The Fort Mohave Indian Reservation is an

Indian reservation An Indian reservation is an area of land held and governed by a federally recognized Native American tribal nation whose government is accountable to the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs and not to the state government in which it ...

along the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...

, currently encompassing in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, and in

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

. The reservation is home to approximately 1,100 members of the federally recognized Fort Mojave Indian Tribe of Arizona, California, and Nevada ( mov, Pipa Aha Macav), a

federally recognized tribe This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States of America. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes were legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United ...

Mohave people Mohave or Mojave ( Mojave: 'Aha Makhav) are a Native American people indigenous to the Colorado River in the Mojave Desert. The Fort Mojave Indian Reservation includes territory within the borders of California, Arizona, and Nevada. The Colorad ...

. Native Americans occupy less than 50 percent of the Mojave reservation. The

have leased much of their land to

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

, and

soybean The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean, which has numerous uses. Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, from which tofu an ...

farming companies, which employ a large population of resident

European-Americans European Americans (also referred to as Euro-Americans) are Americans of European ancestry. This term includes people who are descended from the first European settlers in the United States as well as people who are descended from more recent E ...

and

Mexican American Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexica ...

s. The site of the former

Fort Mohave Fort Mohave was originally named Camp Colorado when it was established on April 19, 1859 by Lieutenant Colonel William Hoffman during the Mohave War. It was located on the east bank of the Colorado River, at Beale's Crossing, near the head of t ...

and the eastern terminus of the

Mojave Road The Mojave Road, also known as Old Government Road (formerly the Mohave Trail), is a historic route and present day dirt road across what is now the Mojave National Preserve in the Mojave Desert in the United States. This rough road stretched f ...

are situated within the Fort Mojave Indian Reservation.

History

These lands were occupied for thousands of years by succeeding cultures of

Indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

. The property covers areas along the

of the three adjacent states of Arizona, California, and Nevada. It also is sporadically traversed by the

Mojave River The Mojave River is an intermittent river in the eastern San Bernardino Mountains and the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County, California, United States. Most of its flow is underground, while its surface channels remain dry most of the time, ...

in California. The Fort Mohave Indian Reservation was established in 1890, and comprised the land of the former camp Mojave military reservation, thereby transferring it from the

War Department War Department may refer to: * War Department (United Kingdom) * United States Department of War (1789–1947) See also * War Office, a former department of the British Government * Ministry of defence * Ministry of War * Ministry of Defence * Dep ...

to the

Office of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and ...

. For decades until the early 1930s, it operated an Indian boarding school for Native American students from the Mohave and other tribes, as part of efforts to assimilate youth to the mainstream culture. They were forced to speak English and practice Christianity while at the school. The property was transferred to the reservation in 1935. It has allowed the buildings to deteriorate, as they were symbolic of a painful period in relations with the US.

Economy

The Mojave have leased considerable amounts of reservation land to agricultural companies for cultivation of commodity crops: soybeans, corn, and alfalfa. Many Caucasian and Mexican American workers live here, with less than 50% of the reservation occupied by Mohave and other Native Americans. From 1995 the tribe operates the

Avi Resort & Casino Avi Resort & Casino is a hotel and casino located near the southern tip of Nevada on the banks of the Colorado River in Laughlin, Nevada, next to Fort Mohave, Arizona. Within walking distance of the California and Arizona borders, it is owned by ...

in Nevada. On October 20, 2003, the reservation government announced an agreement between the reservation and California Governor

Gray Davis Joseph Graham "Gray" Davis Jr. (born December 26, 1942) is an American attorney and former politician who served as the 37th governor of California from 1999 to 2003. In 2003, only a few months into his second term, Davis was recalled and remov ...

to allow the operation of a

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

west of

Needles, California Needles is a city in San Bernardino County, California, in the Mojave Desert region of Southern California. Situated on the western banks of the Colorado River, Needles is located near the Californian border with Arizona and Nevada. The city is a ...

(directly across the Colorado River from the Tribe's Arizona Reservation Lands).

