
them. When Oñate visited the locality
in 1604-05, he found the 'Coahuanas' (Cuchan) in 9 rancherias on the
Colorado, entirely below the mouth of the Gila. Physically the Yuma were a
fine people, superior in this respect to most of their congeners. Though
brave and not unwarlike they were in no sense nomadic, seldom leaving
their own villages where, like the Mohave, they practiced a rude
agriculture, raising corn, beans, pumpkins, and melons. The Catholic
fathers of the 18th century erroneously considered Yuma and Cuchan as
separate and distinct groups, the former residing east of the lower
Colorado, and the latter west of it. They divided the Yuma into several
tribes: Alchedomas, Hudcodoadans, etc. Leroux, about 1853, estimated their
number at 3,000. In 1910 there were 655 under the Ft Yuma school
superintendent, Cal. For the so called Apache Yuma, see Tulkepaia.
The following have been mentioned as Yuma tribes or bands and
rancherias: Cerritos, Concepción, Gimiels,
Pescadero, Posos, San Dionysio. San Pablo, San Pascual, San Pedro, Santa
Isabel, Tinajas, Tutum.
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