The Fort Bidwell Indian Community of the Fort Bidwell Reservation of California is a federally recognized tribe of Northern Paiute Indians in

Modoc County Modoc County () is a county in the far northeast corner of the U.S. state of California. Its population is 8,700 as of the 2020 census, down from 9,686 from the 2010 census. This makes it California's third-least populous county. The county seat ...

in the northeast corner of

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 ...

."California Indians and Their Reservations."
''San Diego State University Library and Information Access.'' 2009 (retrieved 8 Dec 2009)

Background

The population as of 1969 was 112. The agency is the Northern California agency. The principal tribe is

Paiute Paiute (; also Piute) refers to three non-contiguous groups of indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. Although their languages are related within the Numic group of Uto-Aztecan languages, these three groups do not form a single set. The term "Pai ...

. They had laws and regulations, in order to establish a legal community organization and secure certain privileges and powers offered to us by the

Indian Reorganization Act The Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) of June 18, 1934, or the Wheeler–Howard Act, was U.S. federal legislation that dealt with the status of American Indians in the United States. It was the centerpiece of what has been often called the "Indian ...

, they established a constitution and by-laws for the Fort Bidwell Indian Community. There were various laws placed on membership, territory, land as well as amendments.

Reservation

The Fort Bidwell Indian Community has a federal reservation, the Fort Bidwell Reservation, in Modoc County, near the town of

Fort Bidwell, California Fort Bidwell is a census-designated place in Modoc County, California. It is located northeast of Alturas, at an elevation of 4564 feet (1391 m). Its population is 180 as of the 2020 census, up from 173 from the 2010 census. Geography Fort B ...

. The reservation is large. Approximately 108 tribal members live on the reservation. The reservation was established in 1897. In 1990 only 6 tribal members lived on the reservation. In 1992, 22 people were enrolled in the tribe.Pritzker, 227 The tribal members are members the Northern Paiute Kidütökadö band (''Gidu Ticutta'' - ‘Yellow-bellied marmot-Eaters’, also called "Northern California Paiute").

Language

The Fort Bidwell Indian Community traditionally spoke the

Northern Paiute language Northern Paiute , endonym Numu, also known as Paviotso, is a Western Numic language of the Uto-Aztecan family, which according to Marianne Mithun had around 500 fluent speakers in 1994. ''Ethnologue'' reported the number of speakers in 1999 as 1 ...

, which is part of the Western Numic branch of the

Uto-Aztecan Uto-Aztecan, Uto-Aztekan or (rarely in English) Uto-Nahuatl is a family of indigenous languages of the Americas, consisting of over thirty languages. Uto-Aztecan languages are found almost entirely in the Western United States and Mexico. The na ...

language family. The language family is

Numic Numic is a branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family. It includes seven languages spoken by Native American peoples traditionally living in the Great Basin, Colorado River basin, Snake River basin, and southern Great Plains. The word Numic com ...

, and the language phylum is Aztec-Tanoan."Language."
''Language California.'' (approved 28 Feb 2017) The word Numic comes from the cognate word in all Numic languages for "person". This language is still in use and also spoken fluently by the people of Fort Bidwell. This language is most closely related to the Mono language of California.

Activities

For this tribe the activities include occasional marksmanship, which sometimes was played as competition. They have large areas of land which are used for farming, so that is another activity for the people of

. Drumming, and family fun were the highlights of the celebrations held at the Fort Bidwell Indian reservation. The vendors sold food items, art work, and beading supplies at these celebrations. Dancing was also a common activity, in which women wore fancy shawls when dancing.

Politics

In the state legislature, Fort Bidwell is in the 1st Senate District, represented by Republican

Ted Gaines Edward Moore Gaines (born April 25, 1958) is an American politician and businessman serving as a member of the California Board of Equalization for the 1st district. He previously served as a California State Senator, representing the 1st Senate ...

, and the 1st Assembly District, represented by Republican

Brian Dahle Brian Dwain Dahle (born September 20, 1965) is an American politician and farmer who has served as a member of the California State Senate from the 1st district since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Dahle served as a member of the Cali ...

. Federally, Fort Bidwell is in California's 1st congressional district, represented by Republican

Doug LaMalfa Douglas Lee LaMalfa (born July 2, 1960) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for California's 1st congressional district since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, his district, the second-largest in the state after th ...

. Fort Bidwell is now registered as California Historical Landmark #430. The tribal affiliation is Paiute Reservation. The Fort Bidwell Reservation Population within the reservation is around 124. Adjacent to the reservation there about 39 people. The land base is 1350 ha (3,335 acres). The tribal office is at PO Box 129, Fort Bidwell, CA 96112. A joint resolution of January 30, 1879, authorized the secretary of the interior to use the abandoned Fort Bidwell Military Reserve for an Indian Training School. An act of January 27, 1913, granted land to the People's Church for a cemetery and right-of-way over the Fort Bidwell Indian School Reservation, the Indians to have right of interment therein. The Reservation was established by Executive Order on October 9, 1866. The Fort Bidwell community is of the

Modoc County, California Modoc County () is a county in the far northeast corner of the U.S. state of California. Its population is 8,700 as of the 2020 census, down from 9,686 from the 2010 census. This makes it California's third-least populous county. The county seat ...

. The Tribal government was established on January 28, 1936 under the

of 1934. The Tribe has approximately 350 members, although only about 160 currently reside on the Reservation."Fort Bidwell Indian Community."
''Bureau of Reclamation.'' (retrieved 20 Feb 2017)

Today

The tribe's headquarters is located in

. The tribe is governed by a nine tribal council members as well as a chairman, vice chairman, treasurer, and secretary.

Education

The reservation is served by the Surprise Valley Joint Unified School District.

Notes

References

* Pritzker, Barry M. ''A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. .

External links

{{authority control Paiute Native American tribes in California Federally recognized tribes in the United States