Colorado River Indians
The Chemehuevi (Nu Wu)
The Chemihuevi name is derived from a Mohave word that relates to fish. However, the Chemihuevi prefer to distinguish themselves as “Nu Wu” or “people,” using their own language when referring to each other.
The Nu Wu are closely related to the Southern Paiute of southern Nevada. Historically, they were nomadic people who were hunters and gatherers. Linguistically, their dialect is very similar to the Ute (Kaquiisi) and the Paiute.
Originally, the Nu Wu lived in the area between southern Nevada and Yuma, Arizona, in small family groups. Ancient human habitation is very evident from the numerous petroglyphs (rock carvings), and ancient trails and pictographs (picture writings) that have been discovered in the area. The Colorado River Indian Reservation, created by an act of Congress in 1865, was originally created for just the Nu Wu and Mohave, and was located on their ancestral homeland. But in 1945, the U.S. Government relocated members of the Hopi and Navajo from their traditional lands onto this reservation.
The reservation consists of 278,000 acres of land in the states of Arizona and California. The Colorado River runs directly through the reservation. The almost perfect weather year-round and the rich fertile river-bottom land make farming one of the major industries on the reservation. It is unique in the sense that is occupied by four distinct tribal groups—Mohave, Nu Wu, Hopi and Navajo, each group with its own separate culture and traditions. As of today, the four tribes that make up the Colorado River Indian Tribes respectively continue to promote and maintain their individual and unique traditional ways, and when necessary, come together and function as one political unit.
Within the reservation is the town of Parker, and next to this is found the Colorado Indian Tribes Museum. The museum displays artifacts, cultural items and artwork of the four nations of Nu Wu, Mohave, Hopi and Navajo. Fame is given to the Nu Wu’s highly developed skill of beadwork and basket weaving. Nu Wu baskets are among the finest in the Southwest, and are exquisitely woven using willow, devil’s claw and juncus. Sadly, these baskets are becoming more and more difficult to obtain, due to being fewer weavers who practice the art.
Memorial Tribute:
“To all men and women who honorably served in the United States armed forces in defense of the nation and its people, particularly to those Americans of Japanese ancestry, who, during World War II, fought so valiantly for their country while their parents and families were being interned in the Poston war relocation center without due process of law. And to those brave young men who gave their lives in service to their country.”
During World War II, the United States was in conflict with Japan. The federal government built several Japanese internment camps on reservations throughout the southwest, purportedly for national security reasons. The Colorado River Tribes area was designated as one of these sites. This historic development brought changes to the reservation. As roads were constructed, land was cleared and innovative agricultural experiments were tested. The results of these experiments successfully raised the economy of the area.
Beginning in May and ending in August 1942, 17,876 Japanese evacuees from the pacific coast states and Arizona arrived to the reservation. Most of the evacuees were from California. The extreme, relentless desert sun scorched the earth, and the frequent winds whipped the sands into blinding dust storms. In winter, chilling winds easily penetrated the walls and wide floor cracks of the flimsily built tarpaper barracks. Adding to the hardships of internment, infrequent but torrential rains would quickly turn the parched dirt walkways and roads into slippery treacherous and muddy quagmires. Amidst the trauma of forced evacuation and the indignities of internment, Japanese children were the first to adapt to the routine of camp life. They found numerous playmates, but they lacked toys and other playthings. Creative parents, relatives and friends relied on their imagination to make playthings from scrap lumber, rocks, trees branches, shells and other available materials for the children.
Betty Cornelius’ (Chemehuevi) Story
My interview with both Betty and Franklin took place one early afternoon within the reservation’s museum. The weather outside was definitely in the upper 90’s, so I was thankful to be in an air-conditioned building. We all sat at a table and because we were alone in the museum, it was obvious that Betty and Franklin felt very free to openly discuss their experiences without having to look over their shoulders. Given the historical nature of their reservation, this story in particular was a uniquely informative experience for me.
— Antonio
“I’m Nu Wu and I’ve lived at the reservation most of my life, except for a period of twenty-five years when I got married and lived in Los Angeles, California. Currently I’m the Director of the Colorado Indian Museum and I’ve held this position for eight years. Before I tell you about the ghostly activity in the area, I need to give a quick historical background of the area, which involved the internment of Japanese Americans at the beginning of World War II. Soon after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, an executive order enacted by then-president Franklin Delano Roosevelt stated that, beginning in the city of San Francisco and extending to El Paso, Texas, all Japanese Americans would be placed in several internment camps located throughout the southwest. Our reservation was chosen to be one of these sites.
A major task begun by the U.S. government at the time of the Japanese relocation, was to house thousands of people, and to construct needed shelter. Lumber in constructing these houses and barracks was needed in large quantities. Unfortunately, due to our hot desert climate, such large lumber-producing trees did not grow in the area. The necessary lumber was brought to the reservation by train. It so happened that both the lumber and Japanese were brought to the relocation camp by train. The Japanese were put into boxcars and taken to our reservation. There were in total between eighteen to twenty thousand Japanese who were relocated to three camps in this area, which were named Camp One, Camp Two and Camp Three. The U.S. Government made the Japanese build their own community structures from the lumber that was delivered by these same trains. They built single-family homes and long barracks that were designed to house about ten families. The uniqueness of their architecture was unmistakable. These houses were built in a distinct “pagoda” style. The roofline swung out and curved slightly upward, away from the outside walls, and there was a distinct space between where the roof and the ceiling came together. The Japanese grew vegetables in community gardens, built small ponds, built a movie theatre, and as much as we could tell, they kept up their own cultural traditions. Many babies were born in these camps and many elderly Japanese died at the camps. I heard that some of the dead were taken back to the towns where they were removed from, or shipped back to Japan. I personally am aware that several Japanese bodies were buried in the Parker cemetery, just a few miles north of here.
The relocation camps existed for approximately four years, from 1942 to 1946. When the Japanese were eventually relocated back to the larger society, the houses and barracks, which they had built, were given to the Colorado Indian Community. The barracks were cut into equal sections of about fifteen to twenty feet wide, by equal lengths long, and distributed to Indian families. A few of these old Japanese houses are still standing on the reservation. Some of these houses, which we Indians were given, were haunted. Spirits of those Japanese who lived and died within the walls of the houses they built with their own hands refused to move on. I know of one Indian family that moved into one of those Japanese houses, and they had strange things happen. The doors of the house would open and close on their own. A chair would move away from the table as if pushed by invisible pair of hands. As if someone