History of the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah
The Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, or "PITU" as it is often called, was created on April 3, 1980 by an act of Congress. (25 U.S.C. § 761) The Tribe consists of five constituent bands: Cedar, Indian Peaks, Kanosh, Koosharem, and Shivwits. These five Bands have independent identities as communities that date back hundreds of years.
Prior to 1954, each Band (except the Cedar Band) had its own separate reservation and functioning tribal government. However, under the termination policy pursued by Congress in the early 1950s, the separate reservations and tribal governments of these Bands were terminated by the passage of Public Law 762 on September 1, 1954. Repudiation of this termination policy began in 1970 under President Nixon and eventually led to the restoration of the federal trust relationship of the five Bands reorganized as the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah.
Thus, while the PITU community itself is only in its second generation of existence, the PITU is actually a confederation of constituent Paiute communities that have been independent for dozens of generations.