THE PAIUTE, WASHO, AND PIT RIVER TRIBES

PAIUTE TRIBAL SYNONYMY

Hogăpä′goni—Shoshoni name, “rush arrow people” (hogăp, a small water reed; pägă, “arrow”).

Nüma—proper tribal name, signifying “people” or “Indians;” the same name is also used for themselves by the Shoshoni and Comanche.

Pai-yu′chimŭ—Hopi name.

Pai-yu′tsĭ—Navaho name.

Palŭ—Washo name.

Paiute or Piute—popular name, variously rendered “true (pai) Ute” or “water (pä) Ute”—pronounced among themselves Paiuti.

Note.—The northern bands of the Paiute are frequently included with Shoshoni and others under the name of Snakes, while the others are often included with various Californian tribes under the collective name of Diggers.

SKETCH OF THE PAIUTE

CHARACTERISTICS

The Paiute belong to the great Shoshonean stock and occupy most of Nevada, together with adjacent portions of southwestern Utah, northwestern Arizona, and northwestern and southeastern California. The Pahvant and Gosiute on their eastern border are frequently, but improperly, classed as Paiute, while the Chemehuevi, associated with the Walapai in Arizona, are but a southern offshoot of the Paiute and speak the same language. With regard to the Indians of Walker River and Pyramid Lake reservations, who constitute the main body of those commonly known as Paiute, Powell claims that they are not Paiute at all, but another tribe which he calls Paviotso. He says: “The names by which the tribes are known to white men and the department give no clue to the relationship of the Indians. For example, the Indians in the vicinity of the reservation on the Muddy and the Indians on the Walker River and Pyramid Lake reservations are called Pai or Pah Utes, but the Indians know only those on the Muddy by that name, while those on the other two reservations are known as Paviotsoes, and speak a very different language, but closely allied to, if not identical with, that of the Bannocks.” ([Comr.], 45.) The Ghost dance originated among these Indians in the neighborhood of Walker river, from whom the songs here given were obtained, and for convenience of reference we shall speak of them under their popular title of Paiute, without asserting its correctness.

The different small bands have little political coherence and there is no recognized head chief. The most influential chiefs among them in modern times have been Winnemucca, who died a few years ago, and Natchez. Wovoka’s leadership is spiritual, not political. The Indians of Walker river and Pyramid lake claim the Bannock as their cousins, and say that they speak the same language. As a rule they have been peaceable and friendly toward the whites, although in the early sixties they several times came into collision with miners and emigrants, hostility being frequently provoked by the whites themselves. The northern Paiute are more warlike than those of the south, and a considerable number of them took part with the Bannock in the war of 1878. Owing to the fact that the great majority of the Paiute are not on reservations, many of them being attached to the ranches of white men, it is impossible to get any correct statement of their population, but they may be safely estimated at from 7,000 to 8,000 and are thought to be increasing. In 1893 those on reservations, all in Nevada, were reported to number, at Walker River, 563; at Pyramid Lake, 494; at Duck Valley (Western Shoshone agency, in connection with the Shoshoni), 209. Nevada Indians off reservation were estimated to number 6,815, nearly all of whom were Paiute.

Fig. 101—Paiute wikiup.

As a people the Paiute are peaceable, moral, and industrious, and are highly commended for their good qualities by those who have had the best opportunities for judging. While apparently not as bright in intellect as the prairie tribes, they appear to possess more solidity of character. By their willingness and efficiency as workers, they have made themselves necessary to the white farmers and have been enabled to supply themselves with good clothing and many of the comforts of life, while on the other hand they have steadily resisted the vices of civilization, so that they are spoken of by one agent as presenting the “singular anomaly” of improvement by contact with the whites. Another authority says: “To these habits and excellence of character may be attributed the fact that they are annually increasing in numbers, and that they are strong, healthy, active people. Many of them are employed as laborers on the farms of white men in all seasons, but they are especially serviceable during the time of harvesting and hay-making.” ([Comr.], 46.) They would be the last Indians in the world to preach a crusade of extermination against the whites, such as the messiah religion has been represented to be. Aside from their earnings among the whites, they derive their subsistence from the fish of the lakes, jack rabbits and small game of the sage plains and mountains, and from piñon nuts and other seeds which they grind into flour for bread. Their ordinary dwelling is the wikiup or small rounded hut of tulé rushes over a framework of poles, with the ground for a floor and the fire in the center and almost entirely open at the top. Strangely enough, although appreciating the advantages of civilization so far as relates to good clothing and such food as they can buy at the stores, they manifest no desire to live in permanent houses or to procure the furniture of civilization, and their wikiups are almost bare of everything excepting a few wicker or grass baskets of their own weaving.

