View source for Quechan

{{Short description|Ethnic group and federally-recognized tribe in Arizona, United States}}
{{about|the Yuma, the Native American people in the United States|their language|Quechan language|the South American language|Quechuan languages}}
{{redirect|Yuman|the settlement in Butte County, California|Yuman, California|the Italian singer-songwriter|Yuman (singer)}}
{{distinguish|Quecha (disambiguation){{!}}Quecha|Quechua (disambiguation){{!}}Quechua}}

{{Infobox ethnic group
|group=Quechan
|native_name=Kwatsáan 
|image=
|total_year=2010
|total=10,089
|total_ref=<ref name="2010 Census">{{cite web|title=2010 Census CPH-T-6. American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes in the United States and Puerto Rico: 2010|url=https://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2010/cph-t/t-6tables/TABLE%20(1).pdf|website=census.gov}}</ref>
|popplace= {{flag|Arizona}}<br />{{flag|California}}
|rels=traditional tribal religion, [[Catholicism]]
|langs=[[Quechan language|Quechan]], [[English language|English]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]]
|related=[[Maricopa people|Maricopa]], [[Mohave people|Mojave]], [[Kumeyaay]], [[Yavapai]], [[Cocopah]]
}}
[[File:Emory-Yuma.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Yumas in "United States and Mexican Boundary Survey. Report of William H. Emory…" Washington, 1857, Volume I]]
The '''Quechan''' ([[Quechan language|Quechan]]: ''Kwatsáan'' 'those who descended'), or '''Yuma''', are a [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] [[tribe]] who live on the [[Fort Yuma Indian Reservation]] on the lower [[Colorado River]] in [[Arizona]] and [[California]] just north of the Mexican border.<ref>{{Cite web|title=About Us - Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe|url=https://www.quechantribe.com/about-us.html|access-date=2022-01-12|website=www.quechantribe.com}}</ref> Despite their name, they are not related to the [[Quechua people]] of the Andes. Members are enrolled in the '''Quechan Tribe of the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation.''' The federally recognized Quechan tribe's main office is located in Winterhaven, California.  Its operations and the majority of its reservation land are located in California, United States.

==History==
The historic Yuman-speaking people in this region were skilled warriors and active traders, maintaining exchange networks with the [[Pima people|Pima]] in southern Arizona, New Mexico, and with peoples of the Pacific coast.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Luebering |first=J. E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TnQVJ01VDisC&dq=Yuman-speaking+people+pima&pg=PA101 |title=Native American History |date=2010-08-15 |publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc |isbn=978-1-61530-130-0 |language=en}}</ref>

The first significant contact of the Quechan with [[European colonization of the Americas|Europeans]] was with the [[Spanish colonization of the Americas|Spanish]] explorer [[Juan Bautista de Anza]] and his party in the winter of 1774. Relations were friendly.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Herrera |first=Carlos R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0lktBgAAQBAJ&dq=Quechan+the+yuma+colony+and+massacre&pg=PA67 |title=Juan Bautista de Anza: The King's Governor in New Mexico |date=2015-01-14 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |isbn=978-0-8061-4963-9 |language=en}}</ref>  On Anza's return from his second trip to [[Alta California]] in 1776, the [[Tribal chief|chief]] of the tribe and three of his men journeyed to [[Mexico City]] to petition the Viceroy of New Spain for the establishment of a [[Mission (station)|mission]]. The chief Palma and his three companions were [[baptized]] in Mexico City on February 13, 1777. Palma was given the Spanish baptismal name ''Salvador Carlos Antonio''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Santiago |first=Mark |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1AZsDQAAQBAJ&dq=baptismal+name+Salvador+Carlos+Antonio&pg=PA52 |title=Massacre at the Yuma Crossing: Spanish Relations with the Quechans, 1779-1782 |date=2016-12-15 |publisher=University of Arizona Press |isbn=978-0-8165-3685-6 |language=en}}</ref>

Once the initial contact had been made, The Quechan people seemed inviting toward [[Juan Bautista de Anza]]. He promised them to set up a mission where all people would live together instead of in a hierarchy. Alongside the promise, de Anza gave Palma’s people horses, steel weapons, clothes, and iron as a token of allegiance.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Service |first=United States National Park |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RY1aAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA90 |title=The Spanish Missionary Heritage of the United States: Selected Papers and Commentaries from the November 1990 Quincentenary Symposium |date=1993 |publisher=United States Department of the Interior/National Park Service |language=en}}</ref>

