Historic map of tribes called "Paiute" overlaid on a map of present-day western US state borders
Paiute (/ˈpaɪjuːt/; also Piute) refers to three non-contiguous groups of
indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. Although their languages are related within the
Numic group of
Uto-Aztecan languages, these three languages do not form a single subgroup and they are no more closely related to each than they are to the Central Numic languages (
Timbisha,
Shoshoni, and
Comanche) which are spoken between them. The term "Paiute" does not refer to a single, unique, unified group of Great Basin tribes, but is a historical label comprising:
Northern Paiute people of northeastern California, northwestern Nevada, eastern Oregon, and southern Idaho
This
article includes a list of related items that share the same name (or similar names). If an
internal link incorrectly led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.