Editing Chemehuevi (section)

==History and traditional culture==
[[Image:Chemehuevi.jpg|thumb|left|180px|McKinley Fisher, a Chemehuevi man employed by the Indian Service at Colorado Agency, Arizona in 1957.]]
The Chemehuevi were originally a desert tribe among the [[Southern Paiute]] group. Post-contact, they lived primarily in the eastern [[Mojave Desert]] and later [[Cottonwood Island (Nevada)|Cottonwood Island]] in [[Nevada]] and the Chemehuevi Valley along the [[Colorado River]] in [[California]]. They were a nomadic people living in small groups given the sparse resources available in the desert environment.  Carobeth Laird indicates their traditional territory spanned the [[High Desert (California)|High Desert]] from the [[Colorado River]] on the east to the [[Tehachapi Mountains]] on the west and from the [[metropolitan area|Las Vegas]] area and [[Death Valley]] on the north to the [[San Bernardino Mountains|San Bernardino]] and [[San Gabriel Mountains]] in the south. They are most closely identified as among the [[Great Basin Indians]].  Among others they are cousins of the [[Kawaiisu]].<ref>Laird 1976</ref>

The most comprehensive collection of Chemehuevi history, culture and mythology was gathered by [[Carobeth Laird]] (1895–1983) and her second husband, George Laird, one of the last Chemehuevi to have been raised in the traditional culture. Carobeth Laird, a linguist and ethnographer, wrote a comprehensive account of the culture and language as George Laird remembered it, and published their collaborative efforts in her 1976 ''The Chemehuevis'', the first – and, to date, only – ethnography of the Chemehuevi traditional culture.

Describing the Chemehuevi as she knew them, and presenting the texture of traditional life amongst the people, Carobeth Laird writes:

<blockquote>The Chemehuevi character is made up of polarities which are complementary rather than contradictory. They are loquacious yet capable of silence; gregarious yet so close to the earth that single families or even men alone might live and travel for long periods away from other human beings; proud, yet capable of a gentle self-ridicule. They are conservative to a degree, yet insatiably curious and ready to inquire into and even to adopt new ways: to visit all tribes, whether friends or enemies; to speak strange tongues, sing strange songs, and marry strange wives.<ref>Laird, p. 4</ref></blockquote>The Chemehuevi made intricately coiled baskets using a three-rod foundation of willow. Traditionally, the majority of weaving was completed with split willow, and darker patterns were made with devil's claw and yucca, among other materials.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Kania|first=John J.|date=Winter 2007|title=Bread for Baskets: The Ammann Collection of Chemehuevi Basketry|url=https://scvhistory.com/scvhistory/ammann_l1190_aiam_march2007.pdf|website=SCV History}}</ref> This traditional style of basketmaking is currently practiced by a small group of weavers.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020|title=Mary 'Weegie' Claw Chemehuevi and Kawaiisu basketry|url=https://www.actaonline.org/profile/mary-weegie-claw/|website=Alliance for California Traditional Arts}}</ref>