Some washoe history

DIT’ EH HU (THE TERRITORY)

The Washoe are the original inhabitants of Da ow
aga (Lake Tahoe) and all the lands surrounding it. Tahoe is
a mispronunciation of Da ow, meaning “lake”. Washoe an-
cestral territory consists of a nuclear area with Lake Tahoe
at its heart, and a peripheral area that was frequently
shared with neighboring tribes. The Paiute and Shoshone
live to the east and the Maidu and Miwok to the west. The
nucleus of the ancestral territory is bordered on the west by
the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the east by the Pine Nut
and Virginia ranges, and stretch north to Honey Lake and
as far south as Sonora Pass. The territory takes part of two
very distinct ecosystems: the western arid Great Basin re-
gion of Nevada, and the forested Sierra Nevada Mountains
in California. The variability in climate, geography, and alti-
tude within the territory allowed it to provide a great diver-
sity of foods and other materials essential to life. “As the
traditions explain, the Washoe did not travel to this area
from another place. They were here in the beginning and
have always lived here…Each cave, stream, lake or promi-
nent geographical feature is named and has stories associ-
ated to it.”

“
The health of the land and the health of the people are tied
together, and what happens to the land also happens to the peo-
ple. When the land suffers so too are the people.”

WAGAYAY (THE LANGUAGE)
“The language, culture and the land cannot be separated. The lan-
guage is the identity of the Washoe People.” Steven James, Tribal
Elder
The Washoe language is unique and unrelated to
those spoken by any neighboring tribe. For many years lin-
guists believed Washoe was of a language group with only
this single representative in the world. After further investi-
gation, the Washoe language is now seen as a distinct
branch of the Hokan language group. Speakers of other
Hokan languages are widely dispersed in North America,
and extreme diversity between each Hokan language sug-
gests many thousands of years in which they developed
without contact with each other. Some people believe that
the Hokan speakers are the oldest Californian populations
and that as other peoples invaded the west coast they were
dispersed leaving only isolated groups.

WA SHE SHU (THE PEOPLE)
Washoe, or Washo as most of the people prefer,
was derived from Wa she shu. After contact with colonists,
many things in Washoe history have been changed or al-
tered including the tribal name. It is estimated that the tradi-
tional Washoe population was more or less 3,000, but it is
difficult to know.
To understand the Washoe you need to understand
the environment in which they live. Washoe have always
been a part of the land and environment, so every aspect of
their lives is influenced by the land. The Washoe believe
the land, language and people are connected and are intrin-
sically intertwined.

The Family
Family is the core of the Washoe because these are
the people that lived and worked together and relied on
each other. In the past, families are recorded as rarely
fewer than five individuals and only occasionally exceeding
twelve in size.
Winter camps were usually composed of four to ten
family groups living a short distance from each other in their
separate galais dungal. These family groups often moved
together throughout the year. The Washoe practiced spo-
radic leadership, so at times each group had an informal
leader that was usually known for his or her wisdom, gener-
osity, and truthfulness. He or she may possess special
powers to dream of when and where there was a large
presence of rabbit, antelope and other game, including the spawning of the fish, and would assume the role of “Rabbit
Boss” or “Antelope Boss to coordinate and advise commu-
nal hunts.

Regional Groups
The Washoe were traditionally divided into three
groups, the northerners or Wel mel ti, the Pau wa lu who
lived in the Carson Valley in the east, and the Hung a lel ti
who lived in the south. These three groups each spoke a
slightly different yet distinct variant of the Washoe lan-
guage. These groups came together throughout the year for
special events and gatherings. Individual families, groups,
or regional groups, came together at certain times to partici-
pate in hunting drives, war, and special ceremonies. During
their yearly gathering at Lake Tahoe, each of the three re-
gional groups camped at their family campsites at the lake;
the northerners on the north shore, the easterners on the
east shore, and so on. A person might switch from the
group that they were born into to a group from another side
of the lake. There were often cross-group marriages, some-
times even between the Paiute and the California tribes.
This said, it was very advantageous that a person contin-
ued living in the area where she or he grew up because it
took an intimate knowledge of the land to be able to find
and harvest all the plant food and medicines, and to be a
successful hunter year after year. After moving to a new
place, even the best gatherer or hunter would know only as
much about the place as a younger more inexperienced
person. Gathering and hunting successfully were as much
about being familiar with the cycles and patterns in the land
as they were about having practiced skills.

TRADITIONS and SPECIAL POWERS
It is difficult to separate the sacred from the everyday
life of the Washoe. The Washoe see every aspect of the
environment as sentient beings that are deserving of respect and cooperation if humans are to survive. The
Earth, its terrain, its waters, in short all the living and non-
living things are considered to be sacred.

Traditions and beliefs described in the past tense
in following sections are still widely practiced and ob-
served by the Washoe today.

Hunting Traditions
An animal was never hunted for “sport” and plants
were never gathered unless they were going to be used. No
parts of the animals were wasted, and enough individuals of
a species were always left to reproduce. Before they
hunted, the hunters preformed a sacred ritual. When they
killed an animal, the hunter prayed to the Maker and asked
for forgiveness for taking a life. They thanked the Maker be-
fore they ate, and they showed their appreciation by leaving
some food for the Maker. Special celebrations with dance
and prayer offerings were held before the first fish was
taken from the annual spawning, before the annual “rabbit
drives”, and at the time of the pine nut harvests.