This allegiance would soon sour as the bureaucracy of the Spanish Empire would cause major delays to the construction of the missions. When the Spanish’s first gifts arrived in 1780, they would be more of a bad omen than a sign of friendship as the livestock being herded to them would go and trample most of if not all the Quechan’s crops. That year there was severe lack of rain thus forcing the Quechan to raid another nearby tribe known as the [[Maricopa people|Maricopa]].<ref name=":2" />

The following year, two high members of the tribe were arrested for allegedly plotting to assassinate a high-ranking officer. One of the natives was placed in stocks to humiliate them and this caused Palma to finally turn his back on the Spanish.<ref name=":2" />

Spanish settlement among the Quechan did not go smoothly; the tribe rebelled from July 17–19, 1781 and killed four priests and thirty soldiers.  They also attacked and damaged the Spanish mission settlements of [[Mission San Pedro y San Pablo de Bicuñer|San Pedro y San Pablo de Bicuñer]] and [[Mission Puerto de Purísima Concepción|Puerto de Purísima Concepción]], killing many. The following year, the Spanish retaliated with military action against the tribe.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Lawrence |first1=Deborah |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h6_xCwAAQBAJ&dq=Quechan+rebellion&pg=PT236 |title=Contesting the Borderlands: Interviews on the Early Southwest |last2=Lawrence |first2=Jon |date=2016-04-28 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |isbn=978-0-8061-5509-8 |language=en}}</ref> After 1840, the Quechan people near La Frontera returned to their original ways of religious practice as soon as the mission priests left and no one replaced them.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Porcayo-Michelini |first=Antonio |date=2022-07-03 |title=Yuman Rebels of Antigua California: Colonial Resistance in a Hostile Environment? |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1947461x.2022.2121023 |journal=California Archaeology |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=103–132 |doi=10.1080/1947461x.2022.2121023 |s2cid=252324718 |issn=1947-461X|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

After the United States annexed the territories after winning the [[Mexican–American War]], it engaged in the [[Yuma War]] from 1850 to 1853 in response to a conflict between the Quechan and [[Jaeger's Ferry]] and the [[Glanton Gang]], after the Quechan had established a rival ferry service on the Colorado River. During which, the historic Fort Yuma was built across the Colorado River from the present day [[Yuma, Arizona]].

== La Sierra de las Pintas ==
The Sierra de las Pintas was a mountain range that most Spanish expeditions would actively avoid. Spanish explorers were able to see the range, but avoided exploring due to the Quechan informing them that it was uninhabitable and had no drinkable water sources.<ref name=":0" />

When the Spanish had the Yumans guide them through the Sierra de las Pintas, they would take the Spanish to an area with little to no water in order to discourage further exploration.<ref name=":0" />

The Spanish later on attempted to explore the mountain range, searching for water in creative ways. Explorers would follow herds of [[Bighorn sheep|Bighorn Sheep]] up the mountain or by chance would find small patches of vegetation pointing toward a hidden water source.<ref name=":0" />

== The Yuma Route ==
The Yuma route was a trail that ran from Southern New Mexico and reached [[Chihuahua (state)|Chihuahua]] and [[Sonora]]. The trail branched out even further to reach the [[Los Angeles Basin]], [[San Diego]], [[Colorado River]] and the [[Gila River]]. This route was well established before the arrival of the Spanish, and used as a trade route amongst the tribes of the areas.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Forbes |first=Jack D. |date=1964-06-01 |title=The Development of the Yuma Route before 1846 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/25155639 |journal=California Historical Society Quarterly |volume=43 |issue=2 |pages=99–118 |doi=10.2307/25155639 |jstor=25155639 |issn=0008-1175|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

At first, the Spanish used minor portions of the trail. It was not until San Diego and Monterey were established that they needed a more reliable and faster path. The path was first walked by Sebastian Taraval, a [[Cochimí|Cochimi]] indigenous who fled from San Gabriel. Sebastian was then followed by Captain Juan Bautista de Anza. Anza was only able to follow Sebastian to the Imperial Valley Kamia village, where he lost Sebastian and was forced to reach the Quechan people on his own.<ref name=":1" />

