Quechan people

This week, in between working on my camper, I visited the local Historical Society with a friend and the director, Carol Brooks, showed us some amazing photographs taken of the forefathers of the original people of this area. There are several nations around here, but nearest are the Cocopah and the Quechan. This is a picture of Quechan men. They were previously called 'Yuma Indians', but are now called by the name they had given themselves, the Quechan.
At the recent pow wow I got to talking with an older woman (78) and she told me that she had been to boarding school and had not been allowed to learn her own language. We talked about the 'Trail of Tears' too.
I often talk to Native American people at the pow wows I go to, but this was the first time in 15 years that someone was so open about these two subjects.