The Quechan (or Yuma) (

Quechan The Quechan (or Yuma) (Quechan: ''Kwatsáan'' 'those who descended') are a Native American tribe who live on the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation on the lower Colorado River in Arizona and California just north of the Mexican border. Despite the ...

: ''Kwatsáan'' 'those who descended') are a Native American

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...

who live on the

Fort Yuma Indian Reservation The Fort Yuma Indian Reservation is a part of the traditional lands of the Quechan people. Established in 1884 from the former Fort Yuma, the reservation, at , has a land area of in southeastern Imperial County, California, and western Yuma Coun ...

on the lower

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 ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

just north of the Mexican border. Despite their name, they are not related to the

Quechua people Quechua people (, ; ) or Quichua people, may refer to any of the aboriginal people of South America who speak the Quechua languages, which originated among the Indigenous people of Peru. Although most Quechua speakers are native to Peru, there ...

of the Andes. Members are enrolled into the Quechan Tribe of the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation. The federally recognized Quechan tribe's main office is located in Winterhaven, California. Its operations and the majority of its reservation land are located in

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

History

The historic Yuman-speaking people in this region were skilled warriors and active traders, maintaining exchange networks with the

Pima Pima or PIMA may refer to: People * Pima people, the Akimel O'odham, Indigenous peoples in Arizona (U.S.) and Sonora (Mexico) Places * Pima, Arizona, a town in Graham County * Pima County, Arizona * Pima Canyon, in the Santa Catalina Mountains ...

in southern Arizona, New Mexico, and with peoples of the Pacific coast. The first significant contact of the Quechan with

Europeans Europeans are the focus of European ethnology, the field of anthropology related to the various ethnic groups that reside in the states of Europe. Groups may be defined by common genetic ancestry, common language, or both. Pan and Pfeil (2004) ...

was with the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

explorer

Juan Bautista de Anza Juan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto (July 6 or 7, 1736 – December 19, 1788) was an expeditionary leader, military officer, and politician primarily in California and New Mexico under the Spanish Empire. He is credited as one of the founding fa ...

and his party in the winter of 1774. Relations were friendly. On Anza's return from his second trip to

Alta California Alta California ('Upper California'), also known as ('New California') among other names, was a province of New Spain, formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but ...

in 1776, the

chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

of the tribe and three of his men journeyed to

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

to petition the Viceroy of New Spain for the establishment of a

mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

. The chief Palma and his three companions were

baptized Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

in Mexico City on February 13, 1777. Palma was given the Spanish baptismal name ''Salvador Carlos Antonio''. Spanish settlement among the Quechan did not go smoothly; the tribe rebelled from July 17–19, 1781 and killed four priests and thirty soldiers. They also attacked and damaged the Spanish mission settlements of San Pedro y San Pablo de Bicuñer and Puerto de Purísima Concepción, killing many. The following year, the Spanish retaliated with military action against the tribe. After the United States annexed the territories after winning the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

, it engaged in the

Yuma War The Yuma War was the name given to a series of United States military operations conducted in southern California and what is today southwestern Arizona from 1850 to 1853. The Quechan (also known as Yuma) were the primary opponent of the United ...

from 1850 to 1853 in response to a conflict between the Quechan and

Jaeger's Ferry Jaeger's Ferry was a major river ferry at the Yuma Crossing of the Colorado River in the 1850s until 1862, 1 mile below Fort Yuma. Early History of the site Long a crossing point on the river, from the time of Juan Bautista de Anza it was used b ...

and the

Glanton Gang John Joel Glanton (1819 – 23 April 1850) was an early settler of Arkansas, a Texas Ranger and noted soldier in the Mexican–American War, and the leader of a notorious gang of scalp-hunters in Northern Mexico and the Southwestern United States d ...

, after the Quechan had established a rival ferry service on the Colorado River. During which, the historic Fort Yuma was built across the Colorado River from the present day

Yuma, Arizona Yuma ( coc, Yuum) is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The city's population was 93,064 at the 2010 census, up from the 2000 census population of 77,515. Yuma is the principal city of the Yuma, Arizona, M ...

Population

Estimates for the pre-contact populations of most native groups in California have varied substantially (see

population of Native California The population of Native California refers to the population of Indigenous peoples of California. Estimates prior to and after European contact have varied substantially. Pre-contact estimates range from 133,000 to 705,000 with some recent schol ...

Alfred L. Kroeber Alfred Louis Kroeber (June 11, 1876 – October 5, 1960) was an American cultural anthropologist. He received his PhD under Franz Boas at Columbia University in 1901, the first doctorate in anthropology awarded by Columbia. He was also the first ...

(1925:883) put the 1770 population of the Quechan at 2,500. Jack D. Forbes (1965:341–343) compiled historical estimates and suggested that before they were first contacted, the Quechan had numbered 4,000 or a few more. Kroeber estimated the population of the Quechan in 1910 as 750. By 1950, there were reported to be just under 1,000 Quechan living on the reservation and more than 1,100 off it (Forbes 1965:343). The 2000 census reported a resident population of 2,376 persons on the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation.

Language

The Quechan language is part of the

Yuman language family The Quechan (or Yuma) (Quechan language, Quechan: ''Kwatsáan'' 'those who descended') are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe who live on the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation on the lower Colorado River in Arizona and ...

Fort Yuma Native American Reservation

The Fort Yuma Indian Reservation is a part of the Quechan's traditional lands. Established in 1884, the reservation, at , has a land area of in southeastern

Imperial County, California Imperial County is a County (United States), county on the southeast border of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 179,702, making it the least populous county in Southern Californi ...

, and western

Yuma County, Arizona Yuma County is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, its population was 203,881. The county seat is Yuma. Yuma County includes the Yuma, Arizona Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county bor ...

, near the city of

. Both the county and city are named for the tribe.

Footnotes

External links

Quechan Tribal Council
official website

Inter Tribal Council of Arizona {{authority control Native American tribes in California Native American tribes in Arizona Federally recognized tribes in the United States Indigenous peoples in Mexico Yuma, Arizona Winterhaven, California Geography of Yuma County, Arizona Geography of Imperial County, California