Chemehuevi (Nüwü)
A people
Background
Nüwü is the name Joshua Tree National Park's associated tribes page writes for them. A confrontation with the Mojave in 1867 drove the Chemehuevi off the Colorado River, and the park's Spanish-language history says they then returned to an inland place the Serrano had left after a smallpox epidemic, staying there while relations improved and only a small group remained. The park puts their arrival in southern California about 400 years ago, their territory in the Pinto Basin and the Coxcomb Mountains in the eastern part of the park, and their move to the Colorado River in the late eighteenth century. It also describes their seasonal pattern, spring and summer hunting and gathering trips out of temporary camps, with larger winter villages whose floors were dug into the ground. The Spanish-language history counts 121 plant species used for food, medicine or raw material across the country of the Serrano, Chemehuevi and Cahuilla.
Parks on its homelands
Joshua Tree National ParkThe Nüwü (Chemehuevi) homeland is one of the three Joshua Tree National Park names, alongside the Maara'yam and the Kawiya. Source
Sources
- https://www.nps.gov/jotr/learn/historyculture/native-americans.htm
- https://www.nps.gov/es-es/jotr/indios-americanos.htm
Checked September 2026.