The Paiute ghost songs have a monotonous, halting movement that renders them displeasing to the ear of a white man, and are inferior in expression to those of the Arapaho and the Sioux. A number of words consisting only of unmeaning syllables are inserted merely to fill in the meter. Like the cognate Shoshoni and Comanche, the language has a strong rolling r.

GENESIS MYTH

At first the world was all water, and remained so a long time. Then the water began to go down and at last Kura′ngwa (Mount Grant) emerged from the water, near the southwest end of Walker lake. There was fire on its top (it may have been a volcano), and when the wind blew hard the water dashed over the fire and would have extinguished it, but that the sage-hen (hutsi—Centrocercus urophasianus) nestled down over it and fanned away the water with her wings. The heat scorched the feathers on the breast of the sage-hen and they remain black to this day. Afterward the Paiute got their first fire from the mountain through the help of the rabbit, who is a great wonder-worker, “same as a god.” As the water subsided other mountains appeared, until at last the earth was left as it is now.

Then the great ancestor of the Paiute, whom they call Nümi′naă′, “Our Father,” came from the south in the direction of Mount Grant, upon which his footprints can still be seen, and journeyed across to the mountains east of Carson sink and made his home there. A woman, Ibidsíi, “Our Mother,” followed him from the same direction, and they met and she became his wife. They dressed themselves in skins, and lived on the meat of deer and mountain sheep, for there was plenty of game in those days. They had children—two boys and two girls. Their father made bows and arrows for the boys, and the mother fashioned sticks for the girls with which to dig roots. When the children grew up, each boy married his sister, but the two families quarreled until their father told them to separate. So one family went to Walker lake and became Aga′ih-tĭka′ra, “fish eaters” (the Paiute of Walker lake), while the other family went farther north into Idaho and became Kotso′-tĭkăra, “buffalo eaters” (the Bannock), but both are one people and have the same language. After their children had left them, the parents went on to the mountains farther east, and there Nüminaă′ went up into the sky and his wife followed him.

THE WASHO

Associated with the Paiute are the Washo, or Wâ′siu, as they call themselves, a small tribe of about 400 souls, and having no affinity, so far as known, with any other Indians. They occupy the mountain region in the extreme western portion of Nevada, about Washo and Tahoe lakes and the towns of Carson and Virginia City. They formerly extended farther east and south, but have been driven back by the Paiute, who conquered them, reducing them to complete subjection and forbidding them the use of horses, a prohibition which was rigidly enforced until within a few years. Thus broken in spirit, they became mere hangers-on of the white settlements on the opening up of the mines, and are now terribly demoralized. They have been utterly neglected by the government, have never been included in any treaty, and have now no home that they can call their own. They are devoted adherents of the messiah, but usually join in the dance with the nearest camp of Paiute, whose songs they sing, and have probably no Ghost songs in their own language. We quote a gloomy account of their condition in 1866. The description will apply equally well today, excepting that their numbers have diminished:

This is a small tribe of about 500 Indians, living in the extreme western part of the state. They are usually a harmless people, with much less physical and mental development than the Paiutes, and more degraded morally. They are indolent, improvident, and much addicted to the vices and evil practices common in savage life. They manifest an almost uncontrollable appetite for intoxicating drinks. They are sensual and filthy, and are annually diminishing in numbers from the diseases contracted through their indulgences. A few have learned the English language and will do light work for a reasonable compensation. They spend the winter months about the villages and habitations of white men, from whom they obtain tolerable supplies of food and clothing. The spring, summer, and autumn months are spent in fishing about Washo and Tahoe lakes and the streams which flow through their country. They also gather grass seed and pine nuts, hunt rabbits, hares, and ducks. There is no suitable place for a reservation in the bounds of their territory, and, in view of their rapidly diminishing numbers and the diseases to which they are subjected, none is required. ([Comr.], 47.)

