Editing Colorado River (section)

===Pre-colonial indigenous peoples===
[[Image:Cliff_Palace-Colorado-Mesa_Verde_NP.jpg|thumb|right|280px|Cliff Palace, [[Mesa Verde National Park]]]]
Small numbers of [[Paleo-Indian]]s of the [[Clovis culture|Clovis]] and [[Folsom culture]]s inhabited the Colorado Plateau as early as 10,000 BCE, with populations beginning to increase in the Desert Archaic period (6000 BCE–0 CE).<ref name="CP">{{cite web |url=http://cpluhna.nau.edu/People/people.htm |title=People of the Colorado Plateau |publisher=Northern Arizona University |work=Land Use History of North America |access-date=April 9, 2012 |archive-date=June 29, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150629182507/http://www.cpluhna.nau.edu/People/people.htm}}</ref> While most early inhabitants were hunter-gatherers, evidence of agriculture, masonry dwellings and [[petroglyph]]s begins with the [[Fremont culture]] period (0–1300 CE). The [[Ancient Puebloan]] culture, also known as Anasazi or Hisatsinom, were descended from the Desert Archaic culture and became established in the Four Corners region around 1000 CE.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/wrfo/Cultural_Resources/formative_era_fremont.html |title=Formative Era/Fremont Culture |publisher=U.S. Bureau of Land Management |date=August 31, 2009 |access-date=April 9, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120623051811/http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/wrfo/Cultural_Resources/formative_era_fremont.html |archive-date=June 23, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/dino/historyculture/fremont-culture.htm |title=Fremont Culture |publisher=U.S. National Park Service |work=Dinosaur National Monument |access-date=April 9, 2012 |archive-date=August 15, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120815052653/http://www.nps.gov/dino/historyculture/fremont-culture.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Vess |first=Deborah |url=http://www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~dvess/ids/amtours/anawciv.htm |title=The Anasazi |publisher=Georgia College and State University |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608070125/http://www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~dvess/ids/amtours/anawciv.htm |archive-date=June 8, 2011}}</ref>

