ABSTRACT
The Great Basin comprises the large interior depression lying between the Sierra Nevada to the west and the Rocky Mountains to the east and includes much of the western United States. All of the native people in the Great Basin were hunters and gatherers, although a few groups, such as the Southern Paiute and perhaps the Owens Valley Paiute, practiced some small-scale agriculture. The major resource that defines the Great Basin is the pinyon nut, which was a critical food item for many groups. The other characteristic aspect of the Great Basin is the relative late date of Euroamerican contact and prolonged endurance of traditional cultures (see d’Azevedo 1986a).
