The Mojave of the Desert

Tribe: The Mojave. They refer to themselves as "Aha-Macav" or by the longer word "Hamakhaave."

Meaning of Name: "Beside the water," meaning, the Colorado River, where they have lived since 1150 AD.

Location: California, Arizona, Nevada, near the Colorado River, and also in or near Death Valley.

Original Language: Yuman, which is part of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic family.

Tribal Affiliations: Quechan and Yavapai Indians.

Traditional Enemies: Maricopa, Pima, Apache, Halchidhoma, Cocopa and Papago Indians.

Traditional Style of Housing: There were two kinds of houses. One, close to the river, was a summer wickiup or sometimes a "ramada" which was up on stilts to keep it from being flooded. The other style of house, built where flooding was not a problem and used during the winter months, was similar to the homes built by Native Americans in Alaska or the Hobbits of the Shire. They were subterranean, constructed of wood and mud and covered with dirt. They looked like small hills with doors, and belonged to the men.

Traditional Attire: Because of the heat of the desert, and before the Spanish missionaries arrived, Mojave men wore loincloths and Mojave women wore animal-skin or plant-fiber skirts, and both went barefoot or wore sandals. After the missionaries arrived, the Mojave women added a blouse, or wore long cotton ruffled skirts, long-sleeved blouses and blankets as capes. Both male and female Mojave wore their hair should-length with bangs, and the men often coated their hair in clay. Both wore tattoos or face-and-body paint, and slaves were tattooed on their chins.

Traditional Foods: Because they were an agrarian culture, the Mojave women grew their own corn, beans and squash while the Mojave men hunted for jackrabbits, turtles, chuckawalla (a kind of large ugly lizard), snakes, quail, duck, packrat, longhorn sheep, ground hogs and tent caterpillars which were roasted.  The Mojave men also fished for chubs, razorback suckers, pikeminnow, trout, bass, bluegill, black crappie, catfish and walleyes while the women gathered mesquite beans which were ground and used in bread.  They also gathered pinyon pine nuts, yucca, Joshua tree fruit, juniper berries, cactus fruit, ricegrass, wild grapes, fiddleneck, salt grass, nuts and herbs like ephedra, sagebrush, rabbit brush, and creosote bush leaves which were boiled and used as beverages.

Position of Women: Low. They did not own property, have a say in tribal affairs, or plant or irrigate the crops. The same name was given to the newborn girls as had been given to their mothers, their grandmothers and their great-grandmothers. Descent was patrilineal. On the other hand, some sources say that the women's power in the home was absolute. Women were expected to run the household, prepare and preserve the food, make the clothing, and raise the children and men were expected to provide meat for their families. If the husbands failed to do their duty, their wives would simply put their saddles and blankets outside the doors of their homes, and their husbands had to leave, period. Mojave women and children were the favorite targets during raids, for the purpose of marriage, domestic service or enslavement.

Mojave Courtship:  Dating, per se, did not exist. If a young man fancied a young woman, and if she was willing, he bought her from her father for the price of one or two horses (this is after the Spaniards had come and brought their horses, which the Native Americans quickly adopted as their own).  She didn't have much say about it. Virginity before marriage was highly valued and marriages were expected to last for life.

Interesting Tidbits: The Mojave fished using nets and baskets from pole-pushed rafts made of reeds.... Some sources say that they used an irrigation system to water their crops, and other sources say that they relied completely on river flooding.... The men were given totem clan names, like Sun, Moon, Tobacco, Fire, Cloud, Coyote, Wind, Beaver, Ocatillo Cactus, Mesquite, Mescal and Owl, but in Yuman, not in English.... While most battles between Native American people began and ended during the day, the Mojave did not have any superstitions that prevented them from raids at night, so they used this to their advantage. For this reason, most of the other tribes avoided starting a war with the Mojave.

Traditional Religion: traditional tribal religion and Christianity.

Slavery and the Mojave: Very active in the capture and sale of people from other tribes. On the other hand, other tribes valued Mojave women and children as slaves to use as field hands or domestic service, or for use in trade.

Current Population: There are more than 2000 registered Mojave.

Current Sources of Tribal Revenue: The Mojave are currently working on establishing a source of solar energy as a way of generating income as well as preserving the environment.

Famous Mojave: None that I have heard of.