While there is much evidence of ancient habitation along the Colorado River, including stone dwellings, petroglyphs and pottery in places such as Glen Canyon,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.knau.org/knau-and-arizona-news/2022-05-12/archaeological-sites-once-thought-lost-under-lake-powell-reappear-as-water-drops|title=Archaeological sites once thought lost under Lake Powell reappear as water drops|work=Arizona Public Radio|author=Sevigny, Melissa|date=May 12, 2022|accessdate=August 11, 2024}}</ref> the first major agriculture-based societies arose a significant distance from the river. The [[Puebloans|Puebloan]] people built many multi-story pueblos or "great houses", and developed complex distribution systems to supply drinking and irrigation water in [[Chaco Canyon]] in northwestern New Mexico<ref name=luhna>{{cite web |url=http://cpluhna.nau.edu/Change/waterdevelopment2.htm |title=Water Development, Extraction, and Diversion |page=2 |work=Land Use History of North America: Colorado Plateau |publisher=Northern Arizona University |access-date=October 21, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150214234430/http://cpluhna.nau.edu/Change/waterdevelopment2.htm |archive-date=February 14, 2015}}</ref> and [[Mesa Verde National Park|Mesa Verde]] in southwest Colorado.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/meve/learn/historyculture/upload/ancestral_pueblo_people_2018_508_01-24-18-2.pdf|title=Ancestral Pueblo People and Their World|publisher=U.S. National Park Service|date=|accessdate=August 20, 2024}}</ref> The [[Hohokam]], present in the modern Phoenix area since about 0 CE, experienced prolific growth around 600–700 CE as they constructed a large system of irrigation canals making use of the [[Salt River (Arizona)|Salt River]]. Both civilizations supported large populations at their height, with 6,000–15,000 in Chaco Canyon{{sfn|Nobles|1998|p = 26}} and as many as 30,000–200,000 Hohokam.{{sfn|Logan|2006|pp = 21–22}}
{| style="float:right; width:15em; margin:1em; border:1px solid grey; padding:5px; background:beige; text-align:center;"
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| align=center | '''Indigenous names for the Colorado River'''
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|{{langx|hop|Pisisvayu}}<ref>Hopi Dictionary/Hopìikwa Lavàytutuveni:. Hopi-English Dictionary of the Third Mesa Dialect. The Hopi Dictionary Project. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1997.</ref>
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|{{langx|mrc|'Xakxwet}}<ref>Antone, Caroline. ''Piipayk m'iim''. Salt River: Oʼodham Piipaash Language Program, 2000.</ref>
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|{{langx|mov|'Aha Kwahwat}}{{sfn|Gupta|2010|p=362}}
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|{{langx|nv|Tó Ntsʼósíkooh}}
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|{{langx|yuf-x-hav|Ha Ŧay Gʼam}} /<br />{{lang|yuf-x-hav|Sil Gsvgov|italic=yes}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Hinton |first=Leanne |title=A Dictionary of the Havasupai Language |year=1984 |publisher=Havasupai Tribe |location=Supai, Arizona |oclc=12358778}}</ref>
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|{{langx|yuf-x-yav|ʼHakhwata}}<ref>{{Cite thesis |author=William Alan Shaterian |title=Phonology and Dictionary of Yavapai |publisher=University of California, Berkeley |year=1983 |type=PhD dissertation |oclc=13197420}}</ref>
|}
Puebloan and Hohokam settlements were abruptly abandoned in the 1400s CE, due both to over-exploitation of natural resources such as timber, and severe drought that made it impossible to maintain irrigation systems.<ref name="tenthmil">{{cite web |url=http://tenthmil.com/mission/timeline/ancient_forest_management_in_the_chaco_canyon |title=Ancient Forest Management in the Chaco Canyon – From 600 AD to 1300 AD |publisher=Tenthmil |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101224005421/http://tenthmil.com/mission/timeline/ancient_forest_management_in_the_chaco_canyon |archive-date=December 24, 2010}}</ref><ref name="Schwinning">{{cite journal |title=Sensitivity of the Colorado Plateau to Change: Climate, Ecosystems and Society |journal=Ecology and Society |volume=13 |page=28 |year=2008 |author1=Schwinning, Susan |author2=Belnap, Jayne |author3=Bowling, David R. |author4=Ehleringer, James R. |name-list-style=amp |issue=2 |doi=10.5751/ES-02412-130228 |doi-access=free |hdl=10535/2863 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> Many Puebloans migrated east to the Rio Grande Valley, while others persisted in smaller settlements on the Colorado Plateau. Puebloan descendants include the [[Hopi]], [[Zuni people|Zuni]], [[Laguna people|Laguna]] and [[Acoma people|Acoma]] peoples of modern Arizona and New Mexico.<ref name="CP"/> [[O'odham]] peoples, including the [[Akimel O'odham]] (Pima) and [[Maricopa people|Maricopa]] who continue to live in southern Arizona, are believed to be descended from the Hohokam.<ref name="CP"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://phoenix.gov/recreation/arts/museums/pueblo/about/visitorinfo/materials/dfdisappearance.html |title=Desert Farmers at the River's Edge: The Hohokam and Pueblo Grande |author1=Andrews, John P. |author2=Bostwick, Todd W. |publisher=City of Phoenix |work=Pueblo Grande Museum Archaeological Park |access-date=April 10, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120508080438/http://phoenix.gov/recreation/arts/museums/pueblo/about/visitorinfo/materials/dfdisappearance.html |archive-date=May 8, 2012}}</ref><ref name="pima">{{cite web |url=http://www.srpmic-nsn.gov/history_culture/pimapast.asp |title=A Pima Past |publisher=Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community |author=Shaw, Anne Moore |access-date=April 10, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120034144/http://www.srpmic-nsn.gov/history_culture/pimapast.asp |archive-date=January 20, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> 