Healers
Washoe healers were women or men that had spe- cial powers to cure illnesses of the body or mind. They were
conduits to the supernatural world. If a person was sick or
had feelings like guilt, they could seek help from healers
that would use their powers to ask the Maker and other
spirit beings to cure the ailment. Healers used sacred ob-
jects such as eagle feathers and cocoon rattles to assist in
ceremonies. They accompanied the hunters during commu-
nal hunts to provide mystic powers over the prey, and also
went along during warfare to provide healing to injured
warriors and use powers over the enemy. A healer did not
choose or inherit his or her position, but was summoned by
a spirit through persistent dreams and eventually cannot
ignore their call to power. Sometimes powers were used
with malicious intent by a misguided healer, but generally
healers were highly regarded in Washoe society.

Elders
Elders in the tribe also had special status and wis-
dom that they accumulated as they grew older. They were
the keepers of the fire, and they taught the Washoe tradi-
tions that they had learned from their grandparents. For this
reason the old ones were treated with great respect. No
one ever passed by an elder without saying something, and
during a feast elders are always fed before anyone else.

Legend Creatures
Washoe legends tell of several creatures that have
special powers and lived in the Washoe territory. “Water
Babies” inhabited all bodies of water, and are very powerful,
sometimes causing illness or death to a person, but could
also be a good omen. Washoe healers visited the sacred
Cave Rock where Water Babies lived, to consult with them,
bring offerings of respect, and to renew powers. There was
also a man-eating giant that lived in another cave near
Cave Rock that preyed on people that were neglecting their
duty. There was a giant man-eating bird named Ong that nested in the middle of Lake Tahoe.
Ong was so large and so powerful that his wing beats could
bend the trees when he flew near shore. The legend tells

that one day a Washoe man was snatched up by Ong and
taken to his nest. Luckily, the Washoe was not eaten right
away because Ong had another person to eat. The Washoe
watched the giant bird eat and noticed that it closed its eyes
to chew. The Washoe got an idea. Every time the bird
closed its eyes he threw several arrowheads into its open
mouth. By nightfall Ong was very sick. A storm raged
through the night, but by morning the monster was dead.
The Washoe plucked out one of its massive feathers and
used it as a boat to reach the shore. The Washoe say that
Ong’s nest remains in Lake Tahoe submerged out of sight.

Birth
The event of a birth was cause for celebration. The child was welcomed to the Washoe
world. Female relatives and female
friends attended to the mother.
When the baby was born, the par-
ents restrained from eating meat or
salt. The family gave gifts to people
in the community. About a month
after the birth the family held a “baby
feast”. During this ceremony the
mother bathed herself and had her
child’s hair cut. The child was now
placed in a cradleboard where it
would rest from now until it was big
enough to walk. Washoe infants
were fitted with sage brush bark dia-
pers that were softened by rubbing
between hands and thrown away
when soiled. The approved discipli-
nary technique for children is de-
scribed by the Washoe as, “…tell
them to behave and speak kindly to
them”.

Death
Any death was very sorrow-
ful and there was a period of mourning after the burial or
cremation. If a person died inside a house the family would
leave the house or burn it and make a new house in a dif-
ferent place. Female relatives cut their hair to show their
grief. All of the person’s belongings were either burned or
buried with them. It was said that a rainstorm would come
soon after a death and wipe away all the tracks to return
everything to the way the Maker intended it to be.

Marriage
In the past almost all marriages were arranged. Gift exchanges took place and the engagement would last
for a year. During this time the parents watched the couple
very carefully. Several variations of marriage customs took
place. One account is that after the engagement period
was over the parents allowed the couple to live together be-
coming married. Another account is of a custom where the
couple danced side by side and a rabbit skin blanket was
draped over their shoulders, whereby they became one in
marriage. The Washoe traditionally practiced bilateral de-
scent and bilocal residence, meaning that there was no set
rule or preference about which of the married couple’s fam-
ily they would live with. Property was passed down through
both the mother and the father.

Girl’s Rite-of-passage
One of the most important ceremonies was the “girls
dance”, the celebration of when a girl became a woman.
This ceremony is still practiced today as it has been for
thousands of years. Gifts were thrown into the crowd who
attended. At the end of four days of ritual she was recog-
nized as an adult. Feasting took place.

Boy’s Rite-of-passage
A boy became a man when he killed his first full-
grown buck. From an early age his father, uncles and
grandfather taught him the ways of hunting. The hunter is
required to follow traditions that insure good hunting and
unselfish sharing of the harvest.

Intertribal Relations
Relations with other tribes bordering Washoe terri-
tory were mostly about tolerance and mutual understand-
ing. Sometimes events lead to tensions and warfare. It was
beneficial to both sides to keep their distance, but they also
needed to maintain a relationship to exchange trade goods. ntermarriages with adjoining tribes occurred when relations
were good.

