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Chemehuevi Indians
Traditional Territory
In the Claims Case, in which, it should be noted, anthropologists such as A. L. Kroeber and Ralph Beals served
as expert witnesses on their behalf, the Chemehuevi claimed the following as theirs before the arrival of the
Spanish:
Beginning at a point in
southern Nevada six miles west of a place on the
Colorado River
where said river encloses a small island in the latitude of Mount Davis (this starting point being east northeast from
Searchlight
and slightly east of south from Nelson); thence southerly to the summit of the mountain called Avi-Kwame by the
Mohave
and Yuman tribes, and Agai by the Chemehuevi Indians; thence southerly along the crest of the
Dead Mountain-Manchester Mountain
range in California, generally paralleling the Colorado River; thence southerly along the
ridge of the Sacramento Mountains to the middle of Township 23E, 7N; thence southeast to the
middle of Township 24E, 6N, along a line dividing the
Chemehuevi Mountains;
thence east across the Colorado River at a place known as
Blankenship Bend;
thence north of east in the State of
Arizona
to the Mohave Mountains; thence south southeast over a peak known as Akoka-Numi, for
approximately 12 miles; then west southwest across the Colorado River to the southwestern
corner of Township 26E, 4N, in the State of California; thence southwest along a line
paralleling the Colorado River to the summit of the
Whipple Mountains;
thence southwest to the summit of the West Riverside Mountains; thence southerly to the
beginning of a gap in the Big Maria Mountains separating the main eastern mass of these
mountains from a spur projecting westward toward the Little Maria Mountains; thence northwest
to the crest of the Iron Mountains; thence northwest on a line between the Bristol Mountains
and the Cady Mountains; thence north, northeast, east, and again north, on a curving line
passing north of the Bristol Mountains and first south and then east of Soda Lake to a point
about the middle of Devil's Playground at the western edge of township 10W, 13N; thence east
northeasterly through Townships 10 to 14E, 13N, to
Cima;
thence northeast to a place on the California-Nevada State Line about three miles east of
Nipton;
thence easterly to the point and place of beginning (U.S. Court of Claims 1950-1960:
Docket No. 351).
The Chemehuevi have for a long time lived in close conjunction with the
Mohave, usually, but not always, on friendly terms. They ranged from
the river to the
San Bernardino Mountains,
which were, according to Laird (1976:7) a "familiar hunting ground, well-sprinkled
with Chemehuevi place names."
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