Shoshoni



Shoshoni Tribe

Northwestern Band of Shoshoni Tribe
862 South Main, Suite 6
Brigham City, Utah 84302-2143

TRIBAL COUNCIL: NW Band of the Shoshoni Nation: Gwen Davis, Chairwoman.

GENERAL COUNCIL: Enrolled tribal members, 18 years of age or older, meet at least once a year to address tribal business and help provide direction to the Tribal Council.

PRE-TREATY ECONOMY: Hunting, fishing, gathering, and trading.

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS AND DATES: January 29, 1863 is a significant date of remembrance for the people of the Northwestern Band of Shoshoni. On January 29th, 1863, 250-275 Shoshone men, women, and children were killed in an attack of their village along the banks of the Bear River in Southeastern Idaho. The event where members of the Tribe were massacred is known as the Bear River Massacre near present day Preston, Idaho.

The site was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1990. The Massacre Site is being considered by Congress whether it should be added to the National Park System. An environmental assessment of the Massacre Site was conducted to analyze "whether the site in Idaho are suitable and feasible to be added to the national park system, and to examine viable alternatives for the protection and public use of the site." Five alternatives are presLented in the study for its use and management.

Alternative No Action.
Alternative 1: Historic Site (Minimal Action)
Alternative 2: State Historic Site.
Alternative 3: National Historic Reserve.
Alternative 4: National Historic Site.

TRIBES AND BANDS: The subsistence range for some of the Northwestern Shoshoni peoples, whose core homeland is in northern and western Utah, included the southeast corner of Idaho. Several bands signed the Box Elder Treat of 1865, and 1990, many resided along the Wasatch front in Utah. The Northwestern Band of Shoshoni Indians received recognition in 1980.

BASIS FOR LEGAL STATUS: Treaty of Box Elder, June 30, 1863; Act to Ratify an Agreement with the Eastern Shoshoni. September 26, 1872, ratified in December 15, 1874; Act to ratify an Agreement with the Shoshonis, Bannocks, and Sheepeaters of the Forst Hall Reservation, May 14, 1880, ratified February 23, 1889; Act to Ratify an Agreement with the Shoshone Bannock Tribes at Fort Hall, July 18, 1881, ratified on July 3, 1882.

BASIS FOR OFF-RESERVATIONS INTERESTS/RIGHTS: (Inherent sovereignty, socio-economic well-being on their reservation) Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe v. Morton, 354 F. Supp. 252 (D.D.C. 1973), Nance V. E.P.A. 645 F.2d 701 (9th Circuit 1981), and Northern Cheyenne Tribe v. hodel, 12 Indian L. Rep. 3065 (D. Mont. 1985) affirm that federal agencies have a trust obligation when their actions may adversely affect the water quality/quality, air quality, or property of Indian reservations.

LAND BASE: In 1989, the LDS. church gave the Tribe 187 acres of land that constitutes the Tribe's reservation. Nearby there are additional privately owned Indian lands held in trust by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

TRIBAL HEADQUARTERS: Northwestern Band of Shoshoni Nation: 862 South Main St., Suite 6, Brigham City, UT 84302; Phone: (801) 734-2286; FAX: (801) 734-0424.

TRIBAL POPULATION: In 2002, there were431 enrolled members in Idaho and Utah.

RELIGIONS: Traditional religions and Christian denominations.

LANGUAGES: Shoshoni.

GOVERNANCE: They have an approved constitution as of August 1987. They did not accept the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. The Tribe has a self-governance form of government.

Administration in Brigham City office:

Bruce G. Parry, Executive Director,
Phone: (435) 734-2286;

Pocatello office: (208) 478-5712.

Administration in Brigham City Office:
Robin Trexell, Billing Specialist,
(435) 734-2286;

Phone: (435 734-2286,
FAX: (435)734-0424.

Tribal Housing Authority, Administration in Brigham City Office: Jon Warner, Executive Director, Phone: (435) 723-3013, FAX: (435) 723-3013.

TRIBAL ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION OFFICE AND CONTACT: Kenneth Timbana, Tribal Environmental Protection Specialist, Pocatello office, Phone: (208) 478-5712.

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS AND DATES: Government: The Tribal Council typically meets once a month. The Tribal council elections are held in December. Officials are elected to four years; the Council elections are staggered with three positions being filled one year, and four positions being filled the following year. This was last done in December 1993 and 1994.

TREATY WITH THE SHOSHONI--NORTHWESTERN BANDS. July 30, 1863

TREATY WITH THE SHOSHONI-NORTHWESTERN BANDS, 1868.

Articles of agreement made at Box Elder; in Utah Territory, this thirtieth day of July A. D. one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, by and between the United States of America, represented by Brigadier- General P. Edward Connor, commanding the military district of Utah, and James Duanie Doty, Commissioner, and Northwestern Bands of the Shoshoni Indians, represented by their Chiefs and warriors:

ARTICLE 1. It is agreed that friendly, and amicable relations shall be re-established between the bands of the Shoshonee Nation, parties hereto, and the United States, and it is declared that a firm and perpetual peace shall be henceforth maintained between the said bands and the United States.

ARTICLE 2. The treaty concluded at Fort Bridger, on the 2nd day of July, 1863, between the United States and the Shoshonee Nation, being read and fully interpreted and explained to the said chiefs and warriors, they do hereby give their full and free assent to all of the provisions of said treaty, and the same are hereby adopted as a part of this agreement, and the same shall be binding upon the parties hereto.

ARTICLE 3. In consideration of the stipulations in the preceding articles, the United States agree to increase the annuity to the Shoshonee Nation five thousand dollars, to be paid in the manner provided in said treaty. And the said northwestern bands hereby acknowledge to have received of the United States, at the signing of these articles, provisions and goods to the amount of two thousand dollars, to relieve their immediate necessities, the said bands having been reduced by the war to a state of utter destitution.

ARTICLE 4. The country claimed by Pokatello, for himself and his people, is bounded on the west by Raft River and on the east by the Porteneuf Mountains.

ARTICLE 5. Nothing herein contained shall be construed or taken to admit any other or greater title or interest in the lands embraced within the territories described in said treaty in said tribes or bands of Indians than existed in them upon the acquisition of said territories from Mexico by the laws thereof.

Done at Box Elder, this thirtieth day of July, A. D. 1863.
James Duane Doty,
Governor and acting superintendent of Indian affairs in Utah Territory.
P. Edw. Connor,
Brigadier-General L. S. Volunteers, commanding District of Utah.
Pokatello, his x mark, chief.
Toomontso, his x mark, chief.
Sanpitz, his x mark, chief.
Tosowitz, his x mark, chief.
Yahnoway, his x mark, chief
Weerahsoop, his x mark, chief
Pahragoosahd, his x mark, chief.
Tahkwetoonah, his x mark, chief.
Omashee, (John Pokatello's brother) his x mark, chief.
Witnesses:
Robt Pollock, colonel Third Infantry, C. V.
M.G. Lewis, captain Third Infantry, C. V.
S. E. Jocelyn, first lieutenant, Third Infantry, C. V.
Jos. A. Gebone, Indian interpreter.
John Barnard, "Jr., his x mark, special interpreter.
Willis H. Boothe, special interpreter.
Horace Wheat