There are three main traditions of the Shoshone
Shoshone
The Shoshone or Shoshoni are a Native American tribe with four large cultural/linguistic divisions...
What were the Shoshone Indian's religious beliefs?
Religion consisted of:
- Sutteeism, which is the belief of self-immolation
- Duma Appah, "Our father" or "The Creator"
- The Sun Dance was a dance that they did because they thought it was the renewal of spiritual birth
- During the spring and fall, representatives from all clans gathered, it was a spiritual gathering and a decision making
What did the Shoshone believe in?
The Shoshone people were greatly connected to their land. They respect the native plants and animals and appreciate the land in which they live on. They believe that every plant and animal as well as the land itself has a living spirit and that the plants, animals and people maintain a relationship.
What are some Shoshone customs?
Customs and Traditions. Shoshone Indians engaged in a variety of dances and ceremonies.Major dances with religious themes included the Round Dance, the Father Dance, and the Sun Dance.The Round Dance was performed when food was plentiful or as part of an annual mourning ceremony.
What are the Shoshone traditions?
- 1000: Woodland Period including the Adena and Hopewell cultures established along rivers in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States which included trade exchange systems
- 1580: The Spanish make the first white contact with the Shoshone tribe
- 1637: It was about this time that the Shoshone tribe acquired their first horses
Who did the Shoshone believe were their ancestors?
They are direct descendants of an ancient and widespread people who called themselves Newe (nu-wee), which means The People. The Shoshone were separated into three main groups including the Northern, Western and Eastern.
What was the Shoshone culture?
Summary and Definition: The Shoshone tribe were originally nomadic hunter gatherers who inhabited lands occupied by the Great Basin cultural group. With the advent of the horse the tribe split with many migrating to the Plains and the horse riding and buffalo hunting culture.
What was the Shoshone tribe known for?
Eastern Shoshone Tribe Information The Eastern Shoshone are known for their Plains horse culture. They acquired the horse in 1700 and it completely changed their lifestyles. They became proficient hunters thus they became fierce warriors.
Was the Shoshone tribe a peaceful tribe?
So the Shoshone sometimes were enemies of Plains Indian tribes like the Blackfeet , Lakota, and Cheyenne, and other times they were peaceful.
What is the Shoshone vision quest?
The vision quest is a rite of passage practiced by Native American tribes of the Plains and Great Basin groups such as the Eastern Shoshone. Vision quests are not well documented for the Ute Native Americans, although a few shamans might have performed the ritual.
What does the name Shoshone mean?
Etymology. The name "Shoshone" comes from Sosoni, a Shoshone 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".
Was the Shoshone tribe friendly to Lewis and Clark?
Lewis and Clark Meet the Shoshone. Although the Shoshone welcomed Lewis, they were suspicious. They had recently been raided by another tribe. When Lewis asked them to travel to meet the rest of his expedition party, the Shoshone worried that Lewis might be leading them into a trap.
How do you say hello in Shoshone?
In Shoshone's language, behne is a way to greet people and say hello in a friendly way.
What happened to the Shoshone Indians?
In the aftermath of the Bear River Massacre, white settlers moved unopposed into traditional Northwestern Shoshone lands. As American settlements grew around them, the few remaining Northwestern Shoshones lost their land base and could no longer sustain their traditional nomadic lifestyle.
What was the Shoshone way of life?
They lived on both the east and the west sides of the Rocky Mountains. The people who lived west of the Rocky Mountains lived in roofless grass huts and hunted fish, birds, and rabbits. The Indians that lived east and up north of the Rocky Mountains lived in tepees and hunted buffalo.
What language did the Shoshone speak?
Shoshoni, also written as Shoshoni-Gosiute and Shoshone (/ʃoʊˈʃoʊni/; Shoshoni: soni' ta̲i̲kwappe, newe ta̲i̲kwappe or neme ta̲i̲kwappeh) is a Numic language of the Uto-Aztecan family, spoken in the Western United States by the Shoshone people.
Who was the leader of the Shoshone tribe?
Chief WashakieD. Chief Washakie (born circa 1804-1810, died 1900) is perhaps the most famous of all Eastern Shoshone headmen and leaders. Known for his prowess as both warrior and statesperson, Washakie played a prominent role in the territorial and statehood development of Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming.
What language did the Shoshone speak?
Shoshoni, also written as Shoshoni-Gosiute and Shoshone (/ʃoʊˈʃoʊni/; Shoshoni: soni' ta̲i̲kwappe, newe ta̲i̲kwappe or neme ta̲i̲kwappeh) is a Numic language of the Uto-Aztecan family, spoken in the Western United States by the Shoshone people.
How do you say hello in Shoshone?
In Shoshone's language, behne is a way to greet people and say hello in a friendly way.
What games did the Shoshone tribe play?
During the year, Shoshone bands occasionally gathered together and competed with each other in a variety of games. Their competitions included foot races, horse races, shinny, dancing, and other activities. Gambling or betting was often involved with many of the games played by the Northwestern Shoshone.
