Paiute

History traces the Paiute Indians back to around 1200AD where they were thought to inhabit an area in Utah now called Bryce Canyon. Consisting mainly of foragers, gatherers and hunters, their main source of food were rabbits, deer, mountain sheep, berries, buds and roots. Having also settled very close to some of the local main rivers of Utah such as the Virgin, they were able to practice irrigation and raising wheat, corn and squashes.

The Paiute Indians evolved into a tribe with a very close-knit social foundation with family bands branching off and being named after resources or geographical features. These strong family bonds meant that having a natural leader was very rare, preferring to rely on being led by a chief who was more of a facilitator of consensus rather than a ruler.

Although contact with Europeans could have easily affected the way the Paiute Indians went about their day-to-day lives and changing their religious beliefs, it was thought to be the Mormons in 1850s that really affected them, taking over their living and hunting spaces. The primal effect was population reduction of the Paiutes from starvation and disease.

The Paiutes lived on, however and remained a strong community applying for an official reservation in 1891 near St.George with further reservations being established in 1915, 1928 and 1929 at Indian Peaks, Koosharem and Kanosh respectively. even with the presence of these reservations, the Indian natives were never regarded as true citizens, with little federal help and funding being offered with the women spending their lives as maids and the men as farm labor and railroad workers. By 1935, it was the Paiutes took a stand for their rights and adopted the Wheeler-Howard Act which allowed them to practice tribal self-governance and the protection of their reservations. along with funding from the federal reserve.

The Paiute run of luck was to come to a close in the 50s though, when Utah Senator Arthur Watkins instigated the termination policy from Congress, despite acknowledgement that the tribe would be unable to survive without federal assistance. The clan fought back and applied for rights of ownership to the land that they lost when the Europeans settled in North America and were granted 27 cents in every acre in 1965 – the funds were drip fed 6 years later which launched the construction of housing units for the Paiute people between 1976 and 1989.

It wasn’t until Senator Carter re-recognised the existence of the Paiute people in 1980 that they were granted federal inclusion again, some 7 years later after petitions were raised once again by the Indians. In February of 1984, they were granted 4,470 acres of poor land that was scattered across the South West area of Utah along with an incredibly helpful $2.5 million fund for tribal services and development of their economy. The Paiute people put this much-needed grant to excellent use, allocating it to healthcare, educational, housing and industry.