Nuwu-Southern Paiute

"Dedicated to the Old People of the Paiutes, a people whose culture taught

them that giving was more honorable than receiving."

Martineau, 1992

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Welcome to our website and for your interest in the Nuwu; the Southern Paiute People of Utah, Arizona, Nevada and California. 

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This website is dedicated to the education of our Nuwu youth, as well as those looking to learn more about their Nuwu culture, heritage, history, life ways, language, and Ancestry. 

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We are a Nuwu family based website, our background comes from the Shivwits and Koosharem Band of Southern Paiutes. Information collected on here come from the experience and being raised Nuwu from birth to present day. Not all Nuwu were raised the same, we all had different experiences, teaching and spoken dialect in the language from the different Nuwu Bands. Not everyone will agree on each teaching shared here, our goal is to share the knowledge learned to pass on, whether is comes from a certain band or not. We were taught by our elders that we had to share what was learned and not be stingy or it would be taken from us. Preservation is our goal here so it will not be lost.  

The book: The Southern Paiutes, Legends, Lore, Language and Lineage by LaVan Martineau, published by KC Publications, Las Vegas, Nevada, has been out of print for many years. It will be back in publication one day, but in the meantime, what is in that book can now be found on this website for those who prefer to be online over reading a book. This will be easier access and always at your fingertips. Not all content from the book will be here but the most relevant and popular will be. This information was collected by the late, LaVan Martineau, who was raised by Edrick Bushhead a Shivwits Paiute, when his own father died in his early teenage years. he learned the language, history and customs and was Nuwu at heart.

The Martineau family having been in the Cultural Resource Management field for many years, noticed there were no online resources for basic Nuwu knowledge. There was nowhere to send those wanting to learn about certain knowledge they were seeking online. Many times the Martineau family end up researching through their personal library, collected over the years since the 1950's and writing up the information that was sought for the individuals seeking answers.These files soon grew to expand from the original notes from the Southern Paiute book and now this knowledge database needs to be shared with those wanting to learn who are of Nuwu descent.

The majority of information gathered on this site were from the many voices of our Nuwu elders who are no longer with us. If the information did not come from an elder but from a book, then there will be a reference to where it came from. Often times there will be a Martineau reference, meaning it was learned from an elder and/or handed down to a Martineau whether it was from a family member or friend throughout the years.

This site is managed and maintained by Shanandoah (Martineau) Anderson, a Shivwits Band of Paiutes Tribal member, with the advise, help and guidance from the family. There will always be updates and additions happening as we expand on the knowledge given.

We have lost too many of our elders and their knowledge with them, to say we shouldn't share with everyone anymore. We cannot continue to let the outsiders write books about who we are as Nuwu, we need to tell them so it is accurate and not written by those looking from the outside in. 

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