A History of Southern Utah and its National Parks (Revised‪)‬

The Indian Heritage

Zion Canyon had already been carved half-a-mile deep in the brilliant Navajo sandstone and most of its geological history had passed long before the eyes of man beheld its glory. One of the world’s rare beauty spots, lying within Zion National Park in southwestern Utah, it serves as a striking example of the thousands of flaming gorges or red box canyons eroded through millions of years on the edges of the plateaus along the Colorado River in southern Utah and northern Arizona.

Prehistoric man came and left his ruins, relics and pictographs strewn along the floor of the canyon, hidden under sheltering arches and boulders, buried in mounds or etched on the faces 

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of the cliffs. Myths, legends and traditions played their part in linking the ancient inhabitants with the modern Indians.

In spite of the fact that primitive cliff dwellers used to live in Zion Canyon, the Indians of more recent date appear to have avoided it as a camping ground. There seems to have been something mysterious and foreboding in the gloomy depths of twilight and darkness that appalled these semi-savages. So far as can be determined from both Indians and early white settlers, the natives especially avoided the canyon after sundown. O. D. Gifford, a pioneer of Springdale, says they never camped above its mouth. They would go up the canyon in the daylight but invariably would come back before dark.

E. C. Behunin, who lived in Zion Canyon from 1862 to 1872, says he never saw an Indian come above Springdale, and although his father tried to induce Indians to work for him, they could never be persuaded to venture into the upper part of the canyon. John Dennett, who farmed in Zion for many years after 1875, says the Indians never raised crops in Zion, except the little they did for the white settlers; and that they were very superstitious about the canyon. Other early settlers add the same testimony.

Tony Tillohash, an educated Shivwits Indian, says an Indian would not dare go alone into Zion Canyon. The solitary traveler might be killed without warning. Kai-ne-sava was not the main spirit in the supernatural hierarchy of the Paiute, an honor reserved for the Wolf-god, variously rendered as Shin-na′-wav or Sin-na′-wava. Rather, Kai-ne-sava was a mysterious being of changeable moods. There was no assurance of his friendship and he had to be propitiated. He might whistle or yell at any moment while remaining invisible. Again, he might reveal himself in the distance in human form and then disappear when approached. His movement might stir up a whirlwind of dust and then trail away into nothing. Sometimes he built fires (lightning) on the West Temple or other places inaccessible to human beings. The smoke from fires on the West Temple could be seen for many miles in every direction. Kai-ne-sava then was sending a message.

He pushed the rocks that fall down in Zion. His mood might be capricious. If so, the Indians must keep out of the way. Then it was no use to hunt, for Kai-ne-sava would frighten the deer before the Indian could get close enough to shoot. Sometimes he would tantalize by taking the form of a big buck deer with spreading antlers, and would hide and jump out in front of the Indians with such great bounds that they could not pierce him with their arrows no matter what their skill. On such days it was better to go home.

Nevertheless, in a friendly mood Kai-ne-sava might be extremely helpful. He could soothe the deer so they were not frightened 

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and lure them where they were easily found. Then the Indians could shoot their arrows with assurance of killing. Such good fortune the Indians did not forget. A bounteous kill they were willing to share with Kai-ne-sava. To show their appreciation, little pieces of meat were laid out here and there for him. When they returned, the meat was always gone, hence Kai-ne-sava must have taken it.

Although Kai-ne-sava was fond of playing pranks, he was often kind and pleasant. This is in marked contrast with another supernatural being who was always at cross purposes and who caused the Indians no end of trouble. This was Wai-no-pits, who lurked in gloomy shadows and was always intent on evil. It was sometimes hard to distinguish between the pranks of Kai-ne-sava and the evil doings of Wai-no-pits. There seems to have been some confusion in the minds of the Indians. The one was to be propitiated, the other avoided.

Wai-no-pits might visit a camp and bring sickness to it. He might cause an accident or waylay the Indians with all sorts of dire calamities. Wherever his presence was suspected it was best to run away.

The Wolf-god (Shin-na′-wav), on the other hand, was the friendly one. There was no fear of him, but he was more distant and less distinctly defined. There were legends connecting him with the past history of the Paiute Indians and his influence was more or less mysterious. While his friendly acts were to be appreciated it was not always possible to distinguish his manifestations from those of Kai-ne-sava.