THE FOUR SEASONS

Am suk (Spring)
Springtime is the
beginning of the yearly cy-
cle. The final winter
months leading up to the
first warm days were the
most difficult. During this
time the food supplies
from last years harvest
were dwindling and the
fish, game, and early
spring plants were not yet
available in large quanti-
ties. For months the
Washoe lived off of pine
nut flour, seeds, dried
meat, and some fresh fish
and meat when available.
The first much needed
vegetable harvests in the early spring were of bulb plants
and early grasses. As soon as the weather permitted, the
young adults would begin making the trip to the shores of
Da ow aga (Lake Tahoe). Eventually, the majority of the
tribe would make its way to the sacred lake for a large gath-
ering. At these gatherings people would socialize, play a
variety of games, and hold competitions such as races and
archery. At the lake there were several different types of
fish that could be caught and eaten or dried for later use.
Increasing amounts of spring plants were harvested. In early June, thousands of several different kinds of
fish began to swim out of the deep lake in order to spawn.
There were so many fish that the people waded into the wa-
ter with baskets and tossed the fish onto shore to be
cleaned, and placed on racks to dry. At the height of the
spawning fishing continued into the night by torchlight. The
fires created just enough light to reflect off the silvery back
of the fish so the people could keep working. The runs
lasted for about two weeks, in which large amounts of fish
were eaten and prepared for use later in the year. Large
fresh fish were wrapped in sunflower leaves and placed un-
der the coals and smaller fish were cooked in coarsely
woven baskets with coals or hot rocks. Fish were dried or
smoked to decrease drying time, add flavor and keep in-
sects away. Dried fish was eaten as a kind of jerky, boiled,
or pounded and added to other foods.
Along with the fish, the shores of Lake Tahoe offered
several types of berries, wild rhubarb, cat tail seeds, tiger
lily seeds, sunflower seeds, wild onions, wild mustard, wild
spinach, wild potatoes and sweet potatoes, tule root, wild
turnips, wild celery, and countless other edible and medici-
nal plants. Many plants became ripe for only a week or a
few days, so accurate information about the location and
habits of plants was necessary to Washoe life. The Washoe
understood the growth cycles of plants, the effects of
weather on growth, and also had intimate knowledge of
soils and specific growing conditions. This type of knowl-
edge was passed from generation to generation through
legends and day-to-day experiences.

Ci’ gah bet (Summer)
Gadu (summer houses) were constructed with mate-
rials that were plentiful in the area where they were built. If
the house was on a river bank then willow might be used. A
gadu was often more of a windbreak than a closed struc-
ture.
As summer pro-
gressed, snow contin-
ued to melt at higher
elevations. When the
fish runs ended at
Lake Tahoe, families
dispersed into the
mountain country
where there were nu-
merous smaller alpine
lakes. Here, fish and
other game such as
mountain quail were bountiful for the time. Fishermen built
platforms over the water and used spears made of willow
with bone points, nets or traps made of willow or woven
plant fibers, and bone hooks to catch fish at varying depths
in the water. Sometimes temporary damns or diversions
were built to access hidden fish, and when water was low in
the fall, fish could even be caught by hand. The fish re-
mained abundant year after year because the Washoe
were mindful not to deplete the populations or disrupt na-
ture’s reproductive cycles. They often caught only the male
fish and left most of the females to spawn.

O’ osh (Fall)
During the fall mountain whitefish started their
spawning and Washoe were able to harvest the fall spawn-
ing runs before the deep snows of winter came. Washoe
began to focus on the plant harvesting that would feed them
through the winter months. At this point the families living in
the mountains began to move back down to the valleys east
of the Sierras. A few groups headed west to the Sierra foot-
hills to wait for the ripening of the Black Oak
(Quercus kelloggii) acorns and to trade with the Californian
Indians. They sometimes went as far as the Pacific Ocean
to collect shells. Some of these families would not return to
the east side before the snow, and would either winter
alone or join a Miwok village for the season. The families
that had descended to the Great Basin now began gather-
ing and saving grass seeds as the plants gradually ripened.

The culmination of the gathering season was the tah
gum (Piñon Pine nut, Pinus monophylla ) harvest. When the
nuts were ripe, all the people were called for a special cere-
mony, called the goom sa bye. A runner was sent with a
knotted buckskin rope to all the separate camps. Each knot
represented one day, the number of knots meant there
were that many days until the ceremony would begin. Peo-
ple congregated at the pine trees and the celebration lasted for four or five days. They prayed and gave thanks to the
Maker, danced, and shared large amounts of food with
each other. Usually the harvest lasted for a month to six
weeks. A long pole with a curved tip was used to knock down the cones, that were then carried in burden baskets
back to the camp where they were prepared for storage for
the winter.
Pine nuts and acorns were stored for the winter in
caves, rock structures, and pits lined with stones or grass.
Pine nuts were roasted so that their sweet oily flesh would
not become rancid. Acorns were sprinkled with water so
that their outer shells could be removed and their insides
were dried in the sun. Shelled pine nuts, the dried acorns,
and other seeds were pounded into fine flours using mor-
tars and pestles. The acorn flour was leached of its tannins
and bitter taste. The flours could be made into mush or
soup, and biscuits were made by dipping cooked flour into
cold water.
Fall was also time for the best hunting because the
animals were healthy and fattened from the plentiful sum-
mer. A large variety of game animals were found in Washoe
territory, including: rabbits, squirrels, marmots, sagehens,
quail, waterfowl, deer, antelope and big horn sheep. Small
mammals were hunted with dogs, traditionally the
Washoe’s only domestic animal. Just after the pine nut
harvests it was time for the rabbit drives. The Washoe
would gather in the flatlands east of the Sierra for a special
rabbit ceremony where they prayed and danced to thank
the Maker for food and a plentiful supply of rabbits. Hun-
dreds of rabbits were herded by a long line of people walk-
ing in one direction. A tall net woven from the fibers of sage
brush (Artemisia tridentata) and Indian Hemp (Apocynum
cannabinum) formed a blockade that the fleeing rabbits be-
came entangled in. People would wait behind the net, to
untangle the rabbits and club them. Every family owned an
individual net and several nets were combined for the drive.
There were always enough rabbits for all of the people.
Some rabbit were purposefully left in the nets and under
bushes for the old or the ill. The rabbit meat was roasted, boiled and eaten in
great quantities and also dried on racks to be saved for the
winter. No parts of the rabbits were wasted. In the winter
dried meat would be ground and added to nut or seed flour
to make soup or mush. The skins were also a very impor-
tant resource for the Washoe. The fresh pelts were cut into
stripes and woven together on a frame. They made large
rabbit skin blankets that doubled as both bedding and a
cloak against the cold of the winter.
Another important source of meat and skins was the
Mule Deer. Washoe hunters would either set up blinds near
a watering hole, or would employ several stalking methods
that sometimes involved imitating animal sounds such as
the cry of a faun in distress, or wearing a disguise of a
stuffed deer head with the skin attached and draped over
the shoulders. The hunters used bows strengthened with
sinew, and arrows made from straight branches of the wild
rose bush with obsidian points.
If there were enough deer in an area, sometimes “deer
drives” were employed in a similar manner as “rabbit drives”
with a few of the best hunters waiting at the end rather than
a net. Antelope was also hunted in this manner, but with a
large corral built to hold several animals. A large herd could
be trapped to feed many people. There were special cere-
monies to thank the Maker before the first antelope from the
corral was killed. The hunter that climbed the high moun-
tains to kill a big horn sheep was revered as a good hunter
because they are difficult animals to hunt. Grasshoppers
were gathered early in the mornings while the insects were
still slow from the cold night. They were roasted and eaten
as a crunchy treat. Several other insect foods were eaten
when available such as caterpillars, bee larvae, and honey.

