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The traditional Shoshone-Bannock homeland included all of southern Idaho. Indeed, speakers of Shoshonean languages occupied most of Idaho, Nevada, and Utah, as well as parts of California, Oregon, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. The blue dots on this map show the approximate location of the Duck Valley Reservation for Shoshone and Paiute (left) and the Shoshone-Bannock's Fort Hall Reservation (right). |
The Shoshone and Bannock, who were gathered to the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in the 1860s, once included all of southern Idaho as their homeland. In pre-contact times, they were not organized as tribes, but lived and worked together in bands or groups of related families based within a defined region. Even today, after more than a century of reservation life, individuals and families track themselves and others by whether they are Shoshone or Bannock or by the band from which they descend.
Although the Shoshone and Bannock were nearly identical in the types of houses they constructed, the tools they used, the foods they sought, and the territory they covered, and although they participate today in a common culture, they are distinguished by their separate languages. Often assumed to be merely dialects, Shoshone and Bannock are actually two distinct languages. The Bannock speak a dialect of Northern Paiute, similar to the Northern Paiute spoken in Oregon from where it is believed they have recently (within the last 250 years) emigrated.
Among the Shoshone of Fort Hall, several dialects are spoken, reflecting the various Shoshone bands.The Shoshone dialects are "mutually intelligible," that is, a Shoshone speaker from the Boise area can understand a Shoshone speaker from the Lemhi Valley.
The different dialects, the nature of the social structure, and the strong ties to particular regions have created powerful band identity among the Shoshone of the Fort Hall Reservation. At least five different Shoshone bands or subgroups have been identified by anthropologists who conducted field work among the Shoshone at Fort Hall in the first half of this century. Anthropologists have named the Shoshone bands of Idaho the "Northern Shoshone" and distinguish them from Shoshone groups in Wyoming (the Eastern Shoshone on the Wind River Reservation) and in Nevada (the Western Shoshone of the Duck Valley Reservation).
Each of the Idaho Shoshone bands have their own separate history and traditional homeland. Since the types of resources available within each band region differed, food preferences, hunting techniques, and tools may have been slightly different as well. These bands have been identified in different ways in the literature: by the dominant food resource in their traditional territory (e.g., sheep-eaters), by their Shoshone name (e.g., Tukudeka), by their leaders (e.g., "Pocatello's band"), or by regions. These regions can be roughly equated with river drainages, as we have done here:
Information on the Northwest Bands can be found on their Challenge Grant page.
We encourage Challenge Grant projects which examine the history of the Bannock and each of these Shoshone bands.
Prior to contact with Euro-Americans, the Shoshone and Bannock were hunters and gatherers, moving their camps on a regular basis to take advantage of plants and animals in season. This "annual round" was documented by early trappers in the area and by the information given to anthropologists in the first half of this century by Shoshone and Bannock. Each band had its winter base camps near the river or in the area indicated by the band name. With the arrival of spring and the depletion of stored food in the winter camps, the bands would move to seasonal camps as plants or animals became available. Examples of seasonal camps (Figure 1) include salmon-fishing camps along the forks of the Salmon River, and the SnakeRiver and its tributaries below Shoshone Falls; Camas Prairie near present-day Fairfield where the roots of the camas were harvested; and the pine groves of the City of Rocks area where pine nuts could be gathered. Occasional forays were also made to distant locations, such as the falls at the Dalles, Oregon, for salmon-fshing. With the acquisition of the horse in the 17th century and increased mobility, the annual round was able to expand to include excursions onto the Plains to hunt buffalo. Not all bands nor all members of a band visited each of these areas each year, but the resources were open to all who needed them. The different bands did not "own" these resources.
A brief chronology of important events for the Shoshone-Bannock is added here. We hope it will be helpful in identifying Challenge Grant projects.
CONTACT PERIOD
1690 Northern Shoshone have drifted from the Snake country of Idaho and Wyoming into Montana and Utah. They acquire Spanish horses, probably via the Comanche, a Shoshone- speaking tribe that now ranges over a different geographical area to the south.
