A-Z Challenge: I is for...

INDIAN... I work for the Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians in northern Arizona.  I am the Water Quality Specialist, so I monitor the waters of the reservation and work on projects to improve water quality.  I am not an Indian person, I am of European decent, but I have learned a great deal during my seven and a half years of employment with them.

Here is the ancestral territory map for the Southern Paiute Nation, it shows portions of Nevada, Utah, California and Arizona:

Some interesting things I have learned:

• Every tribe is unique and different and each have their own tradition, beliefs and practices. 
• Ancestral Native Americans had advanced traditional ecological knowledge and managed the land even bettter than many people do today with advanced degrees.  One example is that there is historical documentation that the Kaibab Paiute would have "prescribed" forest fires to improve the health of the forest. 
• Desert Indians developed a method of removing cataracts from their eyes using lizard tails. 

 If you would like to learn more about the tribe you can go to their website:

 www.kaibabpaiute-nsn.gov