 Chemehuevi lands in California and Arizona | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 2010: 1,201 alone and in combination[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 United States(  Arizona, California) | |
| Languages | |
| English,Colorado River Numic (ISO 639-3, ute) | |
| Religion | |
| Native American Church,Sun Dance, traditional tribal religion,[2]Christianity,Ghost Dance | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Southern Paiute people |
TheChemehuevi (/ˌtʃɛmɪˈweɪvi/CHEH-mih-WAY-vee) are anIndigenous people of the Great Basin. They are the southernmost branch ofSouthern Paiute.[3][4][5] Today, Chemehuevi people are enrolled in the followingfederally recognized tribes:
Some Chemehuevi are also part of theSoboba Band of Luiseño Indians, whose members are mostlySovovatum orSoboba band members ofCahuilla andLuiseño people.
"Chemehuevi" has multiple interpretations. It is considered to be either aMojave term meaning "those who play with fish"[8] or aQuechan word meaning "nose-in-the-air-like-a-roadrunner."[9] The Chemehuevi call themselvesNüwüvi ("The People", singularNüwü)[10][11] orTantáwats, meaning "Southern Men."[9] Alternate spellings of Chemehuevi include Chemeguab and Chemegueb.[12]
Their language, Chemehuevi, is aColorado River Numic language, in theNumic language branch of theUto-Aztecan language family. First transcribed byJohn P. Harrington andCarobeth Laird in the early 20th century, it was studied in the 1970s by linguist Margaret L. Press.[13] whose field notes and extensive sound recordings remain available.[14] The language is now near extinction;[15] during the filming ofIronbound Films' 2008 American documentary filmThe Linguists, linguistsGreg Anderson andK. David Harrison interviewed and recorded one of the last 3 remaining speakers.
In 2015, the Siwavaats Junior College inHavasu Lake, California, was established to teach children the language. A Chemehuevi dictionary with 2,500 words was expected to become available in 2016.[16]
The Chemehuevi were originally a desert tribe among theSouthern Paiute group. Post-contact, they lived primarily in the easternMojave Desert and laterCottonwood Island inNevada and the Chemehuevi Valley along theColorado River inCalifornia. They were a nomadic people living in small groups given the sparse resources available in the desert environment. Carobeth Laird indicates their traditional territory spanned theHigh Desert from theColorado River on the east to theTehachapi Mountains on the west and from theLas Vegas area andDeath Valley on the north to theSan Bernardino andSan Gabriel Mountains in the south. They are most closely identified as among theGreat Basin Indians. Among others they are cousins of theKawaiisu.[17]
The most comprehensive collection of Chemehuevi history, culture and mythology was gathered byCarobeth Laird (1895–1983) and her second husband, George Laird, one of the last Chemehuevi to have been raised in the traditional culture. Carobeth Laird, a linguist and ethnographer, wrote a comprehensive account of the culture and language as George Laird remembered it, and published their collaborative efforts in her 1976The Chemehuevis, the first – and, to date, only – ethnography of the Chemehuevi traditional culture.
Describing the Chemehuevi as she knew them, and presenting the texture of traditional life amongst the people, Carobeth Laird writes:
The Chemehuevi character is made up of polarities which are complementary rather than contradictory. They are loquacious yet capable of silence; gregarious yet so close to the earth that single families or even men alone might live and travel for long periods away from other human beings; proud, yet capable of a gentle self-ridicule. They are conservative to a degree, yet insatiably curious and ready to inquire into and even to adopt new ways: to visit all tribes, whether friends or enemies; to speak strange tongues, sing strange songs, and marry strange wives.[18]
The Chemehuevi made intricately coiled baskets using a three-rod foundation of willow. Traditionally, the majority of weaving was completed with split willow, and darker patterns were made with devil's claw and yucca, among other materials.[19] This traditional style of basketmaking is currently practiced by a small group of weavers.[20]
Estimates for thepre-contact populations of mostIndigenous peoples of California have varied substantially.Alfred L. Kroeber estimated the combined 1770 population of the Chemehuevi,Koso, andKawaiisu as 1,500. The combined estimate in 1910 dropped to 500.[21] An Indian agent reported the Chemehuevi population in 1875 to be 350.[22] Kroeber estimated U.S. census data put the Chemehuevi population in 1910 as 355.[23] Population as of 2016 is in the thousands.
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