The Shoshone Nation

Mention the Shoshone and people recall Lewis and Clark’s exploration of the uncharted Northwest Territory in 1804.

It was their good fortune to acquire as a guide Sacajawea, a Shoshone woman from the Wind River area of Wyoming.

The Shoshone of historic times comprised several groups: the Western Shoshone of eastern California and Nevada, the Northern Shoshone of northern Utah and Idaho, and the Wind River Shoshone in western Wyoming. Ameritribes works among the Western Shoshone of central Nevada.

The Western Shoshone’s ancestral lands are located in the high deserts of eastern California and Nevada where the people exhibited great resourcefulness just to stay alive.

Subsisting on wild seeds and small mammals, Shoshone families became independently nomadic. They came together briefly for rabbit drives, antelope hunts, the pine nut harvest, and dances.

Today, while most Shoshone still live on or near tribal lands, they have adopted the outward styles of their non-Indian neighbors. There are many Shoshone, however, who continue to hold traditional worldviews and beliefs.