CELEBRATE UTAH'S NATIVE AMERICANS DURING NOVEMBER

For this and more Information on Utah's Native Americans visit the Division of Indian Affairs.

Prehistory:
Evidence reveals that human beings have inhabited the Salt Lake area for over 11,000 years. The Anasazi, "The Ancient Ones," first appeared in this area in approximately 1000 BC and mysteriously disappeared in 1300 AD. At about 1150 AD, another group called the Fremont culture, which resembled the Anasazi, emerged. This Fremont culture ceased to exist at about 1300 AD (Source: Utah Historical Society, Robert S. McPherson)

By 1000 AD groups/bands of Indians which belonged to the language family of Uto-Aztecan, which part of the Numic speaking branch, entered the area. By 1300 AD, they had spread into Utah and Colorado. The Ute, Shoshoni, Goshute, and Paiute were part of the groups which entered this area. These five major tribes have lived and continue to live in Utah: 1) Ute; 2) Dine' (Navajo); 3) Paiute; 4) Goshute; and 5) Shoshoni.

The state of Utah is named after the Utes, or Yutas, a Spanish derivative. The Utes know adversity well. Following several armed conflicts with Mormon settlers in 1861, at the request of the Mormons through the Treaty of Spanish Fork, the Utes were forced by the Executive Order of President Abraham Lincoln to leave their Provo Valley and relocate in the Uintah Basin.

The Dine' moved into northeastern Arizona and southeastern Utah during the 1700s. Hostilities increased between the Dine' and the Spanish, Mexican and American colonists, as well as among neighboring tribes. In 1868, a treaty was signed and the Dine' were allowed to return to their original homeland.

The Goshute people exemplify the historic Great Basin desert way of life perhaps better than does any other group because of the nature of their territory. They have both benefited and suffered from their desert isolation.

The Paiute Bands in Southern Utah consist of five Bands: the Shivwits Band, Indian Peaks Band, Kanosh Band, Koosharem Band, and Cedar Band. The Southern Band of Paiute now number approximately 709.

The Shoshoni Nation once covered a five state area , including Northwestern Utah. In many ways, the Northwestern Band of Shoshoni are still recovering from the 1863 Bear River Massacre in which over 250 Shoshoni, mostly women and children, were massacred by Colonel Patrick Edward Conner and his California volunteers from Fort Douglas, Utah.

By the end of the 19th century: the Utes were forced to leave Utah Valley as a result of the Spanish Fork Treaty of 1865; the Dine' had suffered the Longest Walk and, after four long years in exile, were finally returned to their homelands; the Paiute and Goshute suffered peril from both sides; and the Shoshoni suffered one of the most brutal of all attacks in U.S. history, the Bear River Massacre, and had lost all of their homelands.

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