page_title: Northern Paiute people
section_title: Medicine culture and beliefs
hierarchical_section_title: Northern Paiute people / Medicine culture and beliefs
caption_attribution_description: English: This is a photo taken by the U.S. government of petroglyphs etched into a rock wall at the Parowan Gap in Southern Utah. It is thousands of years old, relating to the Paiute tribes of the region.
context_page_description: The Northern Paiute people are a Numic tribe that has traditionally lived in the Great Basin region of the United States in what is now eastern California, western Nevada, and southeast Oregon. The Northern Paiutes' pre-contact lifestyle was well adapted to the harsh desert environment in which they lived. Each tribe or band occupied a specific territory, generally centered on a lake or wetland that supplied fish and waterfowl. Communal hunt drives, which often involved neighboring bands, would take rabbits and pronghorn from surrounding areas. Individuals and families appear to have moved freely among the bands.
  Northern Paiutes originally lived a nomadic lifestyle, moving from place to place following animal migration patterns and seasonal foods. They lived in small, independent groups that consisted of a handful or so of different family units. Upon arrival of foreigners into western Nevada, the Northern Paiutes became sedentary in order to protect themselves and handle negotiations with the new settlers. Because of their change from nomadic to sedentary lifestyle, women were relied upon more heavily for both their full-time employment and at-home work. This remains true today.
context_section_description: Shamans are popular among most Native American tribes, including the Northern Paiute people. A shaman is a medicine man called a puhagim by Northern Paiute people. The Northern Paiutes believe in a force called puha that gives life to the physical world. It is the power that moves the elements, plants, and animals that are a part of that physical realm. Humans are seen to be very much a part of that world, not superior or inferior, simply another component. The Northern Paiute people believe that "matter and places are pregnant in form, meaning, and relations to natural and human phenomena." This belief gave credibility and placed necessity in shamans, as it does today.
  In order to draw upon the powers of nature and the universe, shamans would frequently visit sacred sites. These sites can be found throughout the Great Basin and the American West. They include "mountains, caves, waterways, and unique geological formations." One such site is called the Parowan Gap and is sacred to the Paiutes (see image). These sacred sites are where shamans performed many of their duties, including curing, rainmaking, warfare, fighting, or sorcery." Shamans were and are an integral part of the Northern Paiute community.
  The Northern Paiutes believe that doctors/shaman retrieve the souls of those who have committed wrong doings and re-establish them in to Native American society. They are the intermediaries between the evil acts of the sick and the goodness of the healthy tribe. For this reason, Northern Paiutes do not perceive white doctors as capable of fully healing those in need because although they may be able to cure the outer shell, the inner shell will decay and be lost, leaving the person dead in reality. A shaman, however, would take an ill person (physically or spiritually ill) and use the power from the universe to heal him. In many cases, a shaman will utilize various mediums, such as a rattle, smoke, and songs, to incite the power of the universe.
caption: Petroglyphs etched into a rock formation at the Parowan Gap. The Paiute tribes consider this place a sacred site.