Paiute

American  

[pahy-oot, pahy-oot] / paɪˈut, ˈpaɪ ut /

Or Piute

noun

• Paiutes,
  plural
• Paiute
  plural

1. a member of a group of North American Indians of the Uto-Aztecan family dwelling in California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona.

2. either of two mutually unintelligible Uto-Aztecan languages Northern Paiute and Southern Paiute.

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Paiute British  

/ ˈpaɪˌuːt, paɪˈjuːt /

noun

1. a member of either of two North American Indian peoples ( Northern Paiute and Southern Paiute ) of the Southwestern US, related to the Aztecs

2. the language of either of these peoples, belonging to the Shoshonean subfamily of the Uto-Aztecan family

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Paiute
  plural
• Paiutes
  plural

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Paiute Paiutes

For the Southern Paiute and Western Shoshone, Eagle Mountain holds profound cultural significance — woven into their creation stories and Salt Songs, understood as a “passage to the sky.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 5, 2026

“Here we are as Indigenous peoples doing what we do best, and that’s take care of ours,” said Rana Saulque, vice chair of the Utu Utu Gwaitu Paiute Tribe, tearing up.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 22, 2026

The Bishop Paiute, Big Pine Paiute and Lone Pine Paiute-Shoshone tribes, like many other tribes across California and the West, still don’t have legal recognition of their water rights.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 18, 2025

Many homes on Hopi lands are similarly situated, and the San Juan Southern Paiute have been left for generations without a reservation — or water rights — to call their own.

From Seattle Times ● May 24, 2024

We shall use the name Bannock in its most common sense to designate the mounted, buffalo-hunting Mono-Bannock speakers of Idaho; Northern Paiute refers specifically to the Mono-Bannock population to the west of the Shoshone.

From Shoshone-Bannock Subsistence and Society by Robert F. Murphy

Some Indians opposed to the mine say it will disturb sacred ground where a massacre of Paiutes took place in 1865.

From Washington Times ● Sep. 6, 2023

I also spoke to a member of the Moapa Band of Paiutes, a neighboring tribe, who do not count Avi Kwa Ame as their origin site, but still recognize its deep cultural relevance.

From New York Times ● Jan. 24, 2023

In a city saturated with gambling, where even laundromats and grocery stores have slot machines, the Las Vegas Paiutes never saw the casino business as a viable economic driver.

From The Guardian ● Nov. 11, 2019

The Paiutes were like, "Well, hey. You know, we're here, but we know you don't mean us."

From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2019

Inasmuch as they have crossed our borders, they do evilly, but they are also Paiutes, as we are, and sons of the Bear.

From The Arrow-Maker A Drama in Three Acts by Mary Hunter Austin

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