Pre-Contact culture Subsistence A drawing from 1851 of Yavapai people made by Sitgreaves' first topographical mission across Arizonaīefore being confined to reservations, the Yavapai were mainly hunter-gatherers, following an annual round, migrating to different areas to follow the ripening of different edible plants and movement of game. īefore the 1860s, when settlers began exploring for gold in the area, the Yavapai occupied an area of approximately 20,000 mi² (51800 km²) bordering the San Francisco Peaks to the north, the Pinaleno Mountains and Mazatzal Mountains to the southeast, and the Colorado River to the west, and almost to the Gila River and the Salt River to the south.

Often the Yavapai were mistaken as Apache by American settlers, who referred to them as 'Mohave-Apache,' 'Yuma-Apache,' or 'Tonto-Apache'. The Yavapai have much in common with their linguistic relatives to the north, the Havasupai and the Hualapai. Historically, the Yavapai – literally “people of the sun” (from Enyaava “sun” + Paay “people”) – were divided into four geographical bands who identified as separate, independent peoples: the Ɖulv G’paaya, or Western Yavapai the Yaavpe', or Northwestern Yavapai the Gwev G’paaya, or Southeastern Yavapai and the Wiipukpaa, or Northeastern Yavapai – Verde Valley Yavapai.Īnother Yavapai band, which no longer exists, was the Mađqwarrpaa or 'Desert People.' Its people are believed to have mixed with the Mojave and Quechan peoples.

The Yavapai are a Native American tribe in Arizona. Havasupai, Hualapai, Mohave, Western Apache

Yavapai (three dialects of Upland Yuman language), English

An early 20th-century Yavapai basket bowl woven of willow and reed

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