Great Basin Cultures

Environment (general)

Forest, marsh, alpine, grassy valleys, arid areas

2 major deserts (general)

Mojave, Great Basin

Defining resource (general)

Pinyon nut

Southern Paiute and Owens Valley Paiute practiced

Small-scale agriculture

Responsible for loss of wetland (Paleoindian era)

Climate change

Danger Cave

Evidence of long occupation; traveling people would stay here

Late Archaic

Agriculture originally adopted

First contact (indirect)

Spanish

John Fremont

First Anglo-American to cross the Great Basin into California (1843); led to an increase in people coming into the area

Major disruption to the ecosystem (1850s)

Ranching

Mud Lake Massacre of 1865

Government believed that the people were cattle thieves and killed the entire village; Sarah Winnemucca

Bannock War of 1878

Bannock stood up against settlers on the land, but were defeated soundly

Derby Dam

Siphoned large portion of water for cities and ranching; led to dried-out area, so many groups could not longer use water to survive

Main social unit (general)

Nuclear and extended family

Band

Gathering of families in the fall and winter

Elected by consensus

Selecting the Degwani

Degwani responsibilities

Trade resources, mediate disputes, give speeches, pinyon nut harvest

Warfare conducted against other groups outside of the Basin (south) for...

Raided for horses

Kinship type

Patrilineal

Marriage

Courted when bands got together; no ceremony

Male initiation (puberty)

Hunting

Female initiation (puberty)

1st menses

Division of labor

Flexible

Brown coning

Harvesting the pinecones when they are brown

Green coning

Gathering the pinecones while still green so animals don't get to them first

Deer, bighorn sheep, hares, antelope

Mammals

Reptiles, insects, waterfowl, fish

Common food types

Wikiup

Summer housing, dome structures made of whatever materials available; provided shade more than protection

Semi-subterranean

Winter houses; some maintained throughout the year (rare); different houses for elderly

Little to none

Clothing (general)

Tools

Rafts, matting, decoys for waterfowl

Basketry

Main art form

Bows

Primary weapon, made of living junipers

Individual

Religious focus

People, animals, places

3 types of spirits

Round dance

General ceremony that could be done at several different times throughout the year

Bear dance

Utes practiced in order to give them strength and stamina

Execution

Shamans that practiced witchcraft (consequence)

Death rituals

Ghosts were feared, name of the deceased was not spoken

Sun Dance

Part of the Peyote religion, created to revive ancient beliefs in resistance to colonization

Indian Reorganization Act of 1934

Took Native land and resources, hunting and water rights

Fixed territories

Owens Valley Paiute territory

OVP environment

Owens Valley, marsh, many streams

A.W. Von Schmidt

Surveyor, first person to officially meet and recommend reservation

Disrupted ecosystem and land rights

Ranching

Limited powers, inherited (hereditary) (OVP)

Chief

Mainly with California groups (OVP)

Trade

Important trade resource (OVP)

Salt

Kinship type (OVP)

Bilateral

Social organization levels (small to large) (OVP)

Family, village, band

Sister exchange

Ideal marriage match

Trade relationships

Purposes of marriage, within (OVP)

Death rituals

Burn deceased and all their belongings, annual mourning ceremony

Floor irrigation

Spread out water so it would soak into the land

Hunting types and purposes

Communal, supplemental

Piagi

Pandora moth caterpillars

Kutsavi

Brine flies

Used to carry shell beads

Treasure basket

Currency

Shell beads

Carry the harvest

Burden basket

OVP origin story

Coyote and the basket

Seen as wise and strong character

Wolf

Seen as rash character who must learn from mistakes

Coyote

Shaman which provided physical cures

Herb doctor

Shaman which provided spiritual cure; gained power through dreams or supernatural means

Spirit doctor

Chemehuevi location

Colorado River, Mojave Desert

Chemehuevi band leaders

Spokesman, headman

Advisory

Headman responsibility

Selecting headman

Hereditary, approved by group, based on dreams for power

Predawn raids

Attack everyone within a camp and steal everything of value; many died

Formal battles

Fight for honor; fewer people died than other types of attacks

Received power from dreams before battle

War dreamers

Selected by the tribe based on dreams

War leaders

Main reason for organized warfare

Territory disputes

3 primary Chemehuevi groups

Northerners, southerners, desert people

2 social divisions

Deer and Mountain Sheep

Chemehuevi division of labor

Rigid

Method of marking hunting grounds

Songs

Placed on animal trails to ensure future prosperity

Umbilical cord

Main Chemehuevi art types

Basketry, pottery

Adornment, clothing

Face paintings, little clothing

Chemehuevi origin story

Coyote and the basket

4 main songs

Bird, Salt, Deer, Mountain Sheep

Shamans gained power through...

Dreams

Modern sources of economic income (Chemehuevi)

Farming, tourism, resort, casinos

Colorado River Indian Tribes

Organization that deals with the affair of the groups in this region; made up of leaders from each of the involved tribes