Traders And Raiders: The Indigenous World Of The Colorado Basin, 1540-1859 Project Muse Upcc Books

The Colorado River region looms large in the history of the American West, vitally important in the designs and dreams of Euro-Americans since the first Spanish journey up the river in the sixteenth century. But as Natale A. Zappia argues in this expansive study, the Colorado River basin must be understood first as home to a complex Indigenous world. Through 300 years of western colonial settlement, Spaniards, Mexicans, and Americans all encountered vast Indigenous borderlands peopled by Mojaves, Quechans, Southern Paiutes, Utes, Yokuts, and others, bound together by political, economic, and social networks. Examining a vast cultural geography including southern California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Sonora, Baja California, and New Mexico, Zappia shows how this interior world pulsated throughout the centuries before and after Spanish contact, solidifying to create an autonomous, interethnic Indigenous space that expanded and adapted to an ever-encroaching global market economy.Situating the Colorado River basin firmly within our understanding of Indian country, __Traders and Raiders__ investigates the borders and borderlands created during this period, connecting the coastlines of the Atlantic and Pacific worlds with a vast Indigenous continent. The Colorado River region looms large in the history of the American West, vitally important in the designs and dreams of Euro-Americans since the first Spanish journey up the river in the sixteenth century. But as Natale A. Zappia argues in this expansive study, the Colorado River basin must be understood first as home to a complex Indigenous world. Through 300 years of western colonial settlement, Spaniards, Mexicans, and Americans all encountered vast Indigenous borderlands peopled by Mojaves, Quechans, Southern Paiutes, Utes, Yokuts, and others, bound together by political, economic, and social networks. Examining a vast cultural geography including southern California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Sonora, Baja California, and New Mexico, Zappia shows how this interior world pulsated throughout the centuries before and after Spanish contact, solidifying to create an autonomous, interethnic Indigenous space that expanded and adapted to an ever-encroaching global market economy. Situating the Colorado River basin firmly within our understanding of Indian country, Traders and Raiders investigates the borders and borderlands created during this period, connecting the coastlines of the Atlantic and Pacific worlds with a vast Indigenous continent. Cover Page -- Traders and Raiders -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- Illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- Note on Naming People, Geography, and Time Periods -- Introduction -- Interlude: The Journey of Pook -- Chapter 1: Native Histories and the Interior World -- Chapter 2: Europeans and the Interior World -- Interlude: The View from Huwaaly Kwasakyav -- Chapter 3: Trading and Raiding Networks -- Chapter 4: The Expansion of Interregional Raiding -- Interlude: Pascual's Warning -- Chapter 5: The End of Native Autonomy -- Chapter 6: Shifting Strategies within New National Borders -- Epilogue -- Appendix 1: Tables -- Appendix 2: List of Missions Relevant to the Interior World -- Appendix 3: Tribal Names -- Appendix 4: Population Figures of Selected Native Communities -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index The Colorado River region looms large in the history of the American West, an essential part of the plans and dreams of Euro-Americans since the first century, however it must be understood first as the home of a complex Indigenous world. Through 300 years of western colonial settlement, Spaniards, Mexicans, and Americans all encountered vast Indigenous borderlands, examining the cultural geography of the Southwest the author shows how this interior world solidified to create an autonomous, inter-ethnic Indigenous space that expanded and adapted throughout the centuries before and after Spanish contact Traders and Raiders: The Indigenous World of the Colorado Basin, 1540-1859