The Paiute

The first white man to come into the Boulder Dam country found several Indian tribes one of which was the Paiute. The Paiute headquarters was in the Moapa Valley. This is where today we find the towns of Overton, Logandale, Glendale, and Moapa.

We have found arrowheads of Paiute style in the Pueblos and courtyards of Pueblo houses when exploring local digs.

The paiutes did a little farming, but lived mostly from natural products of the desert&emdash;pine nuts, beans from the mesquite and screw-bean and wild seeds, and the hunting of small animals, for large ones were scarce.

Mescal was a favorite of the Paiutes and every spring they would go to the mountains to gather this plant which is a species of agave related to the "century plant". They ate the base of the flower stalk which was roasted. It is sweet, but full of fibers. The roasted mescal was chewed until the sweetness was gone and then discarded much as we chew gum today. The roasted mescal was formed into sheets, dried, and carried home for future use.

Basketry was and is still made in both coiled and twined weave, and in this art the Paiutes shine. In fact, their baskets will stand comparison with the product of the best California Indian basketmakers, supposedly the finest in the world. They used a twined weave for basketry bottles which were coated with pitch and used to store and carry water.

The women wore caps woven the same as their baskets. In summer they wore very little&emdash;a sort of apron and yucca-fiber sandals. For winter they wore dresses of deerskin with a cape or poncho also of deerskin. Occasionally they made moccasins from heavy rawhide.

The men wore a breech-cloth and sandals in summer and shirts and deerskin leggings in winder. One peculiarity among Paiute men was that they let their beard grow instead of plucking it as did other tribes. The men and women wore capes and blankets woven of twisted strips of furry rabbit-skin.

The bow and arrow still remained, but the bow was much longer. The arrows were made of solid wood or cane shaft. Both were feathered and terminated with an arrowhead.

Burial by the Paiute was much different from their predecessors. They buried the dead on far distant cliffs where they were hidden away in a cave or crevice.