The Patayan peoples practiced floodplain agriculture where possible and relied heavily on hunting and gathering. They are mostly likely ancestors of the Cocopah and other Yuman-speaking tribes in the region. This included areas along the Gila River, Colorado River and in the Lower Colorado River Valley, the nearby uplands, and north to the vicinity of the Grand Canyon. Patayan is a term used by archaeologists to describe prehistoric Native American cultures who inhabited parts of modern-day Arizona, west to Lake Cahuilla in California, and in Baja California, between 7 A.D. History Cocopah traditional territory on the Colorado River and the Gulf of California Precontact Īncestors of the Cocopah inhabited parts of present-day Arizona, California, and Baja California and are known by western academics as belonging to the Patayan culture. According to the US Census, there were 1,009 Cocopah in 2010. Their self-designation is Xawiƚƚ kwñchawaay, translating to “Those Who Live on the Cloudy River” (from Xawíƚƚy - 'river', kwii - 'cloud', (ny)way - 'to live', llyay/nyaam - 'many'). The Cocopah language belongs to the Delta–California branch of the Yuman family. The Cocopah are also called the Cucapá (in Cocopa: Kwapa or Kwii Capáy. In the United States, Cocopah people belong to the federally recognized Cocopah Tribe of Arizona. The Cocopah ( Cocopah: Xawiƚƚ Kwñchawaay) are Native Americans who live in Baja California, Mexico, and Arizona, United States. A Cocopah man and a Cocopah woman by Cyrus Thomas

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