Numu (Northern Paiute) Place Names: Retention and Reclamation of Place Name Knowledge in Kooyooe Pa'a Panunadu (Pyramid Lake, Nevada)
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Authors
Harry, Autumn
Issue Date
2024
Type
Thesis
Language
Keywords
Decolonial Research , Indigenous Mapping , Indigenous Place Names , Language Revitalization , Northern Paiute , Pyramid Lake
Alternative Title
Abstract
This research examines how place name knowledge has been passed down generationally within the ancestral homelands of the Kooyooe Tukadu (Cui-ui Eaters) from Kooyooe Pa'a Panundu (Pyramid Lake, Nevada) and how this knowledge contributes to the retention and reclamation of Numu place names. As a member of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, I have an inherent connection to my homelands and this research is designed to uplift Numu (Northern Paiute) place names and narratives. The foundation of this research is framed within Indigenous methodologies and as a critique of settler-colonial imposed place naming processes, with its direct role in the erasure of Numu communities. As a speaker of the Kooyooe Tukadu dialect, I document current and past language revitalization efforts and emphasize the fluidity and adaptability of Numu yadooa (Northern Paiute language). From a decolonial lens, I examine the history of mapping and how settler land theft led to the violent application of settler place names within Kooyooe Pa'a Panunadu. Despite settler domination, Numu communities continue to communicate place names and the knowledge attached to them, both orally and in written form. This continues a cultural tradition that extends at least as far back as the Numu map created by Captain Dave Numana in 1885. In efforts to document place name retention, knowledge keepers from the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe share their knowledge and stories of Numu place names, Numu connection to the land, and their hopes for retaining Numu identity for future generations. In conclusion, Numu place name knowledge systems are actively being reclaimed on the individual and community level and can further expand by returning names to the land, increasing Numu-centered mapping approaches, and speaking Numu yadooa in our ancestral homelands.