Paiute Indians
Paiute Indians, a tribe forming part of the Shoshonean division of the Uto-Aztecan language family. The Paiutes are divided into cultural subgroups, the largest being the Northern Paiute and the Southern Paiute. In the early 19th century, there were perhaps 7,500 Paiutes, most of them living in western and southern Nevada, and in adjoining areas of Oregon, California, Arizona, and Utah.
The Paiutes were hunters and gatherers, and practiced little agriculture. In the mid-19th century, many white settlers and miners intruded onto Paiute lands, destroying the Paiutes' traditional seminomadic way of life. In 1889 Wovoka, a Paiute shaman also known as Jack Wilson, had a vision promising that if certain ceremonies—known to whites as the Ghost Dance—were faithfully followed, the buffalo and the dead Indians would return and the whites would disappear. The Ghost Dance religion soon spread to other tribes.
The Paiutes have reservations in Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Arizona, and California. Their present population is about 10,000.