The Shoshone or Shoshoni ( or ), also known by the endonym Newe, are an Indigenous people of the United States with four large cultural/linguistic divisions: * Eastern Shoshone:

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

Northern Shoshone Northern Shoshone are Shoshone of the Snake River Plain of southern Idaho and the northeast of the Great Basin where Idaho, Wyoming and Utah meet. They are culturally affiliated with the Bannock people and are in the Indigenous people of the Grea ...

: Southern

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

* Western Shoshone: California, Nevada, and Northern Utah * Goshute: western

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, eastern

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

They traditionally speak the Shoshoni language, part of the

Numic languages Numic is the northernmost branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family. It includes seven languages spoken by Native American peoples traditionally living in the Great Basin, Colorado River basin, Snake River basin, and southern Great Plains. ...

branch of the large Uto-Aztecan language family. The Shoshone were sometimes called the

Snake Indians Snake Indians is a collective name given to the Northern Paiute, Bannock, and Shoshone Native American tribes. The term was used as early as 1739 by French trader and explorer Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, Sieur de la Verendrye when he descr ...

by neighboring tribes and early American explorers. Their peoples have become members of

federally recognized tribes This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes are legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United States.

throughout their traditional areas of settlement, often co-located with the

Northern Paiute Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

people of the Great Basin.

Etymology

The name "Shoshone" comes from ''Sosoni'', a

Shoshone The Shoshone or Shoshoni ( or ), also known by the endonym Newe, are an Native Americans in the United States, Indigenous people of the United States with four large cultural/linguistic divisions: * Eastern Shoshone: Wyoming * Northern Shoshon ...

word for high-growing grasses. Some neighboring tribes call the Shoshone "Grass House People," based on their traditional homes made from ''sosoni''. Shoshones call themselves ''Newe'', meaning "People".Loether, Christopher
"Shoshones."
''Encyclopedia of the Great Plains''. Retrieved 20 Oct 2013.

Meriwether Lewis Meriwether Lewis (August 18, 1774 – October 11, 1809) was an American explorer, soldier, politician, and public administrator, best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery, with ...

recorded the tribe as the "Sosonees or snake Indians" in 1805.

Language

The Shoshoni language is spoken by approximately 1,000 people today. It belongs to the Central Numic branch of the

Uto-Aztecan The Uto-Aztecan languages are a family of native American languages, consisting of over thirty languages. Uto-Aztecan languages are found almost entirely in the Western United States and Mexico. The name of the language family reflects the common ...

language family. Speakers are scattered from central Nevada to central Wyoming. The largest numbers of Shoshoni speakers live on the federally recognized

Duck Valley Indian Reservation The Duck Valley Indian Reservation () was established in the 19th century for the federally recognized Shoshone- Paiute Tribe. It is isolated in the high desert of the western United States, and lies on the state line, the 42nd parallel, betwee ...

, located on the border of Nevada and Idaho; and

Goshute Reservation The Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation is located in Juab County, Utah, Tooele County, Utah, and White Pine County, Nevada, United States. It is one of two federally recognized tribes of Goshute people, the other being the Skull Val ...

in Utah.

Idaho State University Idaho State University (ISU) is a Public university, public research university in Pocatello, Idaho, United States. Founded in 1901 as the Academy of Idaho, Idaho State offers more than 250 programs at its main campus in Pocatello and locations ...

also offers Shoshoni-language classes.

History

The Shoshone are a

Native American tribe In the United States, an American Indian tribe, Native American tribe, Alaska Native village, Indigenous tribe, or Tribal nation may be any current or historical Tribe (Native American)#Other uses, tribe, band, or nation of Native Americans in ...

that originated in the western

Great Basin The Great Basin () is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets to the ocean, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja Californi ...

and spread north and east into present-day Idaho and Wyoming. By 1500, some Eastern Shoshone had crossed the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

into the

Great Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...

. After 1750, warfare and pressure from the Blackfoot,

Crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly, a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not linked scientifically to any certain trait but is rathe ...

Lakota Lakota may refer to: *Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes *Lakota language Lakota ( ), also referred to as Lakhota, Teton or Teton Sioux, is a Siouan languages, Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of ...

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...

, and

Arapaho The Arapaho ( ; , ) are a Native American people historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Lakota and Dakota. By the 1850s, Arapaho bands formed t ...

pushed Eastern Shoshone south and westward. Some of them moved as far south as Texas, emerging as the

Comanche The Comanche (), or Nʉmʉnʉʉ (, 'the people'), are a Tribe (Native American), Native American tribe from the Great Plains, Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the List of federally recognized tri ...

by 1700. As more

European American European Americans are Americans of European ancestry. This term includes both people who descend from the first European settlers in the area of the present-day United States and people who descend from more recent European arrivals. Since th ...

settlers migrated west, tensions rose with the indigenous people over competition for territory and resources. Wars occurred throughout the second half of the 19th century. The Northern Shoshone, led by Chief Pocatello, fought during the 1860s against settlers in Idaho (where the city Pocatello was named for him). As more settlers encroached on Shoshone hunting territory, the natives raided farms and ranches for food and attacked immigrants. The warfare resulted in the Bear River Massacre (1863) when U.S. forces attacked and killed an estimated 250 Northwestern Shoshone, who were at their winter encampment in present-day

Franklin County, Idaho Franklin County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census the county had a population of 14,194. The county seat and largest city is Preston, Idaho, Preston. The cou ...

. A large number of the dead were non-combatants, including children, deliberately killed by the soldiers. This was the highest number of deaths which the Shoshone suffered at the hands of United States forces. 21 US soldiers were also killed. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

travelers continued to migrate westward along the Westward Expansion Trails. When the Shoshone, along with the Utes participated in attacks on the mail route that ran west out of Fort Laramie, the mail route had to be relocated south of the trail through

. Allied with the Bannock, to whom they were related, the Shoshone fought against the United States in the

Snake War The Snake War (1864–1868) was an Irregular warfare, irregular war fought by the United States of America against the "Snake Indians," the Exonym, settlers' term for Northern Paiute, Bannock (tribe), Bannock and Western Shoshone bands who liv ...

from 1864 to 1868. They fought U.S. forces together in 1878 in the Bannock War. In 1876, by contrast, the Shoshone fought alongside the U.S. Army in the Battle of the Rosebud against their traditional enemies, the

and

. In 1879 a band of approximately 300 Eastern Shoshone (known as " Sheepeaters") became involved in the Sheepeater Indian War. It was the last Indian war fought in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

region of the present-day United States. In 1911 a small group of Bannock under a leader named Mike Daggett, also known as "Shoshone Mike," killed four ranchers in

Washoe County, Nevada Washoe County () is a county in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 486,492, making it Nevada's second-most populous county. Its county seat is Reno. Washoe County is included in the Reno, NV Metropolitan Sta ...

. The settlers formed a posse and went out after the Native Americans. They caught up with the Bannock band on February 25, 1911, and in a gun battle killed Mike Daggett and seven members of his band. They lost one man of the posse, Ed Hogle in the Battle of Kelley Creek. The posse captured an infant named Mary Jo Estep, along with two children and a young woman. The three older captives died of diseases within a year; Mary Jo Estep survived, and passed away in 1992, around the age of 82. A rancher donated the partial remains of three adult males, two adult females, two adolescent males, and three children (believed to be Mike Daggett and his family, according to contemporary accounts) to the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

in Washington, D.C., for study. In 1994, the institution repatriated the remains to the Fort Hall Idaho Shoshone-Bannock Tribe. In 2008 the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation acquired the site of the Bear River Massacre and some surrounding land. They wanted to protect the holy land and to build a memorial to the massacre, the largest their nation had suffered. "In partnership with the American West Heritage Center and state leaders in Idaho and Utah, the tribe has developed public/private partnerships to advance tribal cultural preservation and economic development goals." They have become leaders in developing tribal renewable energy.

Historical population

The Shoshone were scattered over a vast area and divided into many bands, therefore many estimates of their population did not cover the entire tribe. In 1820 Jedidiah Morse estimated the Shoshone population at 60,000 and 20,000 Eastern Shoshone. According to Alexander Ross the Shoshone were on the west side of the Rocky Mountains what the Sioux were on the east side - the most powerful tribe - and he estimated that in 1855 the Shoshone numbered 36,000 people. They were much reduced in number after they had suffered

infectious disease An infection is the invasion of tissue (biology), tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host (biology), host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmis ...

epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of hosts in a given population within a short period of time. For example, in meningococcal infection ...

s and warfare. According to Joseph Lane the Shoshone were divided into many bands and it was almost impossible to ascertain their exact numbers. According to Indian Affairs 1859 in Utah there were 4,500 Shoshones. Indian Affairs 1866 reported in Utah 4,500 eastern Bannock and Shoshone intermingled and 3,800 western and northwestern Shoshone as well as 2,000 Shoshone in Nevada and 2,500 Shoshone in Idaho, as well as an unspecified number in Oregon. The completion of the

first transcontinental railroad America's first transcontinental railroad (known originally as the "Pacific Railroad" and later as the "Overland Route (Union Pacific Railroad), Overland Route") was a continuous railroad line built between 1863 and 1869 that connected the exis ...

in 1869 was followed by European-American immigrants arriving in unprecedented numbers in the territory. Indian Affairs 1875 gave the Shoshone as 1,740 in Idaho and Montana, 1,945 in Nevada, 700 in Wyoming and 244 (besides those intermixed with the Bannock) in Oregon. The census of 1910 returned 3,840 Shoshone. In 1937, the

Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, Department of the Interior. It is responsible for im ...

counted 3,650 Northern Shoshone and 1,201 Western Shoshone. As of the 2000 U.S. census, some 12,000 persons identified as Shoshone. As of 2020 there were in the USA 17,918 Shoshone including 3,638 in Nevada and 3,491 in Wyoming.

Bands

Shoshone people are divided into traditional bands based both on their homelands and primary food sources. These include: * Eastern Shoshone people: :* Guchundeka', Kuccuntikka, Buffalo EatersShimkin 335 :* Tukkutikka, Tukudeka, Mountain Sheep Eaters, joined the Northern Shoshone :* Boho'inee', Pohoini, Pohogwe, Sage Grass people, Sagebrush Butte People * Northern Shoshone people: :* Agaideka, Salmon Eaters, Lemhi, Snake River and Lemhi River ValleyMurphy and Murphy 306 :* Kammedeka, Kammitikka, Jack Rabbit Eaters, Snake River, Great Salt Lake :* Hukundüka, Porcupine Grass Seed Eaters, Wild Wheat Eaters, possibly synonymous with Kammitikka :* Tukudeka, Dukundeka', Sheep Eaters (Mountain Sheep Eaters), Sawtooth Range, Idaho, synonymous with Doyahinee' (Mountain Dwellers). :* Yahandeka, Yakandika, Groundhog Eaters, lower Boise, Payette, and Wiser RiversMurphy and Murphy 287 * Western Shoshone people: :* Kusiutta, Goshute (Gosiute), Great Salt Desert and Great Salt Lake, Utah ::*Cedar Valley Goshute ::*Deep Creek Goshute ::*Rush Valley Goshute ::*Skull Valley Goshute, Wipayutta, Weber Ute ::*Tooele Valley Goshute ::*Trout Creek Goshute :*Kuyatikka, Kuyudikka, Bitterroot Eaters, Halleck, Mary's River, Clover Valley, Smith Creek Valley, Nevada :*Mahaguadüka, Mentzelia Seed Eaters, Ruby Valley, Nevada :*Painkwitikka, Penkwitikka, Fish Eaters, Cache Valley, Idaho and Utah :*Pasiatikka, Redtop Grass Eaters, Deep Creek Gosiute, Deep Creek Valley, Antelope Valley :*Tipatikka, Pinenut Eaters, northernmost band :*Tsaiduka, Tule Eaters, Railroad Valley, Nevada :*Tsogwiyuyugi, Elko, Nevada :*Waitikka, Ricegrass Eaters, Ione Valley, Nevada :*Watatikka, Ryegrass Seed Eaters, Ruby Valley, Nevada :*Wiyimpihtikka, Buffalo Berry EatersThomas, Pendleton, and Cappannari 280–283

Reservations and Indian colonies

* Battle Mountain Reservation,

Lander County, Nevada Lander County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 5,734. Its county seat is Battle Mountain, Nevada, Battle Mountain. History Lander County was c ...

. Current reservation population is 165 and total tribal enrollment is 516. *

, southern Idaho/northern Nevada, (Western) Shoshone-Paiute Tribes * Duckwater Indian Reservation, located in Duckwater, Nevada, approximately from Ely. * Elko Indian Colony, Elko County, Nevada * Ely Shoshone Indian Reservation in Ely, Nevada, 111 acres (0.45 km²), 500 members * Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Reservation near

Fallon, Nevada Fallon is a city in Churchill County, Nevada, Churchill County in the U.S. state of Nevada. The population was 9,327 at time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Fallon is the county seat of Churchill County and is located in the Lahont ...

, 8,200 acres (33 km²), 991 members, Western Shoshone and Paiute * Fort Hall Indian Reservation, 544,000 acres (2,201 km²) in

, Lemhi Shoshone with the Bannock Indians, a Paiute band with which they have merged * Fort McDermitt Indian Reservation, Nevada and Oregon, Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe * Goshute Indian Reservation, 111,000 acres (449 km²) in Nevada and Utah, Western Shoshone * Lemhi Indian Reservation (1875–1907) in Idaho, Lemhi Shoshone, removed to Fort Hall Reservation * Northwestern Shoshone Indian Reservation, Utah, Northwestern Band of Shoshone Nation of Utah (Washakie)"Northwestern Band of Shoshone Tribal Profile."
''Utah Division of Indian Affairs.'' Retrieved 23 Dec 2012. * Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, Nevada, 1,988 acres (8 km²), total 481 members of Shoshone, Paiute, and Washoe bands * Skull Valley Indian Reservation, 18,000 acres (73 km²) in Utah, Western Shoshone * South Fork Odgers Ranch Indian Colony, Elko County, Nevada * Wells Indian Colony, Elko County, Nevada * Wind River Reservation, population 2,650 Eastern Shoshone, 2,268,008 acres (9,178 km²) of reservation in Wyoming are shared with the Northern

Notable people

* Sacagawea (1788–1812), Lemhi Shoshone guide of the

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gro ...

Jean Baptiste Charbonneau Jean Baptiste Charbonneau (February 11, 1805 – May 16, 1866), sometimes known in childhood as Pompey or Little Pomp, was an American explorer, guide, Animal trapping, fur trapper, trader, military scout during the Mexican–American War, ''alcal ...

(1805–1866) son of Sacagawea, explorer, guide, military scout * Cameahwait, chief in the early 19th century *

Bear Hunter Bear Hunter (died January 29, 1863), "also known as Wirasuap (bear spirit)" was a Shoshone chief of the Great Basin in the 1860s. On January 29, 1863, he and his Shoshone band (Northwestern Band) were attacked by the US Army in what is known ...

(d. 1863), war chief * Old Toby * Ned Blackhawk (b. ca. 1970), historian and professor at Yale * Mary Dann and Carrie Dann * Randy'L He-dow Teton * Chief Washakie * Chief Pocatello * Lolly Vegas, lead singer of Redbone (band) *

Taboo (rapper) Jaime Luis Gomez (born July 14, 1975), better known by the stage names Taboo or Taboo Nawasha, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, DJ, and comic book writer, best known as a member of the musical group Black Eyed Peas. Early lif ...

, member of the

Black Eyed Peas The Black Eyed Peas are an American musical group formed in Los Angeles in 1995, composed of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap and Taboo (rapper), Taboo. Fergie (singer), Fergie was a member during the height of their popularity in the 2000s, and ...

(Shoshone grandmother)

Notes

References

* Murphy, Robert A., and Yolanda Murphy. "Northern Shoshone and Bannock." Warren L. d'Azevedo, volume editor. '' Handbook of North American Indians: Great Basin, Volume 11.'' Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1986: 284–307. . * Shimkin, Demitri B. "Eastern Shoshone." Warren L. d'Azevedo, volume editor. '' Handbook of North American Indians: Great Basin, Volume 11.'' Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1986: 308–335. . * Thomas, David H., Lorann S.A. Pendleton, and Stephen C. Cappannari. "Western Shoshone." Warren L. d'Azevedo, volume editor. '' Handbook of North American Indians: Great Basin, Volume 11.'' Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1986: 262–283. .

External links

Northern Shoshone treatiesGreat Basin Indian ArchivesReno-Sparks Indian ColonyTe-Moak Tribe of the Western Shoshone Indians of NevadaTimbisha Tribe of the Western Shoshone NationWestern Shoshone Defense Project

The Sheepeaters
{{Authority control Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin Native American tribes in Colorado Native American tribes in Idaho Native American tribes in Montana Native American tribes in Nevada Native American tribes in Oregon Native American tribes in Utah Native American tribes in Wyoming Uto-Aztecan peoples