The
Quechan (also
Yuma,
Yuman,
Kwtsan,
Kwtsaan) are a
Native AmericanNative Americans in the United States is the phrase that describes indigenous peoples from North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii. They comprise a large number of distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of...
tribe who live on the
Fort Yuma Indian Reservation on the lower Colorado River in
ArizonaThe State of Arizona is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. The capital and largest city is Phoenix. The second largest city is Tucson, followed in size by the four Phoenix metropolitan area cities of Mesa, Glendale, Chandler, and Scottsdale.Arizona was the 48th and...
just north of the border with
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. The Quechan are one of the
YumanThe Yuman people are a group of Native American ethnic groups of the Yuman-Cochimí language family. The historic Yuman-speaking peoples in this region were skilled warriors and active traders, maintaining exchange networks with the Pima in southern Arizona and with the Pacific coast.The term...
tribes. Yuman is derived from the old name for the tribe, Yuma. The reservation is a part of their traditional lands. Established in 1884, the
Fort Yuma Indian Reservation has a land area of 178.197 km² (68.802 sq mi) in southeastern
Imperial County, CaliforniaImperial County is a county located in the Imperial Valley, in the far southeast of the U.S. state of California, bordering both Arizona and Mexico. It is part of the El Centro, California Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Imperial County. The population as of 2000 was 142,361....
, and western
Yuma County, ArizonaYuma County is a county located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of 2007, its population was estimated to be 190,557, an increase of 30,531 people since the 2000 census count of 160,026...
, near the city of
Yuma, ArizonaYuma is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The population of the city was 77,515 at the 2000 census, with a 2006 Census Bureau estimated population of 87,423....
.
History
The first important contact of the Quechan with
EuropeansThe start of the European colonization of the Americas is typically dated to 1492, although there was at least one earlier colonization effort...
was with the
SpanishThe Spanish colonization of the Americas was the settlement and political rule over much of the western hemisphere which was initiated by the Spanish conquistadors and fought mostly by their native allies...
explorer
Juan Bautista de AnzaJuan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto was a Novo-Spanish explorer and Governor of New Mexico for the Spanish Empire.-Life:...
and his party in the winter of 1774. Relations were friendly and on Anza's return from his second trip to
Alta CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
in 1776 the chief of the tribe and three others journeyed to
Mexico CityMexico City is the capital city of Mexico. It is the economic, industrial, and cultural center in the country, and the most populous city, with about 8,836,045 inhabitants in 2008...
to petition the Viceroy of New Spain for the establishment of a mission. The chief, Palma and his 3 companions were baptized there on February 13, 1777. Palma was given the name Salvador Carlos Antonio.
Spanish settlement among the Quechan did not go as well as hoped and the tribe rebelled from July 17–19, 1781 and killed 4 priests and 30 soldiers. The Spanish mission settlements of
San Pedro y San Pablo de BicuñerMission San Pedro y San Pablo de Bicuñer was founded on January 7, 1781 by Father Francisco Garcés to protect the Anza Trail where it forded the Colorado River....
and
Puerto de Purísima ConcepciónMission Puerto de Purísima Concepción was founded in October, 1780 by Father Francisco Garcés. The settlement was not part of the California mission chain, but was administered as a part of the Arizona missions...
were also decimated. The tribe was punished militarily the following year.
The
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
engaged the Yuma Indians in warfare during the
Yuma ExpeditionThe Yuma Expedition was a military operation to control the unrest of the Yuma Indians in California from December, 1851, to April, 1852. This operation was part of a larger campaign to control Native Americans before the outbreak of the Civil War, and is part of the long history of Indian Wars...
, which was one of many
Indian WarsIndian Wars is the name used in the United States to describe a series of conflicts between the colonial or federal government and the native people of North America....
that took place before the
American Civil WarThe American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...
. The
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
state government also sponsored the ill fated 1857
Gila ExpeditionThe Gila Expedition was an 1857 attack on the Quechan Indians on the Gila River in Arizona.In the 1850s the Quechans set up a ferry business to ferry people across the Gila river on their way to the California Gold Rush...
against the Quechan in retribution for the revenge massacre of the
John Joel GlantonJohn Joel Glanton was a member of the U.S. Army during the mid-19th century, and later led the Glanton gang of scalphunters.Nominally a mercenary operation hired by the Mexican authorities to track down and kill dangerous bands of Apaches, the gang began murdering and scalping non-Apaches and...
gang.
Population
Estimates for the pre-contact populations of most native groups in California have varied substantially (see
population of Native CaliforniaEstimates of the Native Californian population have varied substantially, both with respect to California's pre-contact count and for changes during subsequent periods. Pre-contact estimates range from 133,000 to 705,000 with some recent scholars concluding that these estimates are low...
).
Alfred L. KroeberAlfred Louis Kroeber was one of the most influential figures in American anthropology in the first half of the twentieth century....
(1925:883) put the 1770 population of the Quechan at 2,500. Jack D. Forbes (1965:341-343) compiled historical estimates and suggested that before they were first contacted the Quechan had numbered 4,000 or a few more.
Kroeber estimated the population of the Quechan in 1910 as 750. By 1950, there were reported to be just under 1,000 Quechan living on the reservation and another 1,100+ off it (Forbes 1965:343). The
2000 censusThe Twenty-Second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...
reported a resident population of 2,376 persons on the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation, only 56.8 percent of whom were of solely Native American heritage, and more than 27 percent of whom were white.
External links
- http://www.itcaonline.com/tribes_quechan.html (Tribal Council Web Site)
- http://www.anthro.mankato.msus.edu/cultural/northamerica/yuma.html