![WindRiverReservation](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/WindRiverReservation.png)
The Wind River Indian Reservation, in the west-central portion of the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
of
Wyoming
Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...
, is shared by two
Native American tribes, the
Eastern Shoshone
Eastern Shoshone are Shoshone who primarily live in Wyoming and in the northeast corner of the Great Basin where Utah, Idaho and Wyoming meet and are in the Great
Basin classification of Indigenous People. They lived in the Rocky Mountains du ...
( shh, Gweechoon Deka, ''meaning: "buffalo eaters"'') and the
Northern Arapaho
The Wind River Indian Reservation, in the west-central portion of the U.S. state of Wyoming, is shared by two Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribes, the Eastern Shoshone ( shh, Gweechoon Deka, ''meaning: "buffalo eaters" ...
( arp, hoteiniiciihehe'). Roughly east to west by north to south, the
Indian reservation
An Indian reservation is an area of land held and governed by a federally recognized Native American tribal nation whose government is accountable to the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs and not to the state government in which it ...
is located in the
Wind River Basin
The Wind River Basin or Shoshone Basin is a semi-arid intermontane foreland basin in central Wyoming, United States. It is bounded by Laramide uplifts on all sides. On the west is the Wind River Range and on the North are the Absaroka Range and t ...
, and includes portions of the
Wind River Range
The Wind River Range (or "Winds" for short) is a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains in western Wyoming in the United States. The range runs roughly NW–SE for approximately . The Continental Divide follows the crest of the range and inclu ...
,
Owl Creek Mountains
The Owl Creek Mountains are a subrange of the Rocky Mountains in central Wyoming in the United States, running east to west to form a bridge between the Absaroka Range to the northwest and the Bridger Mountains to the east. The range forms the bo ...
, and
Absaroka Range
The Absaroka Range ( or ) is a sub-range of the Rocky Mountains in the United States. The range stretches about across the Montana–Wyoming border, and at its widest, forming the eastern boundary of Yellowstone National Park along Paradise Va ...
.
The Wind River Indian Reservation is the
seventh-largest American Indian reservation in the United States by area and the fifth-largest by population. The land area is approximately , and the total area (land and water) is . The reservation constitutes just over one-third of
Fremont County and over one-fifth of
Hot Springs County
Hot Springs County is a county in the U.S. state of Wyoming. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 4,696, making it the second-least populous county in Wyoming. Its county seat is Thermopolis. The county is named for the hot sp ...
.
The
2000 census reported the population of Fremont County as 40,237. According to the 2010 census, only 26,490 people now live on the reservation, with about 15,000 of the residents being non-Indians on ceded lands and the town of
Riverton. Tribal headquarters are located at
Fort Washakie
Fort Washakie was a U.S. Army fort in what is now the U.S. state of Wyoming. The fort was established in 1869 and named Camp Augur after General Christopher C. Augur, commander of the Department of the Platte. In 1870 the camp was renamed Camp ...
. The Shoshone Rose Casino (Eastern Shoshone) and the Wind River Hotel and Casino, Little Wind Casino, and 789 Smoke Shop and Casino (all Northern Arapaho) are the only
casino
A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...
s in Wyoming.
Prehistory
The Shoshone has the longest prehistory in the area. Archaeologists have found evidence that unique aspects of the Tukudika Mountain Shoshone or
Sheepeater
The Tukudeka or Mountain Sheepeaters are a band of Shoshone within the Eastern Shoshone and the Northern Shoshone.Shimkin 335 Before the reservation era, they traditionally lived in the central Sawtooth Range of Idaho and the mountains of what is ...
material culture such as
soapstone
Soapstone (also known as steatite or soaprock) is a talc-schist, which is a type of metamorphic rock. It is composed largely of the magnesium rich mineral talc. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occur in the zo ...
bowls were in use in this region from the early 1800s going back 1,000 to 3,000 years or more. People descended from the Mountain Shoshone band continue to live on the Wind River Indian Reservation.
The Dinwoody
petroglyph
A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...
style is indigenous to central Wyoming including the Wind River Basin and
Bighorn Basin
The Bighorn Basin is a plateau region and intermontane basin, approximately 100 miles (160 km) wide, in north-central Wyoming in the United States. It is bounded by the Absaroka Range on the west, the Pryor Mountains on the north, the Bighor ...
. Scholars believe that the Dinwoody petroglyphs most likely represent the work of ancestral Tukudika or Mountain Shoshone Sheepeaters, because some of the figures at
Torrey Lake Petroglyph District
The Torrey Lake Petroglyph District extends for about along Torrey Creek in Fremont County, Wyoming. The site includes about 175 petroglyphs, as well as eleven lithic scatters and a sheep trap. The petroglyphs are in the Interior Line Style, or ...
and
Legend Rock
Legend Rock Petroglyph Site is located in Hot Springs County, Wyoming, 20 miles northwest of Hot Springs State Park (which is located in Thermopolis, Wyoming). Legend Rock is a petroglyph site which features hundreds of individual petroglyphs spre ...
correspond to characters in Shoshone folklore, such as Pa waip, a water spirit woman.
Pre-reservation tribal occupation
The Wind River Indian Reservation is located at the historical boundary region between the
Great Basin
The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic basin, endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja California ...
culture of the Shoshone and the
Great Plains
The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, an ...
tribal cultures. In recent centuries, the area was used by many tribes for hunting grounds and for raiding.
After 1800, the historical record notes the presence of the Shoshone, as well as the
Crow
A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not pinned scientifical ...
,
Cheyenne
The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enroll ...
, Arapaho,
Blackfeet
The Blackfeet Nation ( bla, Aamsskáápipikani, script=Latn, ), officially named the Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana, is a federally recognized tribe of Siksikaitsitapi people with an Indian reservation in Monta ...
, and
Lakota
Lakota may refer to:
*Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes
*Lakota language, the language of the Lakota peoples
Place names
In the United States:
*Lakota, Iowa
*Lakota, North Dakota, seat of Nelson County
*Lakota ...
in the Wind River Basin. These latter tribes came to the area due to geopolitical forces, as well as for food resources; trapper records after 1800 describe huge herds of tens of thousands of stampeding
bison
Bison are large bovines in the genus ''Bison'' (Greek: "wild ox" (bison)) within the tribe Bovini. Two extant and numerous extinct species are recognised.
Of the two surviving species, the American bison, ''B. bison'', found only in North Ame ...
in the Wind River Basin, raising massive clouds of dust on the horizon.
The Shoshone largely controlled much of what is now western Wyoming in the 1700s, because they were the first of the northern tribes to secure
horses
The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...
from the Spanish and traders in the
Southwest
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
. (The Arapaho played a similar role of introducing the horse to the Great Plains, through trade between the Spanish settlements along the
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico.
The length of the Rio G ...
and the agricultural tribes along the
Missouri River.) The Shoshones' dominance in what is now western Wyoming declined as other tribes such as the Blackfeet acquired horses and staged counter-raids. In the 1820s, the Shoshone started to regain power by trading for firearms in the
Rocky Mountain Rendezvous
The Rocky Mountain Rendezvous was an annual rendezvous, held between 1825 to 1840 at various locations, organized by a fur trading company at which trappers and mountain men sold their furs and hides and replenished their supplies. The fur compan ...
fur trade in the
Green River Basin
Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combina ...
, just over the Wind River Range from today's Wind River Indian Reservation.
With the onset of the fur trade, Shoshones could once again project their power east from the
Snake River
The Snake River is a major river of the greater Pacific Northwest region in the United States. At long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, in turn, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. The Snake ...
and Green River Valley to hunt buffalo on the plains. Increasingly, they needed to hunt farther east, because the fur trade started to wipe out bison in the Green River Basin. In the 1830s and 1840s, they are recorded as raiding in the
Platte River
The Platte River () is a major river in the State of Nebraska. It is about long; measured to its farthest source via its tributary, the North Platte River, it flows for over . The Platte River is a tributary of the Missouri River, which itself ...
and
Powder River basins, and the
Laramie Plains
The Laramie Plains is an arid highland at an elevation of approx. in south central Wyoming in the United States. The plains extend along the upper basin of the Laramie River on the east side of the Medicine Bow Range. The city of Laramie is the ...
. The Shoshone regularly used the Wind River Basin as winter range or as a route to hunting grounds in the
Sweetwater,
Bighorn Basin
The Bighorn Basin is a plateau region and intermontane basin, approximately 100 miles (160 km) wide, in north-central Wyoming in the United States. It is bounded by the Absaroka Range on the west, the Pryor Mountains on the north, the Bighor ...
,
Bighorn Mountains
The Bighorn Mountains ( cro, Basawaxaawúua, lit