Pentagular Spectrum Mohabee's ART STUDIOS

Mohabee--What Does The Name Mean?

Mohabee--what does the name mean?

I chose the nickname "Mohabee" last summer (2001). This is the name local anthropologists attribute to a now-extinct nomadic tribe. This tribe made two annual journeys across the Mojave Desert, between the Colorado River, and the San Bernardino Mountains, by foot--about 150 miles.

I attribute the name to the freedom, tenacity, and the vitality of the tribe, which didn't even know horses or mules. Trekking across the desert in the spring and fall was part of the Mohabee life. It's difficult to imagine doing this, in the age of fast cars and aircraft.

The Mohabee tribe flourished for hundreds of years, until an unfortunate massacre in the late 19th century. The burial ground for the children of the massacred tribe is about a mile from Starland, just below Ruby Mountain, where the tribe died.

According to the historians, "Mohabee" became "Mojave" shortly after Spanish explorers claimed the land, in the early part of the 19th century. There is a present-day tribe called the "Mohave Indians," who live on their ancestral land by the Colorado River, in Arizona. Some experts believe this tribal name became "Mojave." This historical conundrum will probably never be answered, but we do know that "Mojave" is a Spanish-influenced name, derived from indigenous tribes who lived in the vast desert, at the time Spanish explorers discovered this land.