History of the Eastern Shoshone

1. Homeland and Migration:
   
   • The Shoshone people are part of the larger Uto-Aztec-speaking groups of the Great Basin, which includes the Northern, Western, and Eastern Shoshone.
   • The Eastern Shoshone originally inhabited areas stretching across present-day Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Utah. 

1. Arrival in Wyoming:
   
   • The Eastern Shoshone likely moved into Wyoming around the 1500s to 1600s, drawn by the abundant resources and strategic geography of the area.
   • By the 18th century, they were well-established in the region, particularly around the Wind River Basin, and their lifestyle was deeply integrated with the environment.

The Eastern Shoshone relied heavily on hunting, fishing, and foraging for their sustenance.

1. Hunting:
   
   • Bison: A cornerstone of their diet and culture, the bison provided meat, hides for clothing and shelter, and bones for tools.
   • Other game: Elk, deer, antelope, and smaller mammals were also hunted.
   • Horses: After acquiring horses in the 1700s, they became highly skilled riders and buffalo hunters, allowing them to expand their hunting grounds.

1. Fishing:
   
   • They fished in Wyoming’s rivers and lakes, catching species like trout and other freshwater fish.
   • Streams and rivers in the Wind River Basin provided ample fishing opportunities.

1. Foraging:
   
   • They gathered roots, berries, and seeds, including camas bulbs, chokecherries, and pine nuts, which supplemented their diet.

1. Treaty of Fort Bridger (1868):
   
   • The Wind River Reservation in western Wyoming was established by the Treaty of Fort Bridger in 1868. This treaty was negotiated between the U.S. government and the Eastern Shoshone, led by their prominent leader, Chief Washakie.
   • The Eastern Shoshone were assigned the reservation to ensure they had a permanent homeland amidst growing pressure from settlers and conflicts with other tribes.

1. Strategic Location:
   
   • The Wind River Valley was chosen because it was within the tribe’s traditional territory and offered resources such as water, arable land, and game.
   • Chief Washakie advocated for this location to maintain some degree of self-sufficiency for his people.

1. Protection from Conflict:
   
   • The Eastern Shoshone faced increasing threats from other tribes, especially the Lakota and Cheyenne, who were expanding into the region.
   • The reservation offered a level of protection while also reflecting Washakie’s desire to secure his people’s future through negotiations rather than war.

The Eastern Shoshone remain integral to Wyoming's cultural and historical fabric:

• Preservation of Traditions:Despite challenges, the tribe continues to celebrate their traditions, including hunting, fishing, and storytelling.
• Shared Reservation:Today, the Wind River Reservation is shared with the Northern Arapaho Tribe, which was relocated there in the late 19th century, adding complexity to the Eastern Shoshone’s history.

The Eastern Shoshone have been in Wyoming for several centuries, having migrated from the Great Basin and Plains regions. They thrived on bison hunting, fishing, and foraging, developing a deep connection with the land. The Wind River Reservation was established in 1868 to secure their homeland amidst growing external pressures and the Bear River Massacre, a decision influenced by Chief Washakie's leadership and vision for his people's future. Called the “Snake People” by a few of the Plains Indians, the Shoshone tribe are formerly resided great expanse of lands ranging from the Great Basin to the Great Plains.

Their wide dispersion over the West has made them a significant Native American tribe, which anthropologists categorize into three groups: the Western Shoshone in Nevada, the Northern Shoshone in northern Utah and Idaho, and the Eastern Shoshone in western Wyoming.

Their Shoshone tribe ancestors, the Newe, are said to have appeared in the southwest region of the Great Basin.

The Shoshonean people are divided into several diverse subgroups. Although the bands’ members share the same language, they have created distinct lifestyles based on their localities and means of subsistence.

The Shoshone people often interacted with other local indigenous tribes and with one another before encountering European settlers.

They were members of numerous trade networks, just like all Native American tribes.

The Shoshone settled into their new environment nicely. 1500 saw the Shoshone crossing from the Rocky Mountains into the northwest Plains.

By 1700, a group of Shoshones had migrated to the Southern Plains, where they finally established themselves as the Comanches.

The Shoshone started introducing horse riding into their culture in the late 1600s when they first came into contact with European settlers.

Shortly after, Shoshone tribe lands were taken over by Spanish invaders.

A Shoshone woman named Sacagawea from a band of the Northern group called Lemhi joined the expedition of Lewis and Clark.

She was married to a French-Canadian fur trader, and on this expedition, she was able to serve as a guide and translator for Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on their journey.

Perhaps the most well-known of all Eastern Shoshone headmen and leaders is Washakie.

Known for his warrior and statesman skill, Washakie was a key figure in the territorial expansion and statehood of Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming.

Along with the well-known mountain man Jim Bridger, he participated in treaty meetings and discussions with Mormon elder Brigham Young.

He helped establish the Wind River Reservation as the Eastern Shoshones’ ancestral home.

When the first Mormon settlers started moving into Northern Utah, there were three main bands of Northwestern Shoshoni.

About 400 members of the “Weber Ute” clan, led by Chief Little Soldier, inhabited Weber Valley until its entrance into the Great Salt Lake.

Chief Pocatello also headed an amount similar to this; they could be found in Grouse Creek in Northwestern Utah eastward through the northern shore of the Great Salt Lake to the Bear River.

Led by Chief Bear Hunter were about 450 members of the third division; they lived in Cache Valley.

When the Eastern and Northwestern tribes gathered for their annual gathering each summer in Round Valley, Bear Hunter was regarded as the paramount chief of the Northwestern Shoshoni and was recognized by Mormon settlers as the war chief who had equal status with Washakie. 

Reason Why the Reservation was established.

The Bear River Massacre, or the Engagement on the Bear River, or the Battle of Bear River, or Massacre at Boa Ogoi, took place in present-day Franklin County, Idaho, on January 29, 1863. After years of skirmishes and food raids on farms and ranches, the United States Army attacked a Shoshone encampment gathered at the confluence of the Bear River and Battle Creek in what was then southeastern Washington Territory, near the present-day city of Preston. Colonel Patrick Edward Connor led a detachment of California Volunteers as part of the Bear River Expedition against Shoshone tribal chief Bear Hunter. Hundreds of Shoshone men, women, and children were killed near their lodges; the number of Shoshone victims reported by local settlers was higher than that reported by soldiers.  Bear River death toll even higher than 350.

From KTVB7  Jan 26, 2022

Here is a small report of this terrible massacre.   https://youtu.be/rb_36l4DHC8?feature=shared

https://thesimonscenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Ethics-Symp-2019-p11-21.pdf

Culture is an important part of Shoshone living, and despite the different bands strewn across, culture has always been put at the forefront.

The Northern and Eastern tribes embraced a nomadic lifestyle and hunted and gathered where resources were abundant.

Once they had horses late in the seventeenth century, they could hunt buffalo more easily and soon after that.

The Shoshone tribes speak Shoshoni.

The Uto-Aztecan language family, which consists of more than thirty diverse languages, contains this complicated language.

Speakers of one dialect may understand speakers of another since the dialects are similar enough.

People who speak Shoshoni have been gradually declining in number over the past few decades.

There are only a few hundred native speakers left today, and the majority are over fifty.

The supernatural forces that frequently manifested as animals and other mythical beings were the sources of the Shoshone tribes’ religious beliefs.

Visions and dreams from the spirit world were the foundation of the Shoshones’ religion.

Some of these dreams were called for quests where a particular animal spirit would grant the person—typically young males—powers and provide advice.

With differences between tribes, some of the most popular characters in these stories were coyotes.

The medicine men, also known as Shamans (Sha-man), had a significant role in the Shoshone religious tradition.

They were asked to execute rituals for ceremonies, bless the hunt, treat the ill, aid in prayer for spirit quests, and resolve spiritual issues in the community.

They were the believers in the faith.

The Shoshone places a strong emphasis on family.

They share a home with their immediate family and their grandparents, aunts, and uncles in their extended families.

The grandparents and parents of the Shoshone people tell their grandchildren and future generations stories about their heritage and culture.

The Shoshone tribe followed the animals and the food source when traveling by season.

They were sometimes known as the “valley people” because they camped in valleys.

They were frugal and made good use of everything they could.

Animals were used for clothing, food, and other purposes, and all of their parts were utilized.

They never killed anything they weren’t going to use entirely.

The Shoshone used organic materials to make their clothing.

The women wore long deerskin gowns with wide sleeves, and the males wore shirts made of buckskin.

They frequently adorned their clothing with beads and porcupine quills, and their footwear was a pair of moccasins.

Foraging for berries, nuts, seeds, and roots was a major source of income for Shoshone bands.

They frequently moved in search of regions with the most edible plants. In contrast to the Eastern Shoshone, the Western Shoshone pursued small animals, including antelope, rabbits, and rodents.

The Northern and Eastern Shoshone bands adopted a nomadic way of life where their primary sources of sustenance were buffalo, sheep, and antelope.

Their food source depended on the nature of the area the tribe resided.

The chief and shaman, who ruled over the group’s decisions on war, marches, and hunts, were at the top of the social hierarchy.

They are often elderly or middle-aged men.

The trading partners, foreigners with whom they exchanged goods, occupied the middle socioeconomic class.

The lowest socioeconomic class was that of the servants, who provided services to those in higher positions.

Women were given into marriage because they were not permitted to remain unmarried.

Women were entitled to their husband’s positions; if they became widows, they lost both.

Cooking, cleaning, caring for the children, and other responsibilities fell to women.

Hunting, becoming a warrior, and other duties fell to the men.

• When European settlers first came to Utah, they mistook the northwestern Shoshone for Ute Indians.
• The Eastern Shoshones’ current home is in central Wyoming due to a bloody conflict with the Blackfeet, Crows, and Assiniboines that lasted from 1780 to 1825.
• The Eastern Shoshones are separated into two divisions because of their geographic location and main food source. “The Buffalo Eaters” were a group of Shoshoni people that lived in the Wyoming basins of the Green and Wind rivers, while the second division was referred to as “sheep-eaters” they occupied the Rocky Mountains and Lake Yellowstone.

Though the Shoshone tribe no longer reside on their ancestral land, the tribe has held on to notable aspects of their cultural heritage and still continue to transmit and hold on to their cultural ideals.

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