Numaga
| Numaga | |
|---|---|
Numaga
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| Born | circa 1830 |
| Died | 5 November 1871 (aged 41) |
| Occupation | Indian leader |
| Known for | Pyramid Lake War |
Numaga (c. 1830 – 5 November 1871) was a Paiute leader during the Paiute War of 1860 that centered on Pyramid Lake in what is now Nevada in the United States. The war was caused by an influx of miners and ranchers after silver was discovered in the near to Carson City. The newcomers assaulted the Paiutes and destroyed their foods supplies. When the Paiutes responded, the U.S. Army used force to suppress them. Both before and after the war, Numaga was a strong advocate of peace and did much to reduce the violence on both sides. He died of tuberculosis, a "white man's disease", in 1871.
The Paiute traditionally followed a hunting and gathering lifestyle in the Great Basin region that covers most of modern-day Nevada and western Utah, extending north into Oregon and bounded on the west by the Sierra Nevada in California. Temperatures range from extreme heat in the summer to bitter cold in the winter. The land is semi-arid, with vegetation ranging from dense coniferous forests on the mountains surrounding the basin, to thinner woodlands lower down, giving way to grasslands and then to bunch grass, sage brush and scrub on the basin floor, with barren areas of gravel or alkali flats.
The Paiutes had no central government, but lived in bands of around a hundred people who would occupy a territory of about 50 to 100 square miles (130 to 260 km2). The Paiute migrated with the seasons, living in temporary huts built of willow poles covered with brush and reeds. They lived on shoots and roots, fruit, fish, ducks, lizards, grubs and insects. In fall, pine nuts from the piñon trees in the hills were an essential foodstuff. In winter the Paiute hunted game in the lowlands, particularly rabbits.
Numaga was born sometime around 1830. He was said by some to be the son of Chief Winnemucca (also called Po-i-to) and brother of Sarah Winnemucca. Sarah Winnemucca wrote that he was her cousin. Another source says he was no relative of Poito, and the two were never friendly. Numaga was called "Young Winnemucca" by the whites, or sometimes just "Winnemucca". Numaga was at least six feet tall, a man of great physical strength with a quiet dignity which gave him an air of superiority. A soldier who saw him in August 1860 said, "In appearance he is all that romance could desire, deep-chested and strong-limbed, with a watchful, earnest expression of countenance, indicative of graver thought and study [than is] common to the aboriginal race."
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