Digger Indians

Digger Indians is a somewhat derogatory general term applied to several tribes or groups of Native Americans who lived in the Great Basin area of the United States. It referred to those who dug roots for food and was often applied to various groups of the Paiute Indians who lived in eastern and central California, western and southern Nevada, eastern Oregon, southern Idaho, southern Utah, and northwestern Arizona. The term has occasionally been applied to members or groups of other tribes who dug roots for subsistence.