Who Are the Southern Paiute?
The Southern Paiute are a Numic-speaking indigenous people of the Colorado Plateau and Great Basin transition zone, traditionally inhabiting present-day southern Utah, northern Arizona, southern Nevada, and southeastern California. They speak Southern Paiute, a Numic language of the Uto-Aztecan family closely related to Ute and Chemehuevi. Before contact, the Southern Paiute numbered perhaps 4,000-6,000 people organized into numerous bands including the Kaibab, Moapa, Las Vegas, Shivwits, and San Juan. Today, several federally recognized Southern Paiute tribes have combined enrolled populations of approximately 2,500-3,000 members, with the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah coordinating several constituent bands.
Red Rock Territory
Traditional Southern Paiute territory encompassed some of the American Southwest's most dramatic landscapes: the Grand Canyon's north rim, Zion's red cliffs, the Mojave Desert, and the Colorado Plateau's canyonlands. Despite the region's apparent aridity, the Southern Paiute developed sophisticated knowledge of dispersed water sources, seasonal plant foods, and game that supported permanent occupation. Pine nuts, agave, and various seeds provided plant foods; rabbits, deer, and mountain sheep supplied meat. Bands occupied distinct territories but interacted for trade, ceremony, and intermarriage. The Colorado River and its tributaries provided crucial resources for some groups, while others exploited the plateau's higher elevations.
National Parks Displacement
The establishment of national parks and monuments in Southern Paiute territory created ongoing conflicts over land access and cultural resources. Zion National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Pipe Spring National Monument, and other protected areas occupy ancestral lands from which Paiutes were excluded. Traditional gathering, hunting, and ceremonial access was restricted or prohibited. Recent decades have brought some improvements: cooperative agreements with the National Park Service have restored limited access for traditional purposes; interpretive programs acknowledge Paiute connections to the land; some employment opportunities exist. But the relationship between indigenous peoples and the conservation lands created from their territories remains complex throughout Southern Paiute country.
Contemporary Southern Paiute
Modern Southern Paiute communities vary in circumstances across their scattered reservations and colonies. Some bands operate gaming facilities—the Las Vegas Paiute control valuable land near the Las Vegas Strip—while others have few economic resources. The Kaibab Band manages the Pipe Spring National Monument visitor center under agreement with the Park Service, bringing Paiute presence to their ancestral spring. Cultural revitalization includes language programs (Southern Paiute is endangered but has active preservation efforts), traditional plant knowledge documentation, and basket weaving revival. Political organization includes the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, which coordinates services for five constituent bands. The Southern Paiute demonstrate indigenous persistence in a region now famous for its scenic beauty—lands that were always theirs.
References
- Kelly, I. T. (1964). Southern Paiute Ethnography
- Euler, R. C. (1966). Southern Paiute Ethnohistory
- Stoffle, R. W. et al. (1990). Calculated Risk: Commingling Moral Imperatives in Black Mesa Energy Development