1805 Lewis and Clark meet a Lemhi Shoshone band.
1808 John Colter of the Lewis and Clark party returns to Shoshone country, exploring the Teton Valley and Upper Yellowstone.
1810 Andrew Henry founds "fort" on Henry's Fork in upper Snake River Valley. Members of John Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Trapping Company stay in the Snake River country.
1813 John Reid of the Pacific Fur Company builds post at confluence of the Boise and the Snake--in the middle of traditional Shoshone salmon fishery and summer grounds. This alienates the Bannock, who destroy the post.
1818 Iroquois band travelling with Donald Mackenzie stays with the Boise band of Shoshone for a season.
1824 Peter Skene Ogden takes over Snake expedition, and discovers that the Boise, Fort Hall, and other Northern Shoshone have formed into large bands for hunting, in order to resist Blackfeet.
1832 Captain B.L.E. Bonneville builds a winter post in Lemhi country.
1834 Annual trapper's rendezvous continue to be held at Green River, Wyoming; Cache Valley, Utah; and Pierre's Hole in southeast Idaho, with Native Americans attending.
1834 Construction of Fort Hall by Nathaniel Wyeth establishes the first "permanent" Euro-American post in the Southeast Idaho area. Late the same year Thomas McKay builds Fort Boise in the western part of the state.
1838 British Hudson's Bay Company takes over management of Fort Hall, and Northern Shoshone remain under their influence.
1840 Bison are hunted out of the Green and Snake River areas, and fur trade has collapsed, with beaver gone and fur hats no longer fashionable.
1841 Beginning of westward migration of Euro-American settlers. The Oregon Trail goes over South Pass, Wyoming, ascends the Bear River to Soda Springs, Idaho, and cuts westward or southward from Fort Hall. Growing with Marcus Whitman's wagon train in 1843, the movement becomes a flood by 1850.
1849 Establishment of 49th parallel as boundary between the United States and Canada immediately makes the Shoshone wards of the territorial government, although the fact is kept from them for many years.
1854 Destruction of their traditional hunting and fishing territory by immigrants leads to the massacre of 19 members of Ward party by Boise Shoshone.
1863 More than 200 Shoshone are massacred on banks of Bear River by volunteer soldiers from California, led by Colonel Patrick E. Conner. One of largest and first major massacres of Native Americans west on the Mississippi.
1864 Ratification of five Doty treaties with Shoshone tribes by the Senate. Treaty with Bannock and Fort Hall and Lemhi Shoshone is never ratified, however, so they do not receive annuities.
RESERVATION PERIOD
1868 Treaty of Fort Bridger allows relocation of Bannocks and Fort Hall Shoshones to the Fort Hall Reservation, established in 1867 for the Boise and Bruneau bands.
1875 Assignment of Sheepeater and Lemhi populations to reservation in Lemhi valley.
1878 Sheepeater War perpetrated by Euro-American miners in Salmon River district.
1878 Bannock War at Camas Prairie marks the last battle with whites in this area.
1880 Shoshone-Bannocks agree to cede southern portion of Fort Hall reservation and to accept the Lemhi, if they agree to move.
1882 First Indian police force of eight men organized at Fort Hall reservation.
1883 Fort Hall Military post on Lincoln Creek is closed.
1885 Major Crimes Act allows certain major crimes commited within tribal jurisdiction to be tried in federal courts.
1887 General Allotment Act (Dawes) allots 160 acres to each head of household and 40 acres to each minor, and opens surplus lands to white settlers against protest of the Indians.
1888 Pocatello townsite cession of 1,840 acres is made and compensation received by the tribes for 1878 right-of-way, to remove whites from reservation.
1888 Tribal Court established.
1890 Wounded Knee Massacre of 200 Sioux. The Plains Indian sun dance is adopted by Eastern Shoshone of Wind River Reservation and diffuses to Fort Hall a few years later.
1891 Amendment to Dawes Act provides 80 acres of agricultural land and 160 acres of grazing land to each Indian on the Fort Hall reservation.
1892 Congress passes a special act to grant Chief Tendoy pension of $15.00 a month for surrendering lands and dealing honestly with whites.