Galais (Winter)
In the winter little food could be gathered and the
Washoe ate mostly what they had stored earlier in the year.
Sometimes ice on lakes or streams would be broken and
fish could be caught with a bone hook.
Galais dungal (winter houses) took considerably
longer to build than the summer house. Winter houses were
conical shaped. They contained a sturdy frame in which
several layers of bark, poles and brush created insulation
from the cold. A fire was built inside in a pit enclosed
with rocks in the center of the house. A hole was left in the
roof for the smoke to escape. A large pile of fire wood,
sometimes taller than the house itself, was gathered and
stacked next to the dwelling. The door always faced to the
east to receive the first light of the day. Winter camps were
often located close to one of the many hot springs that oc-
cur in a chain on the east side of the Sierra Mountains.
During the long winter months the Washoe would sit
around the fire and tell stories and pass on knowledge and
traditions. Winter was a time for building and repairing tools
such as hunting and fishing devices and clothing.
The Washoe wove several types of baskets.
Throughout the year they gathered the materials that they
needed and stored them in coils. Some baskets were tightly
woven for cooking or holding water. Others were loosely
woven and used
for sifting seeds
and nuts. Burden
baskets had a
moderately tight
weave and were in
a conical shape.
Some baskets
were specially
made for holding
babies. Himu
(willow) was the
main material used
in basketry. Fern roots soaked in dark mud were used for
creating dark patterns, and red bud was collected to make
red patterns. A thin piece of bone was used to puncture the
holes during the weaving process. Each basket maker cre-
ated the unique designs woven into their baskets. Some
designs were passed from generation to generation and
held symbols of traditional stories. Others were unique to
each basket maker and could not be copied.
Washoe clothing was mostly made of buckskin. They
wore moccasins or sandals. In the winter they kept warm
with a rabbit skin blanket and snowshoes so as not to sink
into deep snow. The Washoe tattooed themselves with fa-
milial marks on their faces and arms using acorn juice and
burnt rabbit brush mixed with water.

CONTACT WITH THE SETTLERS
The Washoe had heard about the new intruders be-
fore they ever saw one. As the Spanish invaded the Califor-
nia coast to establish missions and convert Indians to Ca-
tholicism, the Washoe began to make fewer and fewer trips
to the west coast until eventually those trips stopped alto-
gether. Neighboring tribes that escaped into hiding in the
high mountains probably warned the Washoe about the in-
vaders. Although White historians have concluded that the
Spanish never entered Washoe territory, the Washoe have
told stories about them for generations, and some Washoe
words, including names for relatively new additions to the
Washoe world, like horse, cow, and money, are similar to
the Spanish terms.
In any case, when the first white fur traders and sur-
veyors began to enter Washoe territory the Indians ap-
proached the newcomers with caution. They preferred to
observe the intruders from a distance. The first written re-
cord of non-Indians in Washoe Land were fur trappers in
1826; they may have met the Washoe, but left no descrip-
tion of the encounter. The first written description of the
Washoe was by John Charles Fremont in 1844, who was
leading a government surveying expedition. Fremont de-
scribed the Washoe as being cautious of being close to
them, but in time when he showed no aggression, the
Washoe came forward and gave him handfuls of pine nuts,
the highest form of hospitality the Washoe could offer a visi-
tor. Fremont described struggling through deep snow and
being impressed by the Washoe’s skill with snowshoes.
The Washoe willingly shared their knowledge of the land
and eventually guided Fremont to a safe passage to Califor-
nia.
As more and more colonizers began infiltrating
Washoe land, it was not long before relations grew hostile.
The summer of 1844, just a few months after Fremont had
passed through, a group of trappers left record of having
shot and killed five Indians (either Washoe or Paiute) for
having taken traps and perhaps horses. The Indians proba-
bly took those things in order to discourage the trappers
from entering their land. After the deaths, the trappers
searched the area, but not surprisingly found no more Indi-
ans. Most westward-migrating settlers had been condi-
tioned by their experiences passing through the country of
aggressively defensive tribes of the Great Plains and saw
no distinction between different tribes. They expected the
Washoe to be violent and dangerous and projected these
characteristics upon them.

