Great Basin American Indian Tribes
The Great Basin refers to the region in North America between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada. This translates to the present-day states of Utah and Nevada as well as portions of Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, and Colorado.
The major American Indian tribes of this region include the Shoshone, Ute, Paiute, and Washoe.
The Ute People
The Ute tribe were one of the largest indigenous groups in present-day Utah and Colorado. In fact, the state of Utah is named after the tribe.
They called themselves Nuciu, meaning “The People” and there were 11 historic bands of Utes.
The Ute people were seasonal hunters and gatherers who operated in family groups. Communities also came together for ceremonies and trading. Many lived in tipis which could be moved with families as travelled seasonally.
They traded tanned elk and deer hides with Puebloans and others. After contact with the Spanish in the 1500s, the Utes acquired horses which changed their lifestyle dramatically. Hunting practices changed and they became more warlike, raiding other nearby tribes.
Like most Great Basin tribes, spirit animals like the wolf, coyote, and mountain lion were important to the Ute people. They believed that they could communicate with animal ancestors.
The Shoshone
The Shoshone are usually broken into 4 large cultural groups: Eastern, Northern, Western, and Goshute. They were also called the Snake Indians by neighboring tribes and early Europeans and American settlers.
They were also called the "Grass House People," based on their traditional homes made from high-growing grasses known as sosoni. Shoshones call themselves Newe, meaning "People".
Tribes were nomadic and organized into loosely affiliated family bands of hunter-gatherers. Most lived in tipis most of the year and joined others for rabbit drives, antelope hunts, or dancing.
They famously encountered the Lewis & Clark expedition and Sacajawea was a member of the tribe.
As more European-American settlers migrated west, tensions rose over competition for territory and resources.
Wars between tribes and American settlers occurred throughout the second half of the 19th century, greatly hurting the Shoshone.
The Paiute
Like others in the Great Basin, the Paiute were organized around the family. Groups of about about 10-50 related people might come together for foraging and games before going their different ways. The Southern Paiutes were not organized tribally. Instead, groups were led by a Headman who was old enough to know the region well but young enough to take part in all activities.
They were skilled at irrigation for farming and grew corn, squash, melons, and sunflowers. The men were the primary hunters of waterfowl, rabbits, bighorn sheep and other mammals in the regions they passed through.
Women of the Paiute tribes were famous for their basket weaving skills. Baskets were made from red-stemmed willows and the technique was supposedly passed down from mother to daughter for at least 9,000 years.
The Washoe People
The Washoe people lived in the Great Basin and the eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains for at least 3,000 years. They were centered primarily around Lake Tahoe where they would spend summers.
Their legend told of a coyote that brought them to Lake Tahoe as their homeland. It was considered a sacred place to the Washoe with healing powers.
Hunting, gathering, and fishing were central to life. Each family member had a role in these activities and the family unit was how tribes were grouped into bands.
Winters were spent at lower elevations in the valleys of the Sierra Nevada.
The discovery of gold in their lands in the mid 1800s brought thousands of white settlers to their lands. This caused a major disruption to Washoe society. By 1862, the Washoe people had lost all of their land.