Language revitalization

As of 2012, The Center for Indian Education at

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

"has facilitated "workshops for both learners and speakers at the Fort Mojave Indian Reservation in northwest Arizona, California and Nevada. Fort Mojave has about 22 elders who speak some Mojave." The project is also bringing elders together with younger people to teach the traditional Mojave "bird songs." The language preservation work of poet

Natalie Diaz Natalie may refer to: People * Natalie (given name) * Natalie (singer) (born 1979), Mexican-American R&B singer/songwriter * Shahan Natalie Shahan Natalie ( hy, Շահան Նաթալի; July 14, 1884 – April 19, 1983) was an Armenian wri ...

on the reservation was featured on the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

''News Hour'' in March 2012.

Location

The Fort Mojave Indian Reservation is located at .

Education

The portion of the reservation in California is served by the

Needles Unified School District Needles is part of San Bernardino County in California, but is on the borders of the states of Arizona and Nevada. Needles has been a regular stop for the Santa Fe railway since the 19th century. Route 66 also runs through the town. Schools in th ...

and the portion in Nevada by the

Clark County School District The Clark County School District (CCSD) is a school district that serves all of Clark County, Nevada, including the cities of Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas, and Boulder City; as well as the census-designated places of Laughlin, Blue D ...

. For elementary education in Arizona, one of the portions served by the

Bullhead City Elementary School District Bullhead City School District #15 is a public school district based in Mohave County, Arizona Mohave County is in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, its population was 213,267. The county seat is K ...

and the other by the

Mohave Valley Elementary School District Mohave Valley School District 16 is a school district in Mohave County, Arizona. The district draws students from Fort Mojave and Mohave Valley as well as the Fort Mojave Indian Reservation The Fort Mohave Indian Reservation is an Indian reser ...

. Both portions in Arizona are served by the

Colorado River Union High School District The Colorado River Union High School District (also known as CRUHSD) is the high school district in Bullhead City, Arizona, USA, and surrounding areas. It operates three high schools, River Valley High School and Mohave High School, anCRUHSD Acad ...

for secondary education.

Communities

Arizona Village, Arizona Arizona Village is a census-designated place (CDP) on the Fort Mojave Indian Reservation in Mohave County, Arizona, United States. The population was 1,057 at the 2020 census, up from 946 in 2010 and 351 in 2000. Geography Arizona Village is loc ...

(part) *

Fort Mohave, Arizona Fort Mohave is an unincorporated community and CDP in Mohave County, Arizona, United States. It is named for a nearby fort that was used during the Mohave War. As of the 2020 census, the population of Fort Mohave was 16,190, up from 14,364 in 20 ...

(part) *

Golden Shores, Arizona Golden Shores is a census-designated place (CDP) in Mohave County, Arizona, United States. The population was 1,927 at the 2020 census. Residents are part of the 86436 ZIP code area, with a mailing address of Topock. Geography Golden Shores i ...

(part) * Mesquite Creek, Arizona *

Mohave Valley, Arizona Mohave Valley ('Amat' 'Analy Uuhwely in Mojave) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Mohave County, Arizona, United States. The population was 2,693 at the 2020 census. It is geographically connected to Needles, ...

(part, population 121) *

Mojave Ranch Estates, Arizona Mojave Ranch Estates is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Mohave County, Arizona, United States. The population was 53 as of the 2020 census. Geography Mojave Ranch Estates is in western Mohave County at (34.94965 ...

(part, population 208; seat of tribal government) *

Willow Valley, Arizona Willow Valley is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Mohave County, Arizona, United States. The population was 1,059 as of the 2020 census. Geography Willow Valley is located in western Mohave County at (34.918471, ...

(part)

References

External links

Official Tribe Website

Fort Mojave Reservation
Northern Arizona University
Fort Mojave Tribe
InterTribal Council of Arizona {{authority control American Indian reservations in Arizona American Indian reservations in California American Indian reservations in Nevada Populated places in Clark County, Nevada Populated places in Mohave County, Arizona Federally recognized tribes in the United States Communities in the Lower Colorado River Valley Colorado River tribes Populated places in San Bernardino County, California Arizona populated places on the Colorado River California populated places on the Colorado River