Lessons in Resilience

Over long years of colonization, the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation faced severe setbacks. But the Tribe continued to adapt to new conditions and found ways to preserve their culture and traditions.

Like all of Utah's Indigenous peoples, the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation confronted wave after wave of difficulty brought on by colonization. Their story is a powerful illustration of the struggle to maintain identity in the face of overwhelming change.

The problems started quickly after Mormon arrival in 1847. Mormon livestock ate wild food sources and Mormon hunters took game that Shoshones relied on. The decades that followed were especially deadly. Outbreaks of new disease claimed hundreds of Shoshone lives before the US military killed over four hundred people in the 1863 Bear River Massacre. By the 1870s, having lost many elders and children, Tribal members faced difficult choices about keeping their heritage alive.

Without promise of a reservation, Shoshone survivors chose to stay in their homeland by joining Latter-day Saint farming communities. They established themselves near Corinne, but settlers there manufactured an "Indian Scare" that forced the Shoshone to abandon their farms.

With the help of the LDS Church, the Shoshone established the town of Washakie in 1880. They built a school and earned funds with a sawmill and a sheep herd. But in 1887, fire destroyed the sawmill. Some years later, a flu epidemic killed many tribal members, with elders and children again hit especially hard. As the population of Washakie dwindled, the LDS Church moved to sell off the land in the 1960s, despite promising it to the Tribe. Assuming structures were abandoned, the Church burned down family homes with all possessions inside, leaving many residents destitute and wondering about their community's future.

Despite all this, Shoshone people remain integral to northern Utah. Preserving their history has been a community effort, built on and guided by the vision of Mae Timbimboo Parry. Her work recording the oral histories of her grandfather and other tribal elders was invaluable in preserving the Tribe's culture and correcting the narrative about their history. The Tribe has created an archive and purchased the site of the Bear River Massacre, where they are restoring native vegetation, building a cultural center, and turning the land into a symbol of identity and resilience. The tenacity of the Northwestern Band of Shoshone can show us all how to build strong communities for the twenty-first century.