Bishop Paiute Tribe

Last updated
Bishop Paiute Tribe
Bishop paiute women 1940.jpg
Bishop Paiute women's Labor Day parade float, 1970
Total population
1,114 [1]
Regions with significant populations
Flag of the United States.svg  United States (Flag of California.svg  California)
Languages
Mono, Timbisha, English
Related ethnic groups
other Northern Paiute and Timbisha peoples

The Bishop Paiute Tribe, formerly known as the Paiute-Shoshone Indians of the Bishop Community of the Bishop Colony is a federally recognized tribe of Mono and Timbisha Indians of the Owens Valley, in Inyo County of eastern California. [1] As of the 2010 Census the population was 1,588. [2]

Contents

Reservation

Location of the Bishop reservation 0290R Bishop Reservation Locator Map.svg
Location of the Bishop reservation

The Bishop Paiute Tribe has a federal reservation, the Bishop Community of the Bishop Colony ( 37°21′58″N118°25′22″W / 37.36611°N 118.42278°W / 37.36611; -118.42278 ), in the upper Owens Valley, above the city of Bishop, California. The reservation is on the lower slopes and alluvial fan of the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains and is 877 acres (3.55 km2) in size. [1] Approximately 1,441 tribal members live on the reservation. [1] The reservation was established in 1912. In 1990, 934 people were enrolled in the federally recognized tribe. [3] The reservation's current boundaries are the result of an Executive Order due to watershed acts during 1932 when President Hoover downsized the size of the grant from 67,000 acres to roughly 900 acres to enable the city of Los Angeles to pipe water from Bishop to Los Angeles County without negotiating a right-of-way with the Paiute.

The Bishop reservation also has their own casino (Wanaaha Casino, formerly known as Paiute Palace Casino), a health care system (Toiyabe Clinic), a student learning center (Barlow Gym), and even a gaming commission.

Government

The tribe is governed by a democratically elected tribal council. The current administration is as follows:

The tribal council changes every 2 years. Sometimes there are 3 members who are appointed during odd numbers of the year. It is also co-ed. The tribal council has power to appoint authorities to certain members of the tribe to represent departments like TANF or Public Works. The tribal council has the power to remove members from departments and committees. They also have the power to make ordinances, policies, sanctions, and distribute land to its members.

Language

The Bishop Community traditionally spoke both the Timbisha language and Mono language, both of which are part of the Numic branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Timbisha is in the Central Numic and Mono is in the Western Numic divisions. [4]

Today

The tribe's headquarters is located in Bishop, California. The tribe is governed by an elected five-member tribal council. With over 2000 enrolled members, the Bishop Community is the Fifth largest Native American tribe in California. [5] The tribe has its own tribal court and many programs for its members. For economic development, the Bishop Community created the Paiute Palace Casino (now called Wanaaha Casino) and Tu-Kah Novie restaurant in Bishop. [6]

Owens Valley Paiute Shoshone Cultural Center

The tribe operates the Owens Valley Paiute Shoshone Cultural Center located in Bishop, California. The center displays art and artifacts from area Paiute and Timbisha tribes and has an active repatriation program through NAGPRA. Their museum store sells contemporary beadwork, basketry, jewelry, quillwork, and educational materials. [7]

Education

The colony is served by the Bishop Union Elementary School District and Bishop Joint Union High School District.

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 "California Indians and Their Reservations: Bishop Reservation." Archived 2016-01-04 at the Wayback Machine San Diego State University Library and Information Access. 2011. Retrieved 4 Sept 2013.
  2. ↑ https://www.census.gov/2010census/popmap/ipmtext.php?fl=0290%5B%5D
  3. ↑ Pritzker, 241
  4. ↑ "Northern Paiute." [usurped] Four Directions Institute. (retrieved 8 Dec 2009)
  5. ↑ "Tribal History." Archived March 9, 2010, at the Wayback Machine Bishop Paiute Tribe. 2009 (retrieved 8 Dec 2009)
  6. ↑ "Paiute Palace Casino Bishop." '100 Nations. (retrieved 8 Dec 2009)
  7. ↑ OVPSCC-Museum. Archived August 21, 2008, at the Wayback Machine (retrieved 16 Dec 2009)

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paiute</span> Index of articles associated with the same name

Paiute refers to three non-contiguous groups of indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. Although their languages are related within the Numic group of Uto-Aztecan languages, these three languages do not form a single subgroup and they are no more closely related to each than they are to the Central Numic languages which are spoken between them. The term "Paiute" does not refer to a single, unique, unified group of Great Basin tribes, but is a historical label comprising:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin</span> Cultural classification of Native Americans

The Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin are Native Americans of the northern Great Basin, Snake River Plain, and upper Colorado River basin. The "Great Basin" is a cultural classification of indigenous peoples of the Americas and a cultural region located between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada, in what is now Nevada, and parts of Oregon, California, Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah. The Great Basin region at the time of European contact was ~400,000 sq mi (1,000,000 km2). There is very little precipitation in the Great Basin area which affects the lifestyles and cultures of the inhabitants.