These supernatural beings, apparently, were not familiar spirits. Never were they directly encountered. Their manifestations were veiled and it was only by signs and implications that they could be interpreted. Anything not clearly comprehended was likely to be interpreted by the Indian as a manifestation of the preternatural. Zion Canyon was full of mystery; it was a place where anything might happen, especially in the shadows and darkness. The fear of Wai-no-pits or of Kai-ne-sava in his austere moods more than offset the assurance of Shin-na-wav or of Kai-ne-sava propitiated. Small wonder the superstitious Indian tried to avoid Zion Canyon, especially when night had fallen in its awesome depths.

The Paiute, himself extremely primitive, contributed not a little to our culture in the way of an early knowledge of geography and routes of travel, place names and a heritage of traditions. Most of the pioneers explored these new regions and traveled new routes largely or partly with the aid of Indian guides or advice. Without such assistance, the explorers many times wandered from the proper route, lost valuable time, and encountered dangers and hardships that could have been avoided. Escalante 

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tells us in 1776 that with proper Indian guidance he could have covered in three days the Arizona Strip which in his wanderings required ten. Geographical knowledge thus acquired wove itself into our culture through personal contact, writings and maps that have since been passed on from generation to generation.

Many Indian geographical names, anglicized or unchanged, have been perpetuated in our nomenclature; for example, Toquerville, named for Indian chief Toquer, Kaibab (big flat mountain or mountain lying down), Kanarra (also named for an Indian chief), Shunesburg (an abandoned village named for an old Indian who lived there), Parunuweap (canyon with a swift stream of water), Kanab (meaning willow; there were many of them growing there when the town was first settled), and Paria or Pahrea (meaning a settlement and plateau). The name Mukuntuweap, pronounced Mu-koon-tu-weap, without accent, is undoubtedly of Indian origin, but there has been much dispute as to its derivation and application.

Originally applied by Major Powell to both Zion Canyon and the river flowing through it, the name is now restricted to the latter. Some of the early white settlers suggest that it means “the place of the gods” or simply “God’s land.” This interpretation, however, seems to have no real foundation. Both Indians and whites appear to be in complete agreement that tu-weap means ground, earth, or place. It is the rest of the word which is in doubt. William W. Seegmiller, who is familiar with the Indian language, is of the opinion that it is named for a chief of the Virgin River Indians named Mukun, and therefore simply means the land of Mukun.

Old George of the Kaibab Indians pronounced it Mukoontau′-weap, with accent on tau, and said it meant straight canyon. William R. Palmer, also an authority on Paiute lore, concludes that there are two possibilities: one, that it is derived from the Indian word yucca or oose, muk-unk, the whole word muk-unk-o-weap, thus meaning Oose Creek (or since the oose was sometimes used for soap simply Soap Creek); and the other derived from Muk-unt-o-weap, meaning straight canyon. Major Powell (September 12, 1872) says, “The Indians call the canyon through which it [the river] runs, Mu-koon-tu-weap, or Straight Canyon.”[2]

Several of the better informed Indians on the Shivwits Reservation near Santa Clara did not recognize the word Mukuntuweap. Tommy Mayo pronounced it Huh-cut-u-weap, and said it meant red dirt, red country, or place of red soil. Frank Mustache pronounced it Un-ga-tu-weap and gave its meaning as red dirt. 

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Tony Tillohash gave a different version, pronouncing it huh-kon-tu-weap, meaning a big canyon.

The confusion is further increased by suggestions of other names. Frank Mustache says the Indians called Zion Canyon, Un[k]ga-timpe pai-ave, (unka or unga, meaning red, timpe rock, and pai-ave signifying a canyon between mountains, the whole meaning a big, red rock canyon). Several Indians referred to the Canyon as I-u-goon. Nearly all of them agreed that Pahroos was the proper name for the Virgin River, meaning a swift stream of rippling or turbulent water, bounding or foaming over the rocks as it does in Zion Canyon.

The discrepancies are partly explained by the common Indian custom of naming places from some striking local characteristic. Different communities impressed by various facets of a canyon like Zion may have given different names to the same thing. Some, remarking the resemblance of the canyon to an arrow quiver, called it I-u-goon. Those who gathered yucca root for soap may have referred to it as Muk-unk-o-weap. Those who recognized Mukun as a great leader may have used the name Mukuntuweap. Those who looked down from Cedar Mountain into the straight, deep canyon of Zion, probably said Mukuntoweap. Others thinking of the high, red walls could scarcely refrain from using the Indian term, unka or unga, meaning red. Hence we have several variations of Unkatuweap, or even Unga-timpe pai-ave.

The Indians encountered by the early white explorers were Parrusits living in scattered bands along the upper Virgin River and forming one of the dozen or more clans belonging to the Paiute tribe. This tribe occupied the land lying west of the mountains and south of the high plateaus of southern Utah from Pahvant Valley (Millard County) southward to the Colorado River in Arizona and reaching westward into Nevada as far as the mouth of the Virgin River. The Paiute tribe was one of five belonging to the Ute Nation, occupying a vast territory extending to the north and east.

