March 2004 - Society for California Archaeology

More documents

Recommendations

Info

12 Out of the Pits Out of the Pits: Guest Editorials on Problems and Prospects in Professional Archaeology —in California and Beyond A Comment on Indian Pass, Imperial County, California Dr. Jackson Underwood EDAW, Inc., San Diego In the September, 2003 issue of the Newsletter, Courtney A. Coyle, offered an update about the ongoing struggle between environmentalists and the Quechan Indians on the one hand, and the Bush Administration on the other, over a proposed heap/leach gold mine west of Indian Pass, eastern Imperial County, California. Coyle is an attorney for the Quechan Indian Nation, and predictably, she used the Newsletter article to forward her position. Unfortunately, she included some factual errors. Coyle began (2003:14) by stating that: The Quechan Indian Nation has lived since time immemorial at the juncture (sic) of what is now known as the borders of California, Arizona and Baja California (Coyle 2003:14). This statement stands in stark contrast to the ethnohistoric and ethnographic records and the oral tradition of the Quechan. The first Spanish entrada into the Lower Colorado area began when Alarcón sailed, poled, and rowed his boats up the river to perhaps as far as the Parker, Arizona area in 1540. In the same year, Melchior Diaz marched from Sonora, Mexico to the confluence of the Colorado and Gila. They noted a number of very closely related Native American groups living along the Lower Colorado River (Kroeber 1925:782; McGuire 1982:68). However, the Quechan, often in the past called the Yuma Indians (e.g. Kroeber 1925, Rogers 1936, 1945), were not noted at the confluence of the Colorado and the Gila Rivers in 1540 by either Alarcón or Diaz (Forde 1931:98; Kroeber 1920:483). Likewise, the Quechan were not mentioned by Juan de Oñate, who marched to the Colorado River from New Mexico in 1605 (he would later become its first Governor). At the confluence of the Gila and Colorado Rivers, Oñate found a non-Yuman people whom he called the Ozaras or Osera. Their identity is problematic. Kroeber suggests, “The most convincing explanation is that they were the Pima or Papago, or at least some Piman division, who then lived farther down the Gila than subsequently” (1920:483). At that time, the Matxalycadom or Halchidhoma lived below the Gila (Kroeber 1920:483). There are some plausible explanations of where the Quechan were in 1540 and 1605 when the Spanish first visited Colorado River. Oñate’s failure to encounter the Yuman may be simply explained by the assumption that they were at that time living exclusively on the west bank where they have always been most numerous. Oñate did not cross the Colorado and it is expressly stated that the east bank people did not cross the river “because those on the other side were enemies although of the same nation” (Forde 1931:99, citing Zarate- Sameron in Bolton 1916:277) Another explanation relates to Lake Cahuilla. At the time of the Alarcón and Melchior Diaz expeditions (1540), and Oñate’s expeditions (1605) Lake Cahuilla may have been full. For example, Waters (1980), suggests that the last lakestand occurred from about 1430 to 1540; and recently Schaefer (1994) suggests a final partial filling of the lake from about 1516 to 1659. The Alarcón and Diaz expeditions would have taken place at the end of Water’s proposed last filling episode and in the middle of Schaefer’s; the Oñate expedition would have taken place after the last lakestand of Waters, but within that of Schaefer. Since the timing and number of Lake Cahuilla lakestands is only poorly documented at this time, it could be that the Quechan were at Lake Cahuilla during the Spanish visits of 1540 and 1605. A third explanation is offered by Forbes (1965:103-4), who argues that the Quechan were just south of the Mojave at the time of Oñate visit (1605). Oñate traveled from New Mexico by way of Jerome, Arizona, arriving at the Colorado at the Bill Williams Fork. He first visited the Mojave in that area, then traveled south in their company past what is now known as the Chemehuevi Valley, where at the time, the Mojave also had settlements. South of the Mojave were people Oñate called the Bahacecha or Vacecha. Forbes argues that the Bahacechas were actually the Quechan primarily because, in the Oñate account, the Bahacechas were on very friendly relations with the Mojave, their language was very close to the Mojave, and their head chief was known as the Cohota, which corresponds to the Quechan term Kwoxot or coxot (Forbes 1965:103). Forbes argues that Oñate’s term for these people, the Bahacecha, may have been a lineage term, Pa’vaxa’s, transformed into Bahacechas by the Spanish (1965:104). A fourth explanation is that the people the Spanish called the Halchidhoma were actually a part of the greater Quechan
13 Out of the Pits group and that the Spanish were actually giving groups of Quechan lineages different tribal names (Lorey Cachora, personal communication, 1997). In 1701-1702, Kino visited the Colorado from the Gila south. At that time, he found the Matxalycadom (Halchidhoma) above, not below the confluence; he did not mention how far north their settlements were, but later they were found in the Blythe area. The Quechan were in what became their traditional territory at the confluence, as well as up the Gila for some distance. Below the Quechan were the Halyikwamai. Nearby and probably associated with them were the Kohuana (Kroeber 1920:484). We see from this very brief review of the Quechan ethnographic and ethnohistoric literatures, that the first time the Quechan were documented at the confluence of the Gila and Colorado Rivers was 1701. Where the Quechan were before