These lands were occupied for thousands of years by succeeding cultures of Indigenous peoples. The property covers areas along the Colorado River of the three adjacent states of Arizona, California, and Nevada. It also is sporadically traversed by the Mojave River in California. The Fort Mohave Indian Reservation was established in 1870, more than a decade after the US Army defeated the Mohave people. In 1890 Fort Mohave, located within reservation boundaries, was transferred by the War Department to the Office of Indian Affairs. For decades until the early 1930s, it operated an Indian boarding school for Native American students from the Mohave and other tribes, as part of efforts to assimilate youth to the mainstream culture. They were forced to speak English and practice Christianity while at the school. The property was transferred to the reservation in 1935. It has allowed the buildings to deteriorate, as they were symbolic of a painful period in relations with the US. In 1929 archeologist Arthur Woodward of the Los Angeles Exposition Museum visited a ranch near Victorville, California. Located near the Mojave River, it was bought by Robert Turner in 1883. Woodward found pottery similar to that of indigenous "lost cities" in Nevada, as well as ancient Indian graves, judging them to be thousands of years old. In 1940 descendant farmer Frank Turner found the Indian graves again during plowing of farmland, not aware of the earlier find. Two deputies called in to see the remains thought the bodies might have been of pioneers. Later assessment confirms they were likely ancient Native Americans, as they were buried in a ritual manner reported in oral tradition.
According to Frank, the bodies were in a crouching or kneeling position, all facing the river, and all had beads around their necks. There were 26 or 27 bodies altogether, but five or six were in better condition than the others. The remains had been cremated, and buried in the graves with them were large rocks...
In 1950 a journalist reported this burial practice as typical of indigenous peoples preceding the Paiute and Shoshone.
Economy
The Mojave have leased considerable amounts of reservation land to agricultural companies for cultivation of commodity crops: soybeans, corn, and alfalfa. Many White and Mexican American workers live here, and less than 50% of the reservation is occupied by Mohave and other Native Americans. From 1995 the tribe operates the Avi Resort & Casino in Nevada. On October 20, 2003, the reservation government announced an agreement between the reservation and California Governor Gray Davis to allow the operation of a casino west of Needles, California.
Language revitalization
As of 2012, The Center for Indian Education at Arizona State University "has facilitated "workshops for both learners and speakers at the Fort Mojave Indian Reservation in northwest Arizona, California and Nevada. Fort Mojave has about 22 elders who speak some Mojave." The project is also bringing elders together with younger people to teach the traditional Mojave "bird songs." The language preservation work of poet Natalie Diaz on the reservation was featured on the PBSNews Hour in March 2012.