The chief of the Utes, whose headquarters were in central Utah, dominated the whole nation and was at liberty to come and go without restraint throughout his domain and to levy such tribute as he desired. The suffragan chiefs could do the same within their tribal limits. Natural resources belonged to the community and no individual could claim property other than personal effects, such as horses, arms, wickiups and food supplies.

Each tribe had definite boundaries and members of one could not encroach upon the lands of another without permission, else resentment might lead to war. Each clan or community within a tribe also had a definite area claimed as its own, the limits of 

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which were settled by agreement or war, and were clearly understood. Anyone entering foreign territory to hunt or fish without permission was regarded as an illegal trespasser and it was proper to make war upon him and even to kill him. Frequently the whites got into difficulties by not observing these Indian laws and customs.

When Indians of one group entered the territory of another, it was obligatory for them to go through a fixed ritual to obtain permission to do so. Once this ritual had been fulfilled the visitors were under tribal protection and any loss or injury must be made good by the tribe. Without such promise and protection, anything might happen. In recompense some sort of gift was usually expected.

If, during times of peace, a tribesman injured or killed another, satisfaction had to be rendered to the family, friends or tribe of the victim. It was usually required on the principle of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but occasionally other bargains were made. A slain man’s relatives ordinarily demanded the culprit or a relative, even though they sometimes had to be satisfied with a weakling, a cripple, or an aged person of little value to the tribe.

The early settlers of Rockville discovered the weightiness of this Indian law. One day in February, 1869, Tom Flanigan and Sam Green were carrying express from Rockville to Pipe Springs, where they were met at dusk by two Indians. Flanigan, thinking in his excitement that something was amiss, shot one of them. The Indian was badly wounded and died a few days later in spite of all the care given him after he was taken back to Rockville. The Indians demanded that Flanigan surrender to be tortured and killed in satisfaction. This was of course refused. A crowd of Indians gathered and the situation was tense. The affair, however, was finally compromised by delivering to the Indians an ox.

The Paiutes formed a sparse population spread out over a large territory. Depending mostly upon natural foods and but little upon cultivated crops, they were limited in numbers by the scanty resources of this semi-arid or desert region. Their weakness made them a prey to stronger marauding neighbors such as the Navajos. They were so poor they could seldom pay the tax levied by the chief of the Ute nation and usually gave children as slaves in lieu of other tribute. Failing this, they were in danger of having their women and children stolen.

The Paiute tribe had a number of subdivisions or clans loosely held together by the tribal government. There is a difference of opinion about the identity of the tribal chief. William R. Palmer states that the chief was the leader of the strong Com-o-its 

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clan living in the region of Cedar City.[3] There is evidence, however, that the Virgin River Indians (the Parrusits) were dominated by a chief of the band living on the Santa Clara sometimes referred to as the Tonaquintits. Nearly all the historical data of the early settlement of the Virgin River indicate that the Paiutes recognized this leadership and not that of the Com-o-its. Neighboring clans included the Shivwits (Shebits) of the Parashont, the Uinkarets of the Trumbull and the Kaibabits of the Kaibab region, all occupying the “Arizona Strip” north of the Colorado River.

The first historical references to these Indians were given by the Spanish Franciscan, Fray Silvestre Velez de Escalante, in October, 1776. On the Pilar River (now Ash Creek), below Toquerville, near its junction with the Virgin River twenty-five miles below Zion Canyon, he tells us that his party found a well-made platform with a large supply of ears of corn and corn husks which had been stored upon it. Nearby on a small flat on the river bank were three small cornfields with very well made irrigation ditches. The stalks of the maize which they had raised that year were still intact. His journal records:

From here down the stream and on the mesa and on both sides for a long distance, according to what we learned, these Indians apply themselves to the cultivation of maize and calabashes. In their own language they are called Parrusis.

The next day, October 15, after meeting some of these Indians, he wrote:

... they made us understand that they were called Parrusis ... and that they were the ones who planted crops on the banks of the Pilar River and lived down stream a long distance.

Still later, on October 19, when he met the Uinkarets Indians north of Mt. Trumbull, Escalante remarked:

They told us that they were called Yubincariri; that they did not plant maize; that their foods were those seeds, tuna,[4] pine nuts, which are scarce judging from the few they gave us; and such hares, rabbits and wild 

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sheep as they could get by hunting. They added that on this side of the river [Colorado] only the Parrusis planted maize and calabashes.[5]