that is a matter of some speculation. However, it is fairly clear that they were not at the confluence of the Gila and Colorado Rivers “since time immemorial” unless by that Coyle actually means since 1701 or so. If we turn to the oral traditions of the Quechan,, we see that the origin myths do not say that they have been at the confluence of the Gila and Colorado Rivers “since time immemorial” either. All the Colorado River tribes: the Mojave, Halchidhoma, Quechan, Kamia, Cocopa, Maricopa and others, trace their origins in various stories and songs to a single event and a single place: they were created by the god Kukumat on the sacred mountain Avikwaame. This 5,639 foot mountain is located approximately 10 miles northwest of Laughlin, Nevada (Forde 1931:214-244). (There are several different spellings of Avikwaame; the one we are using is based on the suggestion of Lorey Cachora, Quechan cultural resources consultant). After the death of the god Kukumat, his body was cremated and his house burned. His divine son, Kumastamxo sat quietly and listened while the people talked of their sad loss. Some of these early people were spirits, pipa’tuats (“people who have come to an end”). They were the agents of Kukumat in animal forms. These first people gave their names to the animals we know today so that all later people should respect the animals and keep them in mind. These pipa’tuats, or animal avatars, now live on the various mountains surrounding the Lower Colorado River area. Traditional Quechan and other Yuman peoples visit these mountains by means of dream travel and seek the counsel of the pipa’tuats, or first people. One can readily understand why mountains hold such special spiritual significance to the Quechan and other Yuman peoples. The events associated with the beginning of the world are re-enacted and memorialized in the traditional Keruk ceremony (Forde 1931:223). This mourning and memorial ceremony sometimes included Quechan pilgrimages on trails from Pilot Knob, near Yuma, Arizona, through the Indian Pass area, to Avikwaame, northwest of Laughlin, Nevada. Dream travel among the Quechan also stressed visits to Avikwaame, where one might witness various creation events in dream time and ask Kukumat, his son, Kumastamxo and the pipa’tuats for advice and guidance. This is one reason why the trail system in the Indian Pass area has such spiritual significance to traditional Quechan. Coyle also misleads her readers somewhat by calling the area in question Quechan Indian Pass. This is unjustified archaeologically since research suggests that at least some of the trails in the pass itself pre-date the arrival of the Quechan by several thousand years (e.g., Rogers n.d.). While I would encourage archaeologists both amateur and professional to visit the area at their earliest opportunity, do not look for Quehcan Indian Pass on maps. From Interstate 8 or Highway 78, get on Ogilby Road and turn east on the plainly marked Indian Pass Road. I am not suggesting that Indian Pass is a particularly good name, it is just the real name. We might well remember that almost all passes in North American are Indian passes and that all but the most heavily engineered roads follow Indian trails. References Cited Coyle, Courtney A. 2003 Sacred Places Are More Precious Than Gold: Update on the Struggle to Protect Quechan Indian Pass and Recent Legislative Reforms. Society for California Archaeology Newsletter 37(3):14. Forbes, Jack D. 1965 Warriors of the Colorada: The Yumas of the Quechan Nation and Their Neighbors. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman. Forde, Daryll C. 1931 Ethnography of the Yuma Indians. University of California (Berkeley) Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology 28(4):83-278. Kroeber, A. L. 1920 Yuman Tribes of the Lower Colorado. University of California (Berkeley) Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology 16(8):475-485. 1925 Handbook of the Indians of California. Dover Publications, New York. McGuire, Randall H. 1982 Environmental Background. In Randall H. McGuire and Michael B. Schiffer (eds) Hohokam and Patayan: Prehistory of Southwestern Arizona. Academic Press, New York, pp. 13-56. Rogers, Malcolm J. 1936 Yuman Pottery Making. San Diego Museum of Man Papers No. 2 1945 Outline of Yuman Prehistory. Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 1:167-198. n.d. Fieldnotes, Colorado Desert Region. On file at the San Diego Museum of Man. (continued page 15)
Page 1 and 2: Founded 1966 Volume 38, Number 1 Ma
Page 3 and 4: 3 I’m looking forward to seeing a
Page 5 and 6: 5 SCA Business and Activities Senat
Page 7 and 8: 7 Water, Clean Air, Safe Neighborho
Page 9 and 10: 9 News and Announcements The Cultur
Page 11: 11 Anthropology.” Forensic anthro
Page 15 and 16: 15 Field Notes Gundrum left Fort Ir
Page 17 and 18: 17 2004 Annual Meeting Ongoing Acti
Page 19 and 20: 19 Articles U.S. to claim they had
Page 21 and 22: 21 Articles Figure 5 site. Data wer
Page 23 and 24: 23 Articles that guides the visitor
Page 25 and 26: ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
Page 27 and 28: 27 Articles both buildings. The pur
Page 29 and 30: 29 Articles Culture Contact at El P
Page 31 and 32: 31 Articles As noted above, the sho
Page 33 and 34: 33 Articles and analyzing this coll
Page 35 and 36: 35 Articles rescued and the finders
Page 37 and 38: 37 Articles firing two security fir
Page 39 and 40: 39 Articles A Brief History of Russ
Page 41 and 42: 41 Articles family…. (Brightside
Page 43 and 44: 43 Articles Baker, Joseph, ed. 1914
Page 45 and 46: 45 SCA Newsletter 38(1)
Page 47 and 48: 47 SCA Newsletter 38(1)

March 2004 - Society for California Archaeology

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?