THE PIT RIVER INDIANS

Another group of Indians closely associated with the Paiute on the northwest consists of a number of small tribes, known collectively to the whites as Pit River or Hot Springs Indians, holding the basin of Pit river in northeastern California from Goose lake to the junction with the Sacramento. Among their tribes or bands are the Achoma′wi, Huma′whi, Estakéwach, Hantéwa, Chumâ′wa, Atua′mih or Hamefku′ttelli, Ilma′wi, and Pa′kamalli. ([Powers], Tribes of California.) They are at present supposed to constitute a distinct linguistic group, but it is probable that better information will show their affinity with some of the neighboring Californian stocks. With the exception of a few at Round Valley reservation, California, none of them are on reservations or have any official recognition by the government. They probably number 1,000 to 1,500 souls. The northern bands have suffered much from Modoc slave raids in former days, and are much inferior in physique and intellect to those lower down the river, who were the terror of northern California thirty years ago, and who are described by recent observers as good workers, intelligent, brave, and warlike. ([A. G. O.], 9.)

SONGS OF THE PAIUTE

1. Nüvä′ ka ro′răni′

Nüvä′ ka ro′răni′!

Gosi′pa′ hävi′gĭnû′,

Gosi′pa′ hävi′gĭnû′.

Translation

The snow lies there—ro′răni′!

The Milky Way lies there,

The Milky Way lies there.

This is one of the favorite songs of the Paiute Ghost dance. The tune has a plaintive but rather pleasing effect, although inferior to the tunes of most of the ghost songs of the prairie tribes. The words as they stand are very simple, but convey a good deal of meaning to the Indian. It must be remembered that the dance is held in the open air at night, with the stars shining down on the wide-extending plain walled in by the giant sierras, fringed at the base with dark pines, and with their peaks white with eternal snows. Under such circumstances this song of the snow lying white upon the mountains, and the Milky Way stretching across the clear sky, brings up to the Paiute the same patriotic home love that comes from lyrics of singing birds and leafy trees and still waters to the people of more favored regions. In the mythology of the Paiute, as of many other tribes, the Milky Way is the road of the dead to the spirit world. Ro′răni′ serves merely to fill in the meter.

2. Dĕna′ gayo′n

Dĕna′ gayo′n, Dĕ′na ga′yoni′,

Bawă′ doro′n, Ba′wă do′roni′,

Bawă′ doro′n, Ba′wă do′roni′.

Translation

A slender antelope, a slender antelope,

He is wallowing upon the ground,

He is wallowing upon the ground.

This song evidently refers to a trance vision in which the sleeper saw an antelope rolling in the dust, after the manner of horses, buffalo, and other animals.

3. Do′ tĭ′mbi

Do′ tĭ′mbi, Do′ tĭ′mbi-nä′n,

Tĭ′mbi bai′-yo, Tĭ′mbi ba′i-yo-ä′n,

Tĭ′mbi bai′-yo, Tĭ′mbi ba′i-yo-ä′n.

Translation

The black rock, the black rock,

The rock is broken, the rock is broken,

The rock is broken, the rock is broken.

This song may refer to something in Paiute mythology. Nä′n and ä′n are unmeaning syllables added to fill out the measure.

4. Päsü′ wĭ′noghän

Päsü′ wĭ′noghän,

Wai′-va wĭ′noghän,

Wai′-va wĭ′noghän.

Translation

The wind stirs the willows,

The wind stirs the grasses,

The wind stirs the grasses.