What did the Shoshone tribe wear?
They decorate their clothing with quills or beads. Men wore fringed shirts and leggings. Women wore knee length leggings, dresses, and elk tooth necklaces. In the winter they wore moccasins made of deer, buffalo, and antelope, or mountain goat hides.
Who were the Shoshone?
The Shoshone are perhaps best known for being the tribe of Sacajawea (pronounced sak-uh-juh-WEE-uh; also spelled “Sacagawea”; c. 1784–c. 1812) who helped guide the historic expedition in which American explorers Meriwether Lewis (1774–1809) and William Clark (1770–1836) mapped the West for the first time.
Where did the Shoshone tribe move?
Early Shoshone most likely moved north from the Southwest between about 1 ce and 1000. Some of the many groups who make up the Shoshone tribe are related to the Paiute, Comanche, and Ute tribes.
Why did the Shoshone population drop?
Their population plummeted due to starvation, epidemics of measles and tuberculosis, and other problems . (Tuberculosis, often called TB, is an extremely contagious bacterial disease that usually attacks the lungs.)
How many Shoshone tribes were there in 1845?
In 1845 there were an estimated 4,500 Northern and Western Shoshone. (Earlier estimates are not reliable because they often included members of other tribes.) In the 1990 U.S. Census, 9,506 people identified themselves as Shoshone. The largest numbers lived in Wyoming (1,752), Idaho (676), Nevada (2,637), and California (1,595). In 2000 the total Shoshone population had dropped 8,340. Wyoming still contained the largest number of tribal members (2,385). Nevada had 1,713; California had 1,101; Utah had 645; and Idaho had 312.
What tribes speak the same language?
Many bands make up the Shoshone tribe. Members of the bands speak the same language, but they developed different lifestyles based on the areas where they lived and how they supported themselves. Historians call the groups Northern, Western, and Eastern Shoshone, but most Shoshone do not refer to themselves that way.
What tribes were in conflict with the Blackfoot tribe?
The tribe eventually expanded its hunting territory and ran into conflict with other buffalo-hunting tribes like the Blackfeet and Arapaho (see entry). This constant friction, coupled with a 1782 smallpox epidemic, caused the Eastern Shoshone to move into Wyoming.
Why do people use peyote?
For a people like the Shoshone, who always believed in strong links to the supernatural and the powers of spirits, peyote is a tool to communicate better with spirits and to discover supernatural powers. The Shoshone also welcomed the messages of the Ghost Dance religions of 1870 and 1889.
What did the Shoshones believe?
Among other figures that usually took the shape of animals, these are the deities that the Shoshone people believed in and it shaped their culture very much (Redish & Lewis, 2009). Shoshones based their religion off of visions and dreams that were received from the spirit world.
What are the Shoshone people's beliefs?
The religious beliefs of the Shoshone tribes stemmed from supernatural powers that often took the shape of animals and other mythical creatures . With variations from tribe to tribe, some of the most popular characters in these stories were Coyote, their mischievous and trickster father of the people; Wolf, Coyote’s brother and wise and revered hero, the creator of the earth; and a people called Nimerigar (Nim-air-ee-gar), a magical race of violent little people that the Shoshone often battled against in their myths. Among other figures that usually took the shape of animals, these are the deities that the Shoshone people believed in and it shaped their culture very much (Redish & Lewis, 2009).
What is the Shoshone family?
Family is an important part of the Shoshone values. They not only live with their immediate family but with their extended families as well, including aunts, uncles, and grandparents. The Shoshone parents and grandparents share the ancestry and history of their people through stories told to their children.
What city was named after the Shoshone Indians?
Today, there are several places in Idaho named after the Shoshone Indians including Shoshone Falls, the Portneuf (Port-noof) River and the city of Pocatello; the latter two named after Shoshone chiefs.
Why were the Shoshone stories important?
Because the Shoshone people had no written records, these stories were important to the history of their people (Shoshone Tribe, 2015).
What did the Shoshone do?
The Shoshone were a peaceful people, trading with mountain men and fur trappers, but they adopted a war-like attitude following a series of events that happened to them. First, the United States government signed a treaty with Shoshone people for peace, but the United States government did not keep the treaty.
What were the Shoshone Indians doing during the Civil War?
During the Civil War, the Shoshone Indians raided the Pony Express routes and wagon trains. In 1863, during the Battle of Bear River, the tribe was defeated.
Overview
The Shoshone or Shoshoni are a Native American tribe with four large cultural/linguistic divisions:
• Eastern Shoshone: Wyoming
• Northern Shoshone: southern Idaho
• Western Shoshone: Nevada, northern Utah
Etymology
The name "Shoshone" comes from Sosoni, a Shoshone 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."
