Originally posted by The Vagabond
The story I had just read up on that I think may have influenced me to see it was that of the Si-Te-Cah: a legendary race of red-haired cannibal
giants who mummified their dead.
Here is theWikipedia article on the legend, and to give credit where credit is due, here is
Stormdancer777's thread on the Si-Te-Cah from 2010,
If you were around the Mojave desert, then it was either the Mojave tribe themselves or one of the Yuman Language family tribes. The tribes that lived
along the Colorado river in the past were:
Colorado River Tribes by Language Family
1. Havasupai (Grand Canyon tribe), Hualapai, Walapai, Yavapai, and Yuma tribes of the Yuman language family.
2. Mojave tribe and Cocopa tribe of the Hokan language family.
3. Chemehuevi tribe of the Numic branch of Uto-Aztecan language family (Numic branch related to Utes and Southern Paiutes).
4. Salado tribe (extinct) and Hohokam tribe (extinct). Technically the closest Hohokam village to the Colorado river is on Goldwater Military Range 35
miles from the river. Most people don't know it's there because its on military land so most end their Hohokam maps at Gila Bend. The Goldwater
Range Hohokam site is north of Mohawk mountain off I-8, just off the Ave 45E exit east of Colfred. Ave 45E becomes Hohokam Road crossing into the
military range land (off limits to public though). It is 35 miles from the Colorado river and there might be one even closer to the Colorado River
that I don't know about on the military land.
5. Navajo tribe of the Athabaskan language family.
6. Anasazi (supposed to be ancestors of the Hopi).
So there's a lot of other tribes that could have made that. The red headed mummies are up in Nevada.
It will probably take me some time to actually document what I'm just gonna say for now, but there were reported to have been discoveries in Death
Valley circa 1850, 1920 and 1946-47
The tribes in the past (not their present locations) that lived bordering the Mojave desert in California and Arizona were the Mojave tribe, Cupeno,
Kamia, Yuma, Salado (extinct), Yavapai (in past, not present), Walapai and Chemehuevi.
I also remember reading about a supposed secret cave somewhere on the canyon walls above the Colorado in an off-limits area of the Grand Canyon.
If it's off limits in the Grand Canyon then it probably belongs to the Havasupai tribe or is sacred to them. Havasupai tribe is from the Yuman
language group. I googled Havasupai genetics and they don't have any red head genes or anything regarding melanin absence in the tribal genes.
(melanin genes pertaining to red hair or blonde hair).
It's the Hopi (descendants of the Anasazi) that have the unusual genes with regards to melanin. They have an incidence of albinism among their tribe
at a rate of 1 in 200. It's called Waardenburg syndrome.
Characteristics of Albino Waardenburg syndrome
* iris pigmentary abnormality (two eyes different color or iris bicolor or characteristic brilliant blue iris)
* hair hypopigmentation (white forelock or white hairs at other sites on the body)
* sensorineural hearing loss
* dystopia canthorum (lateral displacement of inner canthi)
* skin hypopigmentation (congenital leukoderma/white skin patches)
* medial eyebrow flare (synophrys)
* broad nasal root
* hypoplasia alae nasi
* premature graying of the hair (before age 30).
Wiki
So the Hopi tribe has a really high incidence (1 in 200) of this form of albinism. Navajos also have a type of albinism in their tribe but of a
different type. Navajos have oculocutaneous albinism type 2 like the Japanese and its rare among them. Athabaskans (Navajo & Apache) were the last
group to cross Beringia so the Navajo are the youngest tribe to the Colorado river.
It's the Hopi (descendants of the Anasazi) form of albinism that's different from other tribes and very common among them. But none of the other
tribes practiced mummification and definitely not the Hopi.