Reclaiming the river: Tribes push for change on the Colorado River

Members of the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe say their traditional name is Aha Makav, meaning the People of the River. Geoglyphs adorn the desert along the lower reaches of the Colorado River, where the Mojave people flourished long before Europeans set foot in North America. But when representatives of the seven states signed the Colorado River Compact in 1922, the agreement included only a brief mention of the government’s obligation to tribes. For decades, leaders of the Fort Mojave Tribe struggled to secure their water rights.