Meriwether Lewis 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 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, located on the border of Nevada and Idaho; and Goshute Reservation in Utah. Idaho …
History
The Shoshone are a Native American tribe, who originated in the western Great Basin and spread north and east into present-day Idaho and Wyoming. By 1500, some Eastern Shoshone had crossed the Rocky Mountains into the Great Plains. After 1750, warfare and pressure from the Blackfoot, Crow, Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho pushed Eastern Shoshone south and westward. Some of them move…
Historical population
In 1845 the estimated population of Northern and Western Shoshone was 4,500, much reduced after they had suffered infectious disease epidemics and warfare. The completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad in 1869 was followed by European-American immigrants arriving in unprecedented numbers in the territory.
In 1937 the Bureau of Indian Affairs counted 3,650 Northern Shoshone and 1,201 Western Shosh…
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 Eaters Tukkutikka, Tukudeka, Mountain Sheep Eaters, joined the Northern Shoshone Boho'inee', Pohoini, Pohogwe, Sag…
Reservations and Indian colonies
• Battle Mountain Reservation, Lander County, Nevada. Current reservation population is 165 and total tribal enrollment is 516.
• Big Pine Reservation, central Owens Valley, Inyo County, California; Owens Valley Paiute Shoshone
• Bishop Community of the Bishop Colony, northern Owens Valley, Inyo County, California;
Notable people
• Sacagawea (1788–1812), Lemhi Shoshone guide of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
• Jean Baptiste Charbonneau (1805–1866) son of Sacagawea, explorer, guide, military scout
• Cameahwait, chief in the early 19th century
History
- Before the whites arrived
Many bands make up the Shoshone tribe. Members of the bands speak the same language, but they developed different lifestyles based on the areas where they lived and how they supported themselves. Historians call the groups Northern, Western, and Eastern Shoshone, but most Shos…
Important Dates
- c. 1700:The Northern and Eastern Shoshone acquire horses and become buffalo hunters. 1782:The Eastern Shoshone are devastated by smallpox and attacks by the Blackfoot. 1805:The Shoshone meet Lewis and Clark. January 1863:The Bear River Massacre takes place. 1863:The first Treaty of Fort Bridger is negotiated, setting aside reservation land for Shoshone groups. 18…
Religion
- The many Shoshone peoples have a wide range of religious beliefs and practices. Some believe the Sun created the Heavens and the Earth, while others believe that either Coyote or Wolf or a kindly spirit called “Our Father” was the Creator. The aid of these and other spirits is often sought, but first the seeker has to undergo purification in a swea...
Language
- All Shoshone groups speak dialects (varieties) of the same language. Though the dialects differ slightly among the divisions, they are, for the most part, understandable by all Shoshone. All together in the early twenty-first century there are more than one thousand speakers of the language, and the tribe is teaching it to their children.
Government
- The small, wandering bands of Western Shoshone sometimes had headmen, leaders who had little real authority. Shoshone groups who hunted buffalo were more likely to have chiefs with a greater degree of authority. This type of organization was necessary for the group to be effective against enemies intruding on their buffalo-hunting territory. These chiefs made decisions after c…
Shoshone Population: 2000 Census
- In the 2000 U.S. Census, 8,340 people identified themselves as Shoshone. Paiute Shoshone and Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation were not included in this number. Their populations are included below. The census did not include many of the smaller communities such as Ely (five hundred people in 2006 according to tribal statistics) The groups included in th…
Economy
- The Shoshone were hunter-gatherers, but the food they ate differed according to where they lived. For example, those who lived near water could fish. No groups owned land; it was shared by all, as were the fruits of their labors. The Shoshone also engaged in extensive trade. They received metal arrow points from the Crow Indians in exchange for horses. Later they traded furs with whites fo…
Daily Life
- Buildings
Some Northern Shoshone lived in tepees made from buffalo hides or interwoven rushes (marsh plants with hollow stems used for weaving) and willows. Others built conical dwellings of brush and grass. All Northern groups built and maintained sweat lodges and huts where women retrea… - Clothing and adornment
Most Shoshone wore few clothes, especially during the summer months. Women and girls usually wore only skirts and hats, while young boys went naked. During times of extreme cold they sewed small animal furs and hides into dresses, shirts, and robes, and the best hunters and their kin wo…
Arts
- Painting and crafts
All Shoshone groups have long and unique artistic traditions. The Eastern Shoshone at Wind River Reservation preserve hundreds of ancient pictographs depicting Water Ghost Beings, Rock Ghost Beings, and other fearful creatures. Once they began using horses to travel greater distances, m… - Literature
The Shoshone have a longstanding commitment to the written word. Sacajawea’s brother is credited with producing the first written Shoshone story. Shoshone authors have written tribal histories, and newspapers are produced at the Wind River and Fort Hall reservations.
Coyote Wants to Be Chief
- The Shoshone have many tales of Coyote, the trickster and alleged creator of people. Coyote is a prominent figure in many tales from the western tribes of North America. Steward, Tom. Shoshone Tales.Edited by Anne M. Smith. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1993.