The Paiute people believed that the they had lived in the area since before the Cascade Mountains were formed, and they passed these beliefs to decedents over the past centruies through stories and ledgends. More recent research suggests that about 1,000 years ago an influx of Paiute-speaking people came from the south and migrated throughout the Great Basin area.
The Burns Paiute Reservation is located north of Burns, Oregon in Harney County. The current tribal members are primarily the descendants of the "Wadatika" band of Paiute Indians that roamed in central and southern Oregon. Wadatika is named after the wada seeds they collected near the shores of Malheur Lake. The Paiute used the seeds for food. It is very common for bands to be named after their main or most important food source.
The Wadatika's territory included approximately 5,250 square miles between the Cascade Mountain Range in Central Oregon and the Payette Valley north of Boise, Idaho, and from southern parts of the Blue Mountains near the head waters of the Powder River of John Day, to the desert south of Steens Mountain.
There is a vast amount of history among the Paiute people. I certainly recommend reading more about the Paiute Tribe of the Burns area as well as other tribes from the surrounding areas such as Alaska, Nevada and Utah to know a few. You can easily access information on the web searching for "Paiute." You can also check out books at you local library. My number one recommendation for a book is Steens Mountain Oregon's High Desert County. It compiles information about the Indians, Settlers, and all of the kinds of history about the Steens Mountain area.
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