Paths of Life

Ningwi: Southern Paiute—The People of the Northern Frontier

The Southern Paiute live today in southern Utah and that portion of Arizona north of the Grand Canyon. This isolated land is a frontier—in a cultural as well as a geographic sense. It forms a boundary of contact and exchange between peoples of the Great Basin region and the Greater Southwest.

Southern Paiute oral history tells how the people were born of Ocean Woman and came to this land to settle among the prehistoric Anasazi and Fremont cultures. Archaeological evidence shows how the Paiute probably learned and borrowed from both of these peoples.

In more recent times, linguistic evidence and artifacts such as baskets show that the Paiute have exchanged knowledge and objects with many peoples from the Southwest.

Partly due to their isolation, the Paiute have also suffered greatly at the hands of the U.S. government and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Their lands were taken, tribes disbanded, and in some cases, officially combined with other Indian groups. Yet, Paiute traditions and culture remain strong, and continue to be passed on to future generations.