Donner Party
In 1846, the Washoe noticed the famed Donner party
wagon train because they had never seen wagons before.
The Washoe describe seeing the wagons and wondering if
they were a “monster snake”. In route to California, the
Donner party reached the Sierras late in the year and got
trapped in snow for a particularly harsh winter. The Washoe
checked in with the stranded travelers a few times and
brought them food when they could. Even so, in the face of
suffering and starvation, the Donner Party resorted to can-
nibalism. When the Washoe witnessed them eating each
other they were shocked and frightened. Although the
Washoe faced hard times every winter and death by starva-
tion sometimes occurred, they were never cannibalistic.
Stories about the situation, some gruesome and some sym-
pathetic, were told for many generations and are said to
add to the general mistrust of the white people.

DESTRUCTION OF THE LAND
In 1848, gold was “discovered” in California, and al-
though until then most of the Washoe had never seen white
people, or had previously avoided them, this soon became
impossible. The wagon trains came by the hundreds, and
because most of the wagon trails had previously been In-
dian trails, encounters were numerous. Most of the new
people were just passing through, but by 1849 several be-
gan to establish seasonal trading posts in Washoe territory.
By 1851, year-round trading posts were established, and
colonizers became permanent residents on Washoe land.
The settlers often chose to live on some of the most fertile
gathering areas that the Washoe depended on. A few years after gold was found in California, silver was “discovered” in
the Great Basin and the “Comstock Bonanza” lured many
miners that had passed through back into Washoe territory.
The Euro-American perspective viewed land and its
resources as objects of frontier opportunity and exploitation.
In a short time the colonizers had overused the pine nuts,
seeds, game and fish that the Washoe had lived harmoni-
ously with for thousands of years. By 1851, Indian Agent
Jacob Holeman recommended that the government sign a
treaty with the Washoe and wrote, “…the Indians having
been driven from their lands, and their hunting ground de-
stroyed without compensation therefore – they are in many
instances reduced to a state of suffering bordering on star-
vation.” (Nevers, 1976, p. 49) All this happened in less than
ten years after Fremont had passed through Washoe terri-
tory.
Settlers and miners cut down trees, including the sa-
cred Piñon Pine to build buildings, support mine shafts, and
even burn as fuel. The Piñon Pine woodlands that had once
provided the Washoe, other tribes, and all the animals with
more than enough nuts became barren hillsides.
In 1859, Indian agent Frederick Dodge suggested
removing the Washoe to two reservations, one at Pyramid
Lake, and another at Walker Lake. Because the reserva-
tions were intended to be shared by the Washoe and the
Paiute, it soon became apparent that this was impossible.
Not only did the two tribes speak entirely different lan-
guages, but historically they had not always been friendly
and trouble would no doubt arise if they were forced to live
in close quarters. Furthermore, the Washoe intended to live
on the land where the Maker had created them, and they
resisted all attempts to be relocated. Numerous formal re-
quests from Indian agents were made for a separate reser-
vation for the Washoe, but the government ignored them
all. By 1865, there were no stretches of unoccupied land
large enough within traditional Washoe territory to form one
reservation, so an agent made a recommendation that two
separate 360 acre parcels be set aside for the Washoe.
The following year in 1866, a new agent destroyed any
hope of this happening when he sent a letter to his authori-
ties that stated, “There is no suitable place for a reservation
in the bounds of their territory, and, in view of their rapidly
diminishing numbers and the diseases to which they are
subjected, none is required.” (Nevers, 1976, p. 54) This
man wrongly believed that in time the Washoe would disap-
pear. Between 1871 and 1877 several more requests for a
reservation for the Washoe were made by agents, but again
they were not heard. The government made no attempt to
secure rights for the Washoe or to stop the destruction of
the lands by the colonial culture.
Settler’s livestock grazed the land intensely and
grasses that had once provided the Washoe with seed were
trampled and eaten. Commercial fishing was practiced on
every stream and lake in the area and it was not long be-
fore the fish were depleted. At the height of the fishing,
70,000 pounds of fish were being sent from Lake Tahoe to
Reno, Carson City, and Virginia City. There were several
attempts by the colonizers to stop the Washoe from fishing,
but the Indians banded together and restrictions were re-
laxed. Even so, there were no longer enough fish for the
Washoe to subsist on. Sage hens that used to “cover the
hills like snow” were killed off by sport hunting as well.

CHANGING LIFESTYLES
Although most of their traditional resources were de-
stroyed in a short time, the Washoe were used to adapting
to what their environment provided for them so they began
to change under the pressures of colonization. Many settled
near white towns and took jobs on ranches and in white
homes to make some money. Some hunted and fished and
sold their catch to fancy restaurants. They began to wear
white people’s clothes. Women wore long dresses, aprons,
shawls, and head scarves. Men wore brightly colored shirts
and jeans. They continued gathering together to speak their
language, play games, and observe sacred ceremonies like
those of the pine nut harvest, rabbit drives, and girls dance.
During these difficult years of transition, several
Washoe leaders emerged to speak in behalf of the tribe. In
April of 1880, Captain Jim, Captain Pete, and Captain
Walker called a meeting to prepare a petition to the govern-
ment asking it to stop the destruction of the land. The peti-
tion described that the Washoe depended on game, fish,
and pine nuts in the area that were now settled by coloniz-
ers, and that this meant that the Washoe were now depend-
ent on the charity of colonizers for subsistence. They de-
manded that the destruction of Washoe property be
stopped, and that suitable compensation be made for the
damages already done. A month later, another petition
signed by ninety-three Douglas County residents asked the
government to, “take provision for their general welfare” be-
cause, “…the Washoe tribe have always been reasonable
and quiet, never molesting the white people except for the applications of food since their subsistence is de-
stroyed.” (Nevers, 1976, p. 57) As described by historian L.
Bravo (1991), “White observers have frequently criticized
the Indians both for asking, which they called begging, and
for not growing their own food. But to ask of the person who
had something to share it, was a universal Indian custom.
Furthermore, the food was being produced on land which,
in the Washoe mind, was theirs to use, therefore giving
them every right to share in it. As for growing gardens, the
Washoe were still basically hunters and gatherers and the
mobility required for these pursuits conflicts with the con-
tinuous care needed for gardening.” (p. 11)
In April 1892, with help from donations made by set-
tlers that resided in Carson Valley, Captain Jim and Dick
Bender (serving as a translator), went to Washington to de-
liver another petition, along with letters to the president and
the congressmen of California and Nevada, and a petition
signed by 33 pupils from the Indian school praying that the
Great Father (President Harrison) will consider the matter
well. After spending thirteen days in the capital, and report-edly having spoken with the president, the men returned
home believing that their requests would be heard. A short
time later, they were disappointed to learn what the govern-
ment had decided. They were offered some land in Hum-
boldt Valley, which is in Paiute territory, and were given
$1,000 dollars to be distributed by the Superintendent of the
Indian school to the “old, feeble, and infirm”. The Washoe
did not want to move to Paiute territory, and it is reported
that they received little if any of the $1,000 dollars.
In 1914, the Washoe sent another petition to the
President; this one was accompanied by a special basket
as a gift to be kept in the White House. Again, they re-
ceived nothing substantial in return.
The weaving on the basket read as follows:

“Nevada and California
Sara, I am his daughter, Captain James,
first chief of the Washoe Tribe
This basket is a special curio, 1913”

Washoe Indian Allotments
Under the requirements of the General Allotment
Act of 1887 each individual Washoe finally did begin to re-
ceive some land, but it was not until 1893 that allotments
were made to the Washoe, and most of the land proved to
be virtually worthless. The Washoe claimed the pine nut
hills and the area around Lake Tahoe as their ancestral
homeland, but because the foreigners had already settled
in great numbers around the lake, they were offered the
simple choice to accept the pine nut allotments or take
nothing at all. Although none of the sites were suitable for
homes and few had water rights, the Washoe took them
because the sites had the sacred Piñon Pines that still pro-
vided the food that sustained the Washoe through winter.
Some Washoe received allotment lands in California, in
Alpine County and in the north around the Sierra Valley
and Doyle. Although allotments were legally supposed to
be 160 acres, some that the Washoe received were only
120 because settlers already claimed to own adjacent
springs and other water rights. The government appointed
a special allotting agent that did not even inspect the allot-
ments. Sections of land were given out directly from the
office, and it turned out that most of the lots did not have
mature trees on them or were completely without trees be-
cause they had recently been used for timber.
The borders of these allotments were not clearly
marked, and even when they were the Washoe continued
to have problems with colonizers that frequently disre-
garded boundaries. Reports that whites were trying to gain
control over Washoe timber and were illegally using the
land to graze their animals were made by Indian Agents to
the government several times, but the problem continued
even after laws were passed against it.

Boarding School
The Stewart Indian School opened in 1890 and oc-
cupied 240 acres south of Carson City. Washoe, Paiute,
and Shoshone children were forced to attend. Euro-
American culture was taught to the children, who spent half
of the day in the classroom learning English and mathemat-
ics, and the rest of the day receiving vocational training that
often involved nothing more than doing work that needed to
maintain the school. Since the Indian boarding schools
were under control of the War Department, the schools
were run in a strict military style and focused on assimila-
tion.
Children as young as five years old were often
rounded up and taken from their families while neither the
children nor the parents knew what was happening. When
they arrived at the school they were forced to wear a uni-
form and to cut their hair. They were punished if they spoke
their own languages. The children had a difficult time ad-
justing to the new strict environment and tried to run away.
They were almost always caught and brought back. Parents
objected to having their children go to the schools because
they often became out of touch with their own culture and
many of them never came home at all. There were high
death rates at the schools due to epidemics of diseases
such as influenza, small pox and cholera. Nearly all of the
children reported suffering various amounts of psychologi-
cal, physical and sexual abuse.
In later years the school was reported to have im-
proved. Girls learned how to be a woman in white society
and were trained in “home economics” and nursing. Boys
were trained in vocations usually designated for working
class white men like plumbing, carpentry, mechanics, and
electrical work. Many graduates of the Stewart Indian
School continued their education at other institutions, and
several became prominent citizens in their communities by
using the skills they had learned to help their people.

Basketry as Art
During the late 19
th
century the Washoe became fa-
mous for their skills in basketry. Colonizers saw the intricate
tightly woven baskets that had previously been used for
cooking or holding water, and began valuing them as a high
form of art. Several Washoe women emerged as out-
standing basket makers, including Maggie Mayo James,
Tillie Snooks, Lena Frank and perhaps the most famous being Dat So La Lee.
Dat So La Lee was born in 1835, and may have met
Fremont when he first passed through Washoe land in
1844. In 1871, she met Abram Cohn, a shopkeeper who
she approached with a small basket for sale. He and his
wife Amy recognized that she was highly skilled and de-
cided to build a house for her and support her so that she
could concentrate on making baskets. They worked out a
deal that she would make baskets only for them, and for
this reason no tribal member possesses one of her baskets
today. In 1919 Cohn took Dat So La Lee on several trips to
show her work and make her famous. She did not enjoy
these expositions of her techniques because it is Washoe tradition to only teach members of your family. In modern
times her baskets
have been priced
at $1,000,000.
During her lifetime
they sold for thou-
sands, also a high
sum by the stan-
dard of the time.
Samples of her
work can be seen
at the Smith-
sonian, Nevada
State Historical
Society Museum in Reno, the Nevada State Museum in
Carson City, and the Marion Steinbach Indian Basket Mu-
seum in Tahoe City, among others.

