Kwatsáan | |
|---|---|
| Total population | |
| 10,089[1] (2010) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Arizona California | |
| Languages | |
| Quechan,English,Spanish | |
| Religion | |
| traditional tribal religion,Catholicism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Maricopa,Mojave,Kumeyaay,Yavapai,Cocopah |
TheQuechan (Quechan:Kwatsáan 'those who descended'), orYuma, are aNative Americantribe who live on theFort Yuma Indian Reservation on the lowerColorado River inArizona andCalifornia just north of the Mexican border.[2] Despite their name, they are not related to theQuechua people of the Andes. Members are enrolled in theQuechan Tribe of the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation. The federally recognized Quechan tribe's main office is located in Winterhaven, California. Its operations and the majority of its reservation land are located in California, United States.
The historic Yuman-speaking people in this region were skilled warriors and active traders, maintaining exchange networks with thePima in southern Arizona, New Mexico, and with peoples of the Pacific coast.[3]
The first significant contact of the Quechan withEuropeans was with theSpanish explorerJuan Bautista de Anza and his party in the winter of 1774. Relations were friendly.[4] On Anza's return from his second trip toAlta California in 1776, thechief of the tribe and three of his men journeyed toMexico City to petition the Viceroy of New Spain for the establishment of amission. The chief Palma and his three companions werebaptized in Mexico City on February 13, 1777. Palma was given the Spanish baptismal nameSalvador Carlos Antonio.[5]
Once the initial contact had been made, The Quechan people seemed inviting towardJuan Bautista de Anza. He promised them to set up a mission where all people would live together instead of in a hierarchy. Alongside the promise, de Anza gave Palma’s people horses, steel weapons, clothes, and iron as a token of allegiance.[6]
This allegiance would soon sour as the bureaucracy of the Spanish Empire would cause major delays to the construction of the missions. When the Spanish’s first gifts arrived in 1780, they would be more of a bad omen than a sign of friendship as the livestock being herded to them would go and trample most of if not all the Quechan’s crops. That year there was severe lack of rain thus forcing the Quechan to raid another nearby tribe known as theMaricopa.[6]
The following year, two high members of the tribe were arrested for allegedly plotting to assassinate a high-ranking officer. One of the natives was placed in stocks to humiliate them and this caused Palma to finally turn his back on the Spanish.[6]
Spanish settlement among the Quechan did not go smoothly; the tribe rebelled from July 17–19, 1781 and killed four priests and thirty soldiers. They also attacked and damaged the Spanish mission settlements ofSan Pedro y San Pablo de Bicuñer andPuerto de Purísima Concepción, killing many. The following year, the Spanish retaliated with military action against the tribe.[7] After 1840, the Quechan people near La Frontera returned to their original ways of religious practice as soon as the mission priests left and no one replaced them.[8]
After the United States annexed the territories after winning theMexican–American War, it engaged in theYuma War from 1850 to 1853 in response to a conflict between the Quechan andJaeger's Ferry and theGlanton Gang, after the Quechan had established a rival ferry service on the Colorado River. During which, the historic Fort Yuma was built across the Colorado River from the present dayYuma, Arizona.
The Sierra de las Pintas was a mountain range that most Spanish expeditions would actively avoid. Spanish explorers were able to see the range, but avoided exploring due to the Quechan informing them that it was uninhabitable and had no drinkable water sources.[8]
When the Spanish had the Yumans guide them through the Sierra de las Pintas, they would take the Spanish to an area with little to no water in order to discourage further exploration.[8]
The Spanish later on attempted to explore the mountain range, searching for water in creative ways. Explorers would follow herds ofBighorn Sheep up the mountain or by chance would find small patches of vegetation pointing toward a hidden water source.[8]
The Yuma route was a trail that ran from Southern New Mexico and reachedChihuahua andSonora. The trail branched out even further to reach theLos Angeles Basin,San Diego,Colorado River and theGila River. This route was well established before the arrival of the Spanish, and used as a trade route amongst the tribes of the areas.[9]
At first, the Spanish used minor portions of the trail. It was not until San Diego and Monterey were established that they needed a more reliable and faster path. The path was first walked by Sebastian Taraval, aCochimi indigenous who fled from San Gabriel. Sebastian was then followed by Captain Juan Bautista de Anza. Anza was only able to follow Sebastian to the Imperial Valley Kamia village, where he lost Sebastian and was forced to reach the Quechan people on his own.[9]
Estimates for the pre-contact populations of most native groups in California have varied substantially (seepopulation of Native California).Alfred L. Kroeber (1925:883) put the 1770 population of the Quechan at 2,500.[10] Jack D. Forbes (1965:341–343) compiled historical estimates and suggested that before they were first contacted, the Quechan had numbered 4,000 or a few more.
Kroeber estimated the population of the Quechan in 1910 as 750. By 1950, there were reported to be just under 1,000 Quechan living on the reservation and more than 1,100 off it (Forbes 1965:343). The2000 census reported a resident population of 2,376 persons on the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation. As of 2023, there are about 4,000 active members of the tribe living on or near the reservation.[11]
The Quechan language is part of theYuman language family.[12]
The Quechan tribe, in partnership with linguists, have created a fully detailed language guide. This guide includes sections about their alphabet along with the different words for actions, animals, the body, colors, directions, family and friends, house, money, nature and the environment, numbers, place names, plants, time, and shapes.[13]
The Fort Yuma Indian Reservation is a part of the Quechan's traditional lands. Established in 1884, the reservation, at32°47′N114°39′W / 32.783°N 114.650°W /32.783; -114.650, has a land area of 178.197 km2 (68.802 sq mi) in southeasternImperial County, California, and westernYuma County, Arizona, near the city ofYuma, Arizona. Both the county and city are named for the tribe.
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Municipalities and communities ofImperial County, California,United States | ||
|---|---|---|
| Cities |  | |
| CDPs | ||
| Unincorporated communities | ||
| Indian reservations | ||
| Ghost towns | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
