As the Moapa Paiutes work to preserve our legends, songs, and dances, the cultural disruptions over the last centuries have posed significant threats to the continuation of our traditional lifestyle. Before the 1800s, the Moapa Paiutes thrived as a culturally adept society, skillfully blending farming with hunting and gathering while utilizing the land's resources with great creativity.

Our ancestors crafted a variety of intricately designed domestic items, including water jars, winnowing trays, cradle boards, cooking baskets, and seed beaters, showcasing their expertise with animal skins and plants. Their extensive knowledge of the nutritional and properties of plants was remarkable.

The history of the Moapa following contact with white settlers, particularly from the opening of the Old Spanish Trail in the 1830s, is one of tragedy. This peaceful community experienced land and water seizures, frequent raids by slavers, and conflicts with Mormon settlers, New Mexicans, and emigrants. Our population rapidly declined due to new diseases, such as tuberculosis and measles, while federal troops and white settlers brutally punished acts of insurrection and survival.

Despite being armed with bows and arrows, our resistance could not halt the encroachment of white settlers into Moapa. The People were compelled to escape into the desert, disrupting our agricultural practices. In 1873, the federal government set aside 39,000 square miles for tribal lands, but by 1875, this reservation had been drastically reduced to a mere 1,000 acres, followed by decades of neglect and corruption by white agents.

In 1941, a Constitution and bylaws were established, creating the Business Council as the tribe's governing. An effort to revive farming that same year failed due to water issues and lack of resources, leading the tribe to lease farmland to a dairy company. In 1951, the Indian Claims Commission recognized our claim for compensation regarding tribal land taken in the 1860s, resulting in a judgment that established a perpetual capital fund for economic development. Subsequently, in 1968, the tribe decided not to renew leases to non-members.