Timbisha (Tümpisa) or Panamint is the language of the Native American people who have inhabited the region in and around Death Valley, California, and the southern Owens Valley since late prehistoric times. There are a few elderly individuals who can speak the language in California and Nevada, but none is monolingual, and all use English regularly in their daily lives. Until the late 20th century, the people called themselves and their language "Shoshone." The tribe then achieved federal recognition under the name Death Valley Timbisha Shoshone Band of California. This is an Anglicized spelling of the native name of Death Valley, tümpisa, pronounced, which means "rock paint" and refers to the rich sources of red ochre in the valley. Timbisha is also the language of the so-called "Shoshone" groups at Bishop, Big Pine, Darwin, Independence, and Lone Pine communities in California and the Beatty community in Nevada. It was also the language spoken at the former Indian Ranch reservation in Panamint Valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Numic languages</span> Uto-Aztecan language branch of US

Numic is the northernmost branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family. It includes seven languages spoken by Native American peoples traditionally living in the Great Basin, Colorado River basin, Snake River basin, and southern Great Plains. The word Numic comes from the cognate word in all Numic languages for “person”, which reconstructs to Proto-Numic as. For example, in the three Central Numic languages and the two Western Numic languages it is. In Kawaiisu it is and in Colorado River, and.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mono people</span> People group

The Mono are a Native American people who traditionally live in the central Sierra Nevada, the Eastern Sierra, the Mono Basin, and adjacent areas of the Great Basin. They are often grouped under the historical label "Paiute" together with the Northern Paiute and Southern Paiute – but these three groups, although related within the Numic group of Uto-Aztecan languages, do not form a single, unique, unified group of Great Basin tribes.

The Big Pine Band of Owens Valley Paiute Shoshone Indians of the Big Pine Reservation are a federally recognized tribe of Mono and Timbisha Indians in California.

The Timbisha are a Native American tribe federally recognized as the Death Valley Timbisha Shoshone Band of California. They are known as the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe and are located in south central California, near the Nevada border. As of the 2010 Census the population of the Village was 124. The older members still speak the ancestral language, also called Timbisha.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cold Springs Rancheria of Mono Indians of California</span> Indian tribe in California, United States

The Cold Springs Rancheria of Mono Indians of California is a federally recognized tribe of Mono Native Americans. Cold Springs Rancheria is the tribe's reservation, which is located in Fresno County, California. As of the 2010 Census the population was 184.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tule River Indian Tribe of the Tule River Reservation</span> Native American Reservation

The Tule River Indian Tribe of the Tule River Reservation is a federally recognized tribe of Native Americans. The Tule River Reservation is located in Tulare County, California. The reservation was made up of Yokuts, about 200 Yowlumne, Wukchumnis, and Western Mono and Tübatulabal. Tribal enrollment today is approximately 1,857 with 1,033 living on the Reservation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bridgeport Paiute Indian Colony of California</span> Indian tribe in California, United States

The Bridgeport Indian Colony of California, formerly known as the "Bridgeport Paiute Indian Colony of California", is a federally recognized tribe of Northern Paiute Indians in Mono County, California, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burns Paiute Tribe</span> Indian tribe in Oregon, United States

The Burns Paiute Tribe of the Burns Paiute Indian Colony of Oregon is a federally recognized tribe of Northern Paiute Indians in Harney County, Oregon, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Bidwell Indian Community of the Fort Bidwell Reservation of California</span>

The Fort Bidwell Indian Community of the Fort Bidwell Reservation of California is a federally recognized tribe of Northern Paiute Indians in Modoc County in the northeast corner of California.

The Paiute-Shoshone Indians of the Lone Pine Community of the Lone Pine Reservation is a federally recognized tribe of Mono and Timbisha Native American Indians near Lone Pine in Inyo County, California. They are related to the Owens Valley Paiute.

The Paiute-Shoshone Tribe of the Fallon Reservation and Colony is a federally recognized tribe of Northern Paiute and Western Shoshone Indians in Churchill County, Nevada. Their autonym is Toi Ticutta meaning "Cattail Eaters."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winnemucca Indian Colony of Nevada</span> Indian reservation in the United States

The Winnemucca Indian Colony of Nevada is a federally recognized tribe of Western Shoshone and Northern Paiute Indians in northwestern Nevada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">XL Ranch</span>

The XL Ranch is an Indian reservation located in Modoc County, north of Burney, California.

The Utu Utu Gwaitu Paiute Tribe of the Benton Paiute Reservation, also known as the Benton Paiute Tribe, is a federally recognized Great Basin tribe in Mono County, California.

The Fort Independence Indian Community of Paiute Indians of the Fort Independence Reservation is a federally recognized tribe of Mono and Timbisha in the Owens Valley, in Inyo County, eastern California. As of the 2010 Census the population was 93.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe</span> Federally recognized tribe on the Nevada and Oregon border

The Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe is a federally recognized tribe of Northern Paiute and Western Shoshone peoples, whose reservation Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribes of the Fort McDermitt Indian Reservation spans the Nevada and Oregon border next to Idaho. The reservation has 16,354 acres (6,618 ha) in Nevada and 19,000 acres (7,700 ha) in Oregon.

References

37°21′58″N118°25′21″W / 37.36611°N 118.42250°W / 37.36611; -118.42250


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