California Colorado River Macro-Culture
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FOUR
DIRECTIONS INSTITUTE
California Colorado River Macro-Culture |
| Ethnies | Chemehuevi, Halchidhoma, Kohuana, Mojave, Yuma, and some western Arizona and northwestern Mexico ethnies |
| Transitional Ethnies | Kawaiisu, Tubatulabl |
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| Shared Elements | |
| Economy | Capitalistic |
| Government | Hereditary chiefs |
| Shamanism | Male singers, divine powers; may be killed for failures or famine |
| Housing | Sunken earth or pit house with wood frame, thatched, and covered with dirt |
| Marriage | Informal |
| Ceremonies | Dream songs |
| Creation Story Motif | Quarreling brothers |
| Basketry | Poor irregular plain twining and open-stitch coiling |
| Primary Foods | Corn, squash, and beans |
| Disposition | Bellicose |
| The ethnies of the Colorado
River macro-culture were the only farmers in California. Its
bellicose warriors, particularly of the Mojave and Yuma ethnies,
traveled great distances across the southwestern deserts to raid other
cultures. This practice was continued well into the seventeenth
century, and their belligerence deterred White migration across the
Colorado River.
Dreams were the basis of everything sacred to this macro-culture. Their stories, their songs, even their individual identities were the product of dreams. Datura, or toloache, was often used. They practiced a "Dream Song" series that included "Bird Songs", though these songs were different from those of the Southern California macro-culture. However, they shared the quarreling brothers motif of their creation stories with the inland ethnies of the Southern California macro-culture. Art was not important in the Dream macro-culture. They had an informal social structure in which funerals were by far the most important rite of passage. Wailing often occurred once death was certain even before the person died. Inhabitants of the Colorado River region did not live in village per se. Rather, individual houses were spread out over long stretches of the river's shore.
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