Yuma [key], Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Yuman branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). Also known as the Quechan, they formerly ranged over a large area in SW Arizona. Although a powerful group, the Yuma suffered much in warfare with the Maricopa, the Pima, and other tribes. In 1853 they numbered some 3,000. A reservation was created for them in 1883, but the next year they were removed to the California side of the Colorado River; they formally surrendered their lands to the United States in 1886. Today the remainder of the group lives on the Fort Yuma reservation in California and Arizona, numbering 1,160 in 1990.
See A. L. Kroeber, Yuman Tribes of the Lower Colorado (1920); J. Forbes, Warriors of the Colorado (1965).
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