==Population==
[[File:Quechans c 1875.jpg|thumb|Two Quechans in about 1875]]
Estimates for the pre-contact populations of most native groups in California have varied substantially (see [[population of Native California]]). [[Alfred L. Kroeber]] (1925:883) put the 1770 population of the Quechan at 2,500.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Quechan|title=Quechan}}</ref> 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 more than 1,100 off it (Forbes 1965:343). The [[United States Census, 2000|2000 census]] reported a resident population of 2,376 persons on the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation. As of 2023, there are about 4,000 active members of the tribe living on or near the reservation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe |url=https://tentribespartnership.org/tribes/fort-yuma-quechan-indian-tribe/ |access-date=2023-05-15 |website=Keepers of the River |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Language==
{{main|Quechan language}}
The Quechan language is part of the [[Yuman languages|Yuman language family]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cla.berkeley.edu/languages/quechan.html|title=Quechan (Yuma)}}</ref>

The Quechan tribe, in partnership with linguists, have created a fully detailed language guide. This guide includes sections about their alphabet along with the different words for actions, animals, the body, colors, directions, family and friends, house, money, nature and the environment, numbers, place names, plants, time, and shapes.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Departments - Quechan Language Preservation - Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe |url=https://www.quechantribe.com/departments-quechan-language-preservation.html |access-date=2023-05-15 |website=www.quechantribe.com}}</ref>

==Fort Yuma Native American Reservation==
{{main|Fort Yuma Indian Reservation}}
The Fort Yuma Indian Reservation is a part of the Quechan's traditional lands. Established in 1884, the reservation, at {{coord|32|47|N|114|39|W}}, has a land area of {{convert|178.197|km2|sqmi|3|abbr=on}} in southeastern [[Imperial County, California]], and western [[Yuma County, Arizona]], near the city of [[Yuma, Arizona]]. Both the county and city are named for the tribe.

==See also==
* [[Quechan traditional narratives]]
* [[Quechan language]]
* [[Fort Yuma]]
* [[Blythe geoglyphs]]
* [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas]]
* [[Classification of indigenous peoples of the Americas]]
* [[Native Americans in the United States]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|last1=Bryant |first1=George|last2=Miller|first2=Amy|title=Xiipúktan (First of All): Three Views of the Origins of the Quechan People|series=World Oral Literature Series |year=2013|volume=5 |publisher=Open Book Publishers|doi=10.11647/OBP.0037|doi-access=free |isbn=978-1-909254-40-4 }} {{open access}} 
* {{cite book |last=Forbes |first=Jack D. |year=1965 |title=Warriors of the Colorado: The Yumas of the Quechan Nation and Their Neighbors |url=https://archive.org/details/warriorsofcolora0000forb |url-access=registration |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |location=Norman }}
* {{cite book |last=Kroeber |first=A. L. |year=1925 |title=Handbook of the Indians of California |series=Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin |volume=78 |location=Washington, DC|url=https://archive.org/details/bulletin781925smit }}
* {{cite book |last=Pritzker |first=Barry M. |title=A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-19-513877-1 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/nativeamericanen0000prit }}
* Zappia, Natale A. (2014). ''Traders and Raiders: The Indigenous World of the Colorado Basin, 1540–1859.'' Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.
* {{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov |title=Yuma Reservation, California/Arizona |work=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=2006-11-27 }}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Quechan}}
* [http://www.quechantribe.com/ Quechan Tribal Council], official website
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070205123654/http://www.itcaonline.com/tribes_quechan.html Fort Yuma-Quechan Tribe], Inter Tribal Council of Arizona
{{Clear}}
{{Indigenous People of AZ}}
{{Indigenous peoples of California}}
{{Imperial County, California}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Quechan| ]]
[[Category:Native American tribes in California]]
[[Category:Native American tribes in Arizona]]
[[Category:Federally recognized tribes in the United States]]
[[Category:Indigenous peoples in Mexico]]
[[Category:Yuma, Arizona]]
[[Category:Winterhaven, California]]
[[Category:Geography of Yuma County, Arizona]]
[[Category:Geography of Imperial County, California]]