Paiute Past

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Members of the Southern Paiute Tribe tell their story through oral history and photographs by writer Logan Hebner and photographer Michael Plyler at the Lost City Museum in Overton.

Plyler and Hebner spent five years photographing and interviewing tribal elders for the exhibit that runs through June 30.

Participants in the project represent the five bands (Cedar, Indian Peak, Kanosh, Koosharem and Shivwits) of the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah; the Kaibab Tribe of Arizona; the San Juan Tribe of Utah; the Las Vegas, Moapa and Pahrump tribes of Nevada and the Chemehuevi Tribe of California.

Hebner and Plyler collected hours of interviews with each subject and a black and white photograph of each individual.

The life stories cover personal joys and sorrows and touch on tribal issues such as placement, the termination of tribal recognition and status by the federal government, later reinstatement of tribal recognition and the Mountain Meadows massacre story from the Paiute perspective.

Hebner moved to the Zion National Park area in 1981 and has written about the American West for numerous publications. He has recorded oral history projects on river runners and seniors who chose to work, which became the basis for the Eyes of Wisdom exhibit.

Plyler, a University of Nevada, Las Vegas graduate, is a past recipient of a Visual Artist Fellowship from the Utah Arts Council. He runs Michael Plyler Photography in Springdale, Utah.

Hebner’s work with the Southern Paiute began while writing about a hazardous waste incinerator offered to the Kaibab Paiute Tribe of Arizona. After being impressed that the tribe turned down millions of dollars to preserve its land, Hebner produced this oral history project with photographer Plyler.

The Lost City Museum is one of seven managed by the Division of Museums and History, an agency of the Nevada Department of Cultural Affairs.

On May 18, International Museum Day, admission to the museum will be free.