This thesis examines my terminology of the "Payahuunadü Reconceptualized Effort" from 1927-1939 to analyze how Los Angeles city officials attempted to reshape the narrative and economy of Owens Valley (Payahuunadü) after acquiring most of its land and water rights during the early twentieth century. Los Angeles city officials’ acquirement of land and water rights in Owens Valley is typically recounted within the historiography of the Owens Valley-Los Angeles water transfer. However, the case study of the Owens Valley-Los Angeles water transfer occurs also during a shift in American Indian policy from the Allotment and Assimilation Era (approximately 1887-1934) to the “Indian New Deal” that started in 1934 with the passage of the Wheeler-Howard Act or better known as the Indian Reorganization Act. This thesis focuses on two key aspects of the Owens Valley-Los Angeles water transfer within my concept of the Payahuunadü Reconceptualized effort. The first key aspect of the effort focused on the promotion of Payahuunadü as a tourist destination, which appropriated Indigenous culture while erasing actual Native voices. The second key aspect of the effort analyzes city officials' attempts to resolve their "Indian problem" by relocating the Nüümü and Newe (Owens Valley Paiute and Shoshone). The thesis draws on reports, correspondence, and pamphlets to argue that the "Payahuunadü Reconceptualized Effort" sought to counter negative portrayals of Los Angeles' actions while securing remaining Native land and water rights. The paper highlights Nüümü and Newe resistance to relocation attempts and their continuous presence in their ancestral homeland. This case study of the Nüümü and Newe experience provides insight into the need for comprehensive Indigenous agency in future Western water development projects.