Citizenship
It took many years before the Washoe were consid-
ered citizens under law. This officially happened in 1924
when all Native Americans in the United States pledged
their allegiance to the US government. Before then Indians
were expected to show their allegiance to the country by
fighting in the First World War. Even though they had no
homes and no reservation, and were denied many other
conveniences of citizenship, Indians were expected to fight
in the US army. An Indian Agent wrote to the Washoe say-
ing that Indians that did not fight were “pro-German”. Justi-
fiably, many Washoe did not want to fight, but some did
join the war.

Tribal Land
Despite some local opposition, land was finally pur-
chased for the Washoe in 1917. Two tracts of land were
purchased near Carson City that totaled 156.33 acres.
This became Carson Indian Community. Shortly after this
purchase the government received 40 acres of land south
of Gardnerville from the Dressler family, to indefinitely be
held in trust for the Washoe, now known as the Dresslerville
Community. An additional 20 acres were acquired for the
Washoe and Northern Paiute families who lived in Reno
called the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony. Most of the lands
purchased for the Washoe were rocky and had poor soil,
but the people moved onto these areas and built the best
homes that they could. Many were one room shacks with-
out electricity and running water. Eventually, the govern-
ment built larger four-room houses.
Under the Indian Reorganization Act, between 1938
and 1940, the Washoe acquired 95 acres in the Carson
Valley that became known as Washoe Ranch. Finally the
Washoe had agricultural land where they could raise ani-
mals and food.
In 1951 the Washoe filed a claim to the Indian
Claims Commission for their lands and resources that had
been lost. The legal proceedings lasted nearly twenty
years, and the Washoe received their claim only in 1970.
The government had significantly reduced the area that the
Washoe had designated as their ancestral homeland, and
so the final settlement was five million dollars, which
“scarcely constitutes even a token compensation for the ap-
propriation of an ancient territory and its resources which
today comprise one of the richest and most attractive areas
in the American West.” (Nevers, 1976, p. 91)
Also in 1970, a special act of congress granted 80
acres in Alpine County, California to Washoe that had lived
there for many years. This is now known as the Woodfords
Community. In more recent years the tribe has been acquir-
ing lands within their ancestral territory including, Frank
Parcel, Lady’s Canyon, Babbit Peak, Uhalde Parcel, Wade
Parcels, Olympic Valley, Incline Parcel, Upper and Lower
Clear Creek Parcels. Some of the lands have been set
aside as conservation and cultural lands for the Washoe
People.

Challenges of Reservation Life
After settling on their newly returned land, the
Washoe found it difficult to adapt to reservation life. They
were traditionally a free roaming people that were now re-
stricted and confined to boundaries and were under con-
stant monitoring by Indian Agents that pressured them to
renounce their ancient customs in favor of colonial ways of
living. The superintendent of the Reno Agency attacked
several traditional practices, including the girl’s passage to
womanhood. Ironically the practices that he targeted as
“heathen” and “immoral” like giving gifts were similarly prac-
ticed at Euro-American birthdays and marriages. Another
superintendent announced that traditional games that in-
volved exchanging money were not permitted on govern-
ment lands or Indian reservations, but he made no procla-
mations prohibiting similar games played by colonizers
such as poker. Government officials went as far as to pro-
hibit the use of traditional Washoe medicine.

Peyotism
In 1936, a new native religion called Peyotism, now
known as the Native American Church, helped some
Washoe cope with the changes brought by the settlers. A
man by the name of Ben Lancaster, who was half Washoe,
brought peyotism to Washoe Country. The religion encour-
aged charity and honesty and prohibited drinking of alco-
holic beverages. Although peyotism is no longer widely ac-
cepted, numerous tribal members continue to practice the
way of life. s
De ek Wadapush (Cave Rock)
Since the beginning of history, De ek Wadapush
“rock standing grey” (Cave Rock), a prominent physical fea-
ture on the shore of Lake Tahoe, has been revered as a sa-
cred place to be respected and avoided by all people ex-
cept for Washoe healers seeking spiritual renewal. It is be-
lieved that Cave Rock is also an important place for the
“Water Babies”, so it is a place that can not be tampered
with without experi-
encing retaliation
from the powerful
creatures. The
Washoe were highly
disturbed and sad-
dened by the con-
struction of a tunnel
going through Cave
Rock using dyna-
mite blasts in 1931.
They likened it to
entering a Christian
Church and bomb-
ing it, but most non-
Indian people didn’t understand the similarities. In 1951 a
second tunnel was blasted. During both phases of construc-
tion flooding occurred in the Carson Valley that was attrib-
uted to angered Water Babies.
Thankfully, another project that was proposed during
the building of the second tunnel was never realized. Local
Pastors had began initiating plans and acquiring funds to
build a “Cave Rock Shrine” that consisted of an illuminated
cross at the apex of the rock that would be seen from any
point on the lake’s shore, and a “natural amphitheater”
carved into the concave of the rock. The Washoe wrote
several petitions to stop the project and to have the rock
dedicated to the Indian peoples of the state of Nevada
instead. It is unclear how the project was stopped, but it
seems that the church allocated funds to other causes.
Cave Rock came under increasing threat in the
1990’s when rock-climbing enthusiasts began frequenting it
as a highly desired climbing site. Regardless of the
Washoe’s protest, climbers defaced the rock with bolts and
other climbing implements, graffiti, and even filled in the
cave’s floor with cement. The Washoe wrote petitions to
have the climbing stopped. Despite strong opposition by the
climbing community, the US Forest Service held up a ban
on climbing at Cave Rock in 2008. Remediation efforts are
under way to repair Cave Rock. The site has enjoyed more
respect and protection since its nomination to the National
Register of Historic Places and its designation as
“Traditonal Cultural Property”.

Tribal Government
Under the Indian Reor-
ganization Act of 1934, the
Washoe began to form a tribal
government. They called them-
selves the Washoe Tribe of Ne-
vada and California and adopted
a constitution and laws. In 1937
they were issued a corporate
charter and recognized as a for-
mally organized tribe.
In 1966 the Washoe or-
ganized a tribal council. The nine
member council is made up of two members from Carson,
Stewart, Dresslerville, and Woodfords communities, one
from the Reno-Sparks Colony, and two off-reservation dele-
gates. In 1990 the council was extended to twelve members
to include the newly added Stewart Community. To officially
be considered a Washoe tribal member the blood quantum
is one-quarter. There are approximately 1,550 official tribal
members. One third of tribal members reside off reserva-
tion, a large population within their ancestral territory, and
another in the San Francisco Bay area.

Tribal Programs
The tribe has several programs that encourage the
preservation of Washoe culture and traditions including: so-
cial services, education, senior centers and more.
Washiw Wagayay Ma?al (The Washoe Language
Program) teaches classes in Washoe three times a week
and hosts several other events. Classes are open to people
of all ages. There are four Head-start schools for Washoe
and non-Washoe children ages 3-5 that teach basic
Washoe words and promote social and emotional growth.
The Education Department works together with public
schools and offers scholarships to Washoe students.
Combining traditional and modern conservation prac-
tices, the Environmental Protection Department has nearly
twenty separate restoration and conservation projects
throughout Washoe ancestral territory at any given time.
One example is the restoration of riparian areas and the re-
introduction of the native Lahontan Cutthroat Trout that dis-
appeared from the regions waters after over harvesting by
colonizers.
Over the years the Washoe have organized groups
that promote traditional well being, respect, and generosity
in the people including, the Washoe Warrior Society, White
Bison Society, Culture Camp and Tribal Government
groups like Project Venture.
As a way of further promoting Washoe culture, the
Tribal Government has enacted laws that allow special
hunting and fishing privileges to people that are making and
using traditional hunting and fishing devises.
(TANF) Temporary Assistance for Needy Families is
a Washoe program headquartered in Gardnerville. It pro-
vides service to 12 counties in California and 2 counties in
Nevada. One of the services they provide is a Prevention
Plan that includes bringing cultural activities and education
to the communities.
(THPO) Tribal Historic Preservation Office and
(CRO) Cultural Resources Office are the tribal equivalents
to the State Historic Preservation Offices. Their mission is
to protect, preserve and promote Washoe Culture. The
THPO has jurisdiction over all Washoe Tribally owned lands
and is involved with federal, state, and local agencies in the
protection of over 10,000 square miles of ancestral territory
that covers two states; nine counties, six national forests
and four BLM districts.
The Washoe health clinic offers medical, dental and
behavioral services and the Washoe Police have jurisdic-
tion over all Washoe Tribally owned lands.

Washoe Events
Currently, the Washoe hold several events where
traditional craftsmanship, skills, and cultural information are
celebrated and shared.
•
Wa she shu it deh: Last weekend in July at Camp
Richardson, South Lake Tahoe, California
•
Luka’ ka lel bi Pow Wow: Last weekend in October at
Carson Colony, Carson City, Nevada
•
Earth Day: The event is held at a different Washoe
Community every year in April during Earth Day Week
•
Washoe Picnic: Held every year in September
•
Washoe Elders Cultural Dinner
•
Culture Camp: Held in the summer in Alpine County, CA

WASHOE PLACE NAMES
Da ow aga - “edge of lake” - Lake Tahoe
A’ waku da ow -

Pyramid Lake
Watahshemu – Carson River
Welganuk – Truckee Meadows
Datsa’ shut

– Donner Lake
A’ waku wa’ta - Truckee River at Pyramid Lake
Dewbeyumewe

– Truckee River at Tahoe City
De ek wadapush - Cave Rock
Tzatlee tosh - Emerald Bay
Mutsim yagada det deyi - Sierra Valley

TRIBAL BUSINESSES
Support Tribal Businesses!
•
Meeks Bay Resort and Marina at Meeks Bay, CA
877-326-3357
•
Chevron Station, Highway 395 at Carson City, NV
775-267-0745
•
Washoe One Stop Smoke Shop, Hwy 395 Gardnerville,
NV 775-265-3738
•
Carson Smoke Shop, Washoe Carson Community
775-885-9550
Washoe Development Group: 775-267-2178
•
Ranching Operations and Equestrian Boarding Facilities
•
Sign Leases
•
Mini Storage Lease
•
LLC Business

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND RECOMMENDED READINGS
Bravo, Leonore M.. (1991). Rabbit Skin Blanket: About the Washo of
the Eastern Sierra Nevada And Their Neighbors, the Paiute. Braun-
Brumfield Inc. USA.

d’Azevedo, Warren L. (1978). Straight with the Medicine: Narratives of
Washoe Followers of the Tipi Way. Heyday Books, Berkley, California.

Dowes, James F.. (1966). The Two Worlds of the Washo, An Indian
Tribe of California and Nevada. New York, Holt, Rienhart and Winston.

Nevers, Jo Ann. (1976). Wa she su: A Washo Tribal History. Inter-Tribal
Council of Nevada. University of Utah Printing Service. Salt Lake City,