The Kawaiisu A Great Basin Native tribe

By analyzing the Kawaiisu, a Great Basin Native tribe, I want to explore cultural wonders and observe their society as I compare an aspect of interest with that of another culture in the world, the Chuuk. Comparing different societies of the world will allow me to successfully learn about the Kawaiisu people in a more detailed and open minded manner. Populations all around the world throughout time have had different views and traditions of beliefs. Through this project, I hope to unravel and gain an understanding of different perspectives and ways of life.
In the Great Basin culture area, lived a once great peoples, The Kawaiisu. This tribe lived along the Sierra Nevada, and nearby Piute and Tehachapi mountains, which sometimes causes them to be categorized as Californian, also due to their similarities. As there are no extensive accounts of archeology in the Kawaiisu area, neither excavated nor published, two types of remains can be found of this aboriginal past. Scattered through the region are pictographs and “bedrock mortar holes. A test site was home to 300-500 mortar holes as well as approximately 16 house rings and many artifacts. Numerous settlement sites have been exposed and the examination of the rock art has led to be part of the Kawaiisu mythology. Regarding their history, the earliest mention of the Kawaiisu people was found in the diary of Francisco Garces, then being referred to as “The Cobaji.” He wrote that they were a generous people and were declared as “not stingy like the people of the West.” In the mid 1800’s miners and travelers started flooding the area, which brought forth occasional clashes between the natives and newcomers. The physical penetration of the land was not usually a part of these dispute...

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... and the wisdom they had to of acquired. I would want to meet with the oldest survivors and hear stories as well as search for anthropological evidence at the many sites that have been found over the years. Although a culture may be different, outdated, or un-relatable to the way of life of another people, it does not mean that that culture is inferior or unimportant. As ignorance to the erasing of these great tribes and their ideals continues, it is with a heavy heart many of the people who care, and are involved must watch them fade.

Works Cited

Bollig, L. (1927). The Inhabitants of The Truk Islands: Religion, Live and a Short Grammar of A Micronesian People. Munster i W.: Aschendorff.
Zigmond, M. L. (1986). Kawaiisu. In W. C. Sturtevant, Handbook of North American Indians (Vol. 11, pp. 398-411). Washington: Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data.