The lower Colorado River valley was inhabited for thousands of years by numerous tribes of the [[Patayan]] cultures, many of which belong to the [[Yuman-Cochimi languages|Yuman-Cochimi language group]]. These include the [[Walapai]], [[Havasupai]] and [[Yavapai]] in the Grand Canyon region; the [[Mohave people|Mohave]], [[Halchidhoma]], [[Quechan people|Quechan]], and [[Halyikwamai]] along the Colorado River between Black Canyon and the Mexican border, and the [[Cocopah people|Cocopah]] around the Colorado River Delta. The [[Chemehuevi]] (a branch of the [[Southern Paiute]]) and the [[Kumeyaay]] inhabited the desert to the river's west.<ref name=Yuman>{{cite web|url=https://open.uapress.arizona.edu/read/2d8a8c6f-6ac9-42c7-948b-c6e915ead695/section/76b1ffac-3d68-4022-bfee-c9dc93fe5f19|title=Yuman Antagonists: Maricopas, Quechans and Mohaves to 1857|publisher=University of Arizona Press|work=Massacre on the Gila: An Account of the Last Major Battle Between American Indians, with Reflections on the Origin of War|author=Kroeber, Clifton B. and Fontana, Bernard L.|accessdate=August 20, 2024}}</ref> Those living along the lower Colorado River depended more on fishing and floodplain agriculture than on irrigation, and mostly did not live in permanent settlements.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nrcprograms.org/site/PageServer?pagename=swirc_res_ca_mohave |title=California: Mohave |publisher=Southwest Indian Relief Council |access-date=April 10, 2012 |archive-date=December 13, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121213172312/http://www.nrcprograms.org/site/PageServer?pagename=swirc_res_ca_mohave |url-status=live }}</ref> The site of modern-day Yuma has been [[Yuma Crossing|an important river crossing]] since ancient times, as the channel here is much narrower compared to the expansive, swampy river bottoms to the north and south, and enabled the expansion of trade to the Pima and Maricopa in the east and coastal California tribes in the west.<ref name=Yuman/>

[[Image:Navajo Woman and Infant, Canyon de Chelle, Arizona (Canyon de Chelly National Monument), 1933 - 1942 - NARA - 519947.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Black and white photograph of a Native American woman holding a child|[[Navajo people|Navajo]] woman and child, photographed by [[Ansel Adams]], c. 1944]]
The [[Navajo people|Navajo]] (Diné) began migrating into the Colorado River Basin around 1000–1500 CE, and eventually exercised influence over much of the Colorado Plateau. Originally hunter-gatherers, they acquired knowledge of farming from the Puebloans and adopted a more sedentary lifestyle over time, making extensive use of irrigation in their settlements.<ref name="NavajoUC">{{cite web |url=http://www.ics.uci.edu/~aisi/97_aisics/people/jsells/assign5.html |title=Dine History and Facts |publisher=Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences |location=University of California, Irvine |access-date=April 10, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121211142719/http://www.ics.uci.edu/~aisi/97_aisics/people/jsells/assign5.html |archive-date=December 11, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.navajobusiness.com/pdf/FstFctspdf/A%20Brief%20History.pdf |title=The Navajo: A Brief History |publisher=The Navajo Nation Division of Economic Development |access-date=April 10, 2012 |archive-date=September 4, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120904050849/http://navajobusiness.com/pdf/FstFctspdf/A%20Brief%20History.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The Navajo gradually displaced Hopi settlements as they expanded into northern Arizona after the 1500s. [[Navajo Mountain]] and [[Rainbow Bridge National Monument|Rainbow Bridge]] in the Glen Canyon area came to hold particular religious significance for the Navajo, and the nearby confluence of the Colorado and San Juan River is regarded as the birthplace of clouds and rain.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/187/oa_monograph/chapter/202309|title=Navajo Mountain Religion: Rainbow Bridge through Indian Eyes|author=Hassell, Hank|publisher=Johns Hopkins University|year=2001|accessdate=August 20, 2024}}</ref>

The [[Ute people|Ute]] also became established in the Colorado Plateau around 1500 CE, although they had inhabited more northerly parts of the Colorado basin (modern Wyoming and northern Colorado) since at least 0 CE.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cpluhna.nau.edu/People/ute_indians.htm |title=Ute |publisher=Northern Arizona University |work=Land Use History of North America |access-date=April 9, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205112023/http://www.cpluhna.nau.edu/People/ute_indians.htm |archive-date=February 5, 2012}}</ref>{{sfn|Benke|Cushing|p=486|2005}} They are the first known inhabitants of this part of the Rocky Mountains, and made use of an extensive network of trails crisscrossing the mountains to move between summer and winter camps. The Ute were divided into numerous bands with separate territories but shared a common language and customs. The Uncompahgre or Tabeguache lived around the confluence of the upper Colorado and Gunnison Rivers, an area including the [[Grand Mesa]]; the Weenuchiu lived along the San Juan River, and the Parianuche and Yamparika lived in the Yampa, [[White River (Green River tributary)|White]] and [[Duchesne River]] valleys.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.southernute-nsn.gov/history/|title=History|publisher=Southern Ute Indian Tribe|accessdate=August 20, 2024}}</ref> The Ute ranged as far as the river's headwaters; one Ute story recounts a battle with the [[Arapaho people|Arapaho]] at Grand Lake, which they believe still hosts the spirits of the deceased.