Digger Tribe. Said by Powell to be the English translation of Nuanuints, the name of a small tribe near St George, southwest Utah. It was the only Paiute tribe practicing agriculture, hence the original signification of the name, ‘digger.” In time the name was applied to every tribe known to use roots extensively for food and hence to be “diggers.” It thus included very many of the tribes of California, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, and Arizona, tribes speaking widely different languages and embracing perhaps a dozen distinct linguistic stocks. As the root-eaters were supposed to represent a low type of Indian, the term speedily became one of opprobium.