Wai′-va (or wai in composition) is the sand grass or wild millet of Nevada (Oryzopsis membranacea), the seeds of which are ground by the Paiute and boiled into mush for food.

5. Pägü′nävä′

Pägü′nävä′! Pägü′nävä′!

Tûngwü′kwiji′! Tûngwü′kwiji′!

Wûmbe′doma′! Wûmbe′doma′!

Translation

Fog! Fog!

Lightning! Lightning!

Whirlwind! Whirlwind!

This song is an invocation of the elemental forces. It was composed by an old woman, who left the circle of dancers and stood in the center of the ring while singing it.

6. Wûmbĭ′ndomä′n

Wûmbĭ′ndomä′n, Wûmbĭ′ndomä′n,

Wûmbĭ′ndomä′n, Wûmbĭ′ndomä′n.

Nuvä′rĭ′p noyo′wană′, Nuvä′rĭ′p noyo′wană′,

Nuvä′rĭ′p noyo′wană′, Nuvä′rĭ′p noyo′wană′.

Translation

The whirlwind! The whirlwind!

The snowy earth comes gliding, the snowy earth comes gliding;

The snowy earth comes gliding, the snowy earth comes gliding.

This song may possibly refer to the doctrine of the new earth, here represented as white with snow, advancing swiftly, driven by a whirlwind. Such an idea occurs several times in the Arapaho songs.

7. Kosi′ wûmbi′ndomä′

Kosi′ wûmbi′ndomä′,

Kosi′ wûmbi′ndomä′.

Kai′-va wûmbi′ndomä′,

Kai′-va wûmbi′ndomä′.

Translation

There is dust from the whirlwind,

There is dust from the whirlwind.

The whirlwind on the mountain,

The whirlwind on the mountain.

8. Dombi′na so′wina′

Dombi′na so′wina′,

Dombi′na so′wina′.

Kai′-va so′wina′,

Kai′-va so′wina′.

Translation

The rocks are ringing,

The rocks are ringing.

They are ringing in the mountains,

They are ringing in the mountains.

This song was explained to refer to the roaring of a storm among the rocks in the mountains.

9. Sû′ng-ä ro′yonji′

Sû′ng-ä ro′yonji′, Sû′ng-ä ro′yon,

Sû′ng-ä ro′yonji′, Sû′ng-ä ro′yon.

Pu′i do′yonji′, Pu′i do′yon,

Pu′i do′yonji′, Pu′i do′yon.

Translation

The cottonwoods are growing tall,

The cottonwoods are growing tall.

They are growing tall and verdant,

They are growing tall and verdant.

This song seems to refer to the return to spring. Throughout the arid region of the west the cottonwood skirting the borders of the streams is one of the most conspicuous features of the landscape. See [Arapaho song 13].

PAIUTE GLOSSARY

Agai′h-tĭka′ra—“fish eaters;” the distinctive name of the Paiute of Walker lake, Nevada.

Bai′-yo—it is broken.

Ba′wă—going around in a circle.

Dĕna—for Tĭ′na.

Do—black.

Dombi′na—for Tĭ′mbi or Tübi.

Do′roni—rolling on the ground, wallowing.

Do′yon or Do′yonji—it is growing tall.

Ga′yon or Ga′yoni—slender, tall and slender.

Gosi′pa—the Milky Way, the road of the dead. See Paiute song 1.

Hävi′gĭnû—it lies there, it lies there asleep; hävi′kwă, sleep.

Hogăpä′goni—“rush-arrow people;” the Shoshoni name for the Paiute; from hogăp, a small water reed; pägă, arrow, and ni, the tribal suffix.

Hutsi—the sage-hen (Centrocercus urophasianus).

Ĭbidsi′ĭ—“our mother;” the mythic maternal ancestor of the Paiute.

Jack Wilson—see Wovoka.

Ka—the root of the verb sit; yä′nakatü′, I am sitting down.

Kai-va—mountain.

Kosi—for Kosi′ba.

Kosi′ba—dust.

Kotso′-tĭka′ra—“buffalo eaters;” the Paiute name for the Bannock. Compare Ko′tso-tĕ′ka, a Comanche division.

Kura′ngwa—“very high peak;” applied to Mount Grant, the sacred mountain of the Paiute, west of Hawthorne and near the southwestern end of Walker lake, Nevada.

Kwohi′tsauq or Ќwijau′h—“big rumbling belly,” one of the names assumed by Wovoka the messiah. It was originally the name of his paternal grandfather.

Nänigü′kwa—the Paiute name of the Ghost dance. The word signifies the “dance in a circle;” nüka, a dance.

Noyo′ä—to come gliding or creeping; the verb is applied to the movement of a snake or of an object which progresses without the aid of feet.

Noyo′wana—for Noyo′ä.

Nümä—“people,” or “Indians,” the name used to designate themselves by the Paiute, Shoshoni, and Comanche.

Nümĭ′-naă′—“our father;” the mythic ancestor of the Paiute.

Nüvä—for Nüvä′bi.

Nüvä′bi—snow.

Nüvä′-ri′pă—snowy earth, snow-covered earth (compound word); from nüvä′bi, snow, and ri′pă or ti′pă, earth.

Pägü′nävä—fog.

Paiute or Piu′te—(Pai-yu′t) the name by which the Nüma of Nevada and the adjacent region are popularly and officially known. It has been rendered as “true (pai) Ute” or “water (pä) Ute.” They themselves pronounce the word in three syllables, Pai-u′-ti.

Pai-yu′chimŭ—the Hopi name for the Paiute.

Pai-yu′tsĭ—the Navaho name for the Paiute.

Palŭ—the Washo name for the Paiute.

Päsü′—for Päsü′bi.

Päsü′bi—willow.

Pavio′tso—the proper tribal name of the Indians of Walker River and Pyramid Lake reservations in Nevada, according to Powell, who considers them distinct from the Paiute.

Pu′i—for Pu′igai′-yu.

Pu′igai′-yu—verdant, green (applied to growing plants).

Ro′răni—an unmeaning word used to fill out the measure of the songs.

Ro′yon or Ro′yonji—other forms of Do′yon.

Snake Indians—a name loosely applied to various northern bands or tribes of Shoshonean stock, including Paiute, Bannock, Shoshoni, and sometimes even the Comanche.

Sowi′na—ringing like a bell, roaring.

Sû′ng-ä—for Sû′ng-äbi.

Sû′ng-äbi—cottonwood.

Taivo—the Paiute, Shoshoni, and Comanche name for a white man. See Tä′vibo.

Tăkwû′kwij—lightning.

Tä′vibo—“white man,” the father of Wovoka the messiah. The word has a connection with täbi or tävi, the sun; tävä′năgwăt, the east or sunrise place, and tai′-vo, the Shoshoni and Comanche name for a white man.

Tĭ′mbi or Tĭ′mbin—a rock; another form is tübi.

Tĭ′na—antelope.

Tûngwü′kwiji—for Tăkwû′kwij.

Wai′va—the sand grass or wild millet of Nevada (Oryzopsis membranacea). In composition the word becomes wai. See Paiute song 4.

Wa′siu—the name by which the Washo call themselves.

Wĭ′kiup—the popular name of the Paiute dwelling, made in conical form, about 8 or 10 feet high, and open at the top, of tulé rushes woven over a framework of poles. The word is of uncertain origin.

Wĭ′noghän—shaken by the wind, waving in the wind.

Wo′voka or Wü′voka—“the cutter,” the proper name of the Paiute messiah, known to the whites as Jack Wilson. A few years ago he assumed also the name of Kwohi′tsauq, “big rumbling belly,” from his paternal grandfather. See [chapter ix] ante.

Wûbi′doma—whirlwind, hurricane. Hi′gwă, wind; pitä′nägwă-higwă′, the south wind.

Wûmbe′doma—for Wûbi′doma.

Wûmbĭ′ndomän—for Wûbi′doma.