1898 Agreement with Fort Hall Indians for sale of 418,560 acres with compensation at $1.25 an acre, which reduces the reservation to half its original size.
1900 Shoshone-Bannocks receive $600,000, with $75,000 being used for a school building.
1907 The Lemhi reservation is terminated and remaining families are removed to Fort Hall.
1911 Congresionl Act provides for allotment of land in severalty at Fort Hall.
1921 Act to establish Minidoka Project and construction of American Falls Reservoir
1922 Act establishing town of Fort Hall, Idaho.
1925 Native American Church established at Fort Hall.
1930 Organization of Fort Hall Business Council.
1934 Indian Reorganization Act profoundly changes direction of U.S. Government policy toward Native Americans.
1936 Shoshone and Bannock of Fort Hall approve constitution and by-laws for self-government and ratify a corporate charter in 1937.
1938 Boarding school closed and day schools opened at Ross Fork, Lincoln Creek, and Bannock Creek.
1944 Ross Fork and Lincoln Creek day schools closed and students placed in public schools in counties.
1947 Contract with Simplot Fertilizer Company to mine phosphates at Gay Mine on reservation.
1960 Contract with Food Machinery and Chemical Corporation to mine phosphates on reservation.
1968 $15,700,000 is awarded to Northern and Eastern Shoshone by the Indian Claims Commission, strengthening tribal economy.
1975 Indians Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act is passed, allowing tribes to contract directly with federal programs.
1976 Land Use Policy Ordinance is approved for Shoshone-Bannock by Secretary of Inderior.
1978 Indian Child Welfare Act is passed.
1985 Changes in the Fort Hall Tribal Constitution allow reservation-wide voting and a primary election prior to general election
Published Resources: Below is a list of important published material on the Shoshone-Bannock.
Clark, Ella E. 1966. Indian Legends from the Northern Rockies. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc.
Presents Idaho tribes of Couer d'Alene, Nez Perce, Kalispel, and Shoshone and Bannock in context, as it weaves their own legends into the bigger picture of Plateau and Plains culture and of the Rocky Mountain environment. "Coyote" myths are an example.
Corless, Hank. 1990. The Weiser Indians: Shoshoni Peacemakers. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press.
Authoritative source of information on the Weiser.
D'Azevedo, Warren L., Ed. 1986. Volume 11: Handbook of North American Indians: Great Basin. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution.
The most comprehensive collection of scholarly papers and anthropological information about the indigenous inhabitants of the Great Basin area, this 750-page volume includes the Shoshone and Bannock tribes in their Prehistorical, Historical, Ethnological, and Special Topics framework.
Dramer, Kim. 1997. Indians of North America: The Shoshone. Main Line Book Co: Chelsea House.
Part of a new series written especially for young adults, this small book covers the Shoshone groups that ranged the Great Basin area of Utah, Nevada, Idaho, and Wyoming. Includes the "Legacy of Sacajawea."
Holmer, Richard N. 1995. "Projectile Point Classification: The Eastern Idaho Data Base." Tebiwa 25:115-121.
1994. "In Search of the Ancestral Northern Shoshone." In Across the West: Human Population Movement and the Expansion of the Numa, David B. Madsen and David Rhode, Eds. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press.
1986. Shoshone-Bannock Culture History. Swanson/Crabtree Anthropological Research Laboratory 85(16):39-203. Idaho State University, Pocatello.
Liljeblad, Sven. 1959. "Indian People of Idaho." In History of Idaho, S. Beal and M. Wells, Eds. Lewis Historical Publishing, pp. 29-59.
1972. The Idaho Indians in Transition, 1805-1960. Pocatello, ID: Idaho State University Press.
Dr. Sven Liljeblad was the first ethnographer since Robert Lowie to work with the Fort Hall Reservation people. He recorded voluminous tapes of stories told in native Shoshoni and Bannock languages; some of Liljeblad's material is held by the Idaho Museum of Natural History at Idaho State University.
Lohse, E.S., and Richard N. Holmer, Eds. 1990. Fort Hall and the Shoshone Bannock. Pocatello, ID: Idaho State University Press.
Originally published as the Fall, 1990 issue of Rendezvous, Idaho State University Journal of Arts and Letters, this volume contains articles on the Shoshone Bannock in the area of Old Fort Hall from both prehistoric and transitional periods.
Lowie, Robert. 1909. The Northern Shoshone. Anthropological Papers, American Museum of Natural History, Vol. II.
As the first ethnographer to visit the Fort Hall Indian Reservation shortly after the turn of the century, Lowie set numerous stories and observations to print as a result of staying among the people for no more than a few days.
Madsen, Brigham D. 1996. The Bannock of Idaho. Caldwell, ID: The Caxton Printers, Ltd. Reprinted: Moscow, ID: University of Idaho Press.
1986. Chief Pocatello: The "White Plume." Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press.
1985. The Shoshoni Frontier and the Bear River Massacre. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press.
1980. The Northern Shoshoni. Caldwell, ID: The Caxton Printers, Ltd.
1979. The Lemhi: Sacajawea's People. Caldwell, ID: The Caxton Printers, Ltd.
Clearly the most prolific historical writer on the Northern Shoshone and Bannock Indians, Madsen is also thorough with his research.
Merkley-Mier, Anne. 1994. Cultural Contrast and Material Change: the Wrensted-Garvey Photographs of Northern Shoshone and Bannock Indians. Unpublished thesis.
Specific Shoshone-Bannock individuals photographed in turn-of-the-century Pocatello studios are placed within family, cultural, and historical contexts. Includes detailed analysis of clothing worn and information shared by relatives through interviews.
1993. The Shoshone-Bannock and Old Fort Hall. Pocatello, ID: Fort Hall Replica Commission.
1990. The Story of Old Fort Hall. Pocatello, ID: Fort Hall Replica Commission.
This booklet was written with imput by both Shoshone and Bannock.
Murphy, Robert F. and Yolanda. 1960. Shoshone-Bannock Subsistence and Society. Berkeley: University of California Press. Anthropology Records Vol. 16, No. 7.
Native American Committee. 1990. Idaho Indians: Tribal Histories. Pocatello, ID: Idaho Museum of Natural History.
Articles from the five Idaho tribes about themselves, collected by the Idaho Centennial Commission Native American Committee.
Pavesic, Max G. and William Studebaker. 1993. Backtracking: Ancient Art of Southern Idaho. Pocatello, ID: Idaho Museum of Natural History.
Beautiful color photographs of rare and unusual cultural artifacts, many in private collections, from an exhibit held at the Herrett Museum, Twin Falls, ID. The authors both archaeological and aesthetic interpretations.
Plew, Mark G. 1986. An Introduction to the Archaeology of Southern Idaho. Boise, ID: Boise State University.
A good overview of prehistory and archaeological techniques for those interested in lithics.
Scherer, Joanna Cohan, Ed. 1993. Benedicte Wrensted: An Idaho Photographer in Focus. Pocatello, ID: Idaho State University Press.
Originally published as The Fall 1992-Spring 1993 issue of Rendezvous: Idaho State University Journal of Arts and Letters, this volume contains articles on turn-of-the-century photographs of Fort Hall Reservation Shoshone and Bannock by Anne Merkley and on early newspaper reporting by Jo Ann Ruckman.
Steward, Julian H. 1938. Basin-Plateau Aboriginal Sociopolitical Groups. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office. Reprint 1970. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press.
This is the original anthropological description of the Northern Shoshone and Basin tribes in context of an ecological model of relationship of the people to the environment.
Walker, Deward E., Jr. 1978. Indians of Idaho. Moscow, ID: University of Idaho Press.
1982. Myths of Idaho Indians. Moscow, ID: University of Idaho Press.
Walker is still actively involved with research into Idaho indigenous groups.
Museums and Repositories:
Idaho Museum of Natural History, Idaho State University. Lynn Murdoch, Anthropological Collections Manager. 208-236-3131.
Shoshone-Bannock Museum, Fort Hall, Idaho.
Idaho State Historical Society, Boise, Idaho.
The following is a suggested list of themes for Challenge Grant projects, using the major themes. As multimedia projects are developed, the categories below will become active links to finished projects.
