🐍 Shoshone People

Who Are the Shoshone?

The Shoshone (Newe, "the People") are a Numic-speaking people historically occupying a vast territory from southern California to Montana, including much of the Great Basin and Northern Plains. Today numbering approximately 12,000-15,000 enrolled members across multiple reservations, the Shoshone divide into several groups with distinct histories: **Western Shoshone** (Nevada), **Eastern/Wind River Shoshone** (Wyoming), and **Northern Shoshone** (Idaho). The Eastern Shoshone adopted horse culture and became Plains buffalo hunters, while Western Shoshone maintained Great Basin foraging traditions. The Shoshone are famous for **Sacagawea**, who guided the Lewis and Clark expedition, and for the ongoing Western Shoshone land rights struggle—one of the longest-running indigenous land claims in American history.

Diverse Adaptations: Basin and Plains

The Shoshone demonstrate remarkable cultural diversity within a single linguistic group. **Western Shoshone** in Nevada's harsh desert developed sophisticated foraging strategies: pine nut harvesting, seed collection, rabbit drives, and seasonal movement following food availability. Europeans dismissively called them "Digger Indians" for their root-gathering practices, missing the sophisticated ecological knowledge required for Great Basin survival. In contrast, the **Eastern Shoshone** acquired horses by 1700—among the first peoples north of the Spanish Southwest to do so—transforming into classic Plains buffalo hunters indistinguishable in lifestyle from Crow or Blackfeet. The **Lemhi Shoshone** of Idaho, including Sacagawea's band, occupied a transitional zone, combining salmon fishing, root gathering, and seasonal buffalo hunting. These varying adaptations illustrate how environment shapes culture among peoples sharing common linguistic and kinship ties.

Sacagawea and Historical Encounters

**Sacagawea** (c. 1788-1812), a Lemhi Shoshone woman, became one of American history's most famous Native women through her role in the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-1806). Captured as a child by Hidatsa raiders and sold to French-Canadian trader Toussaint Charbonneau, she accompanied the expedition as interpreter and guide, carrying her infant son Jean Baptiste the entire journey. When the expedition reached Shoshone territory, the chief proved to be her brother Cameahwait—a remarkable coincidence enabling crucial horse acquisition for crossing the Rockies. Sacagawea's knowledge of edible plants, geographical features, and diplomatic protocols proved invaluable. Her image appears on the US dollar coin, though Shoshone perspectives on her legacy are complex—celebration of her contributions alongside critique of her role in facilitating American expansion into Shoshone territory.

Nuclear Testing and Land Rights

The Western Shoshone land rights struggle ranks among the most significant ongoing indigenous sovereignty disputes. The 1863 **Treaty of Ruby Valley** established peace and allowed American passage through Shoshone territory but did not cede land ownership. Nevertheless, the US claimed Western Shoshone land, and the Indian Claims Commission "resolved" the claim in 1962 by awarding monetary compensation that Western Shoshone traditional councils have refused to accept—arguing land was never sold. The **Dann sisters** (Mary and Carrie Dann) became internationally famous for grazing cattle on federal land they argued remained Shoshone territory, taking their case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Meanwhile, the US conducted 928 nuclear tests on Shoshone territory at the Nevada Test Site, making Western Shoshone land "the most bombed nation on earth." The struggle continues, connecting indigenous land rights to nuclear colonialism, environmental justice, and ongoing American occupation of indigenous territories.

Contemporary Shoshone Communities

Today, Shoshone peoples live on several reservations: **Wind River** (Wyoming, shared with Arapaho), **Duck Valley** (Nevada/Idaho), **Fort Hall** (Idaho, shared with Bannock), and numerous Western Shoshone communities including Elko, South Fork, and Te-Moak. The Wind River Shoshone maintain horse culture traditions and the Sun Dance; Chief Washakie's friendship with Americans historically protected them from the worst conflicts. Western Shoshone communities combine tribal governance with ongoing land rights activism. Language endangerment affects all Shoshone groups: Eastern Shoshone has approximately 100 speakers, Western perhaps 1,000—elderly fluent speakers critical for transmission. The Shoshone-Bannock tribes at Fort Hall have developed economic enterprises including gaming. Pan-Shoshone identity connects dispersed communities through shared language family, kinship ties, and collaborative advocacy, while each group maintains distinct relationships with their specific homelands, historical experiences, and contemporary challenges.

References

• Crum, S. J. (1994). The Road on Which We Came: A History of the Western Shoshone. University of Utah Press.
• Stamm IV, H. E. (1999). People of the Wind River: The Eastern Shoshones, 1825-1900. University of Oklahoma Press.
• Madsen, B. D. (1980). The Northern Shoshoni. Caxton Press.
• Ronda, J. P. (1984). Lewis and Clark among the Indians. University of Nebraska Press.