The Fort Mojave Indian Tribe and Colorado River Indian Tribes include members who are Mojave (or Mohave, as preferred in the latter instance). Both reservations border the Colorado River. The Fort Mojave Indian Tribe includes lands in Nevada, California, and Arizona; the Colorado River Indian Tribes reservation includes lands in Arizona and California.
Synonymy
The autonym hàmakhá∙v has been variously rendered as Amacava, Amacaua, Amacaba, Amacabos, and Jamajab and Jamajá in Spanish sources, or Ammuchabas and Amuchabas, Mohawa, Mahauvies, Mohauvies, and Mohavies in English‐language sources. Goddard characterizes “Mojave” as “a Spanish or pseudo‐Spanish spelling first used by Whipple” and “officially adopted by the Fort Mojave and Colorado River tribal councils.” See Goddard, Handbook of North American Indians, v. 10, p. 69.
Contains a retrospective account of Corbusier's service an order‐of‐battle summary, followed by a largely first‐person narrative;
speaks to interactions with Mohave.
Includes Nocks account of his time teaching the Mojaves; reprints of two‐part article from Journal of Arizona and the West excerpting Nock’s
memoir also included.
Contains a memoir written by a U.S. Army physician, Dr. Joseph Kirby Corson, with portions dealing with his time at Prescott and Yuma, including relationships with Quechan; letters to Corson from Henry P. Walker, subsequently published, speak to conflicts in 1880, and the role of Quechan, Mohave, Chemehuevi, and Paiute.
Includes a file with agency‐related correspondence on an easement for a ferry house on California side of reservation; non‐payment of irrigation and water bills by non‐Indian lessees of tribal lands; and discontinuation of a boarding school at Parker, Arizona.
Contains materials that document disputed title of the Colorado River Indian Tribe (CRIT) to lands, development, and leases. Udall’s plan to clear title involved termination without an explicit timetable, a position informed by a disastrous Klamath experience. Other materials document water rights questions and the litigation known as Arizona v. California (1963). Representative Udall’s frustration and acute tribal frustration are evident throughout. Udall claimed no other issue more occupied his time.
Includes extensive correspondence from the 1930s and 1940s on the purchase and exchange of reservation land by the agricultural concern. Disposition of the tribe, its members, and the tribal council, including relationships with the company and conflict with its representatives, are described throughout. Cotton Land Company maintained a political connection through a familial relationship with Rep. John Steven McGroarty (D‐CA).
Includes files on a variety of issues, including the implications of legislation precluding use of federal funds for floodplain development. Other content
relates to funding for hospitals, tribal police, relations with surrounding towns (most notably, Parker, Arizona), jurisdiction, and police‐involved killings of tribespeople. A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) ruling on cotton credits sees the tribe and Sen. DeConcini press the USDA, and when the agency balks, join with other tribes to secure a legislative redress, conscious of the implications for tribal sovereignty.
Contains projects and research files include two files on the Mojave ceramist Annie Fields, including Fontana’s manuscript and typescript notes of a November 10, 1963, interview with her.
Arizona Historical Society Materials
The materials located in this section can be found at the Arizona Historical Society Tucson location, an institution separate from the University of Arizona. There you can find manuscript materials, photographs, oral histories and books that highlight Indigenous life in the U.S./Mexico borderlands. This selection represents only a small fraction of the Arizona Historical Society's materials related to Indigenous life in the borderlands. Please contact their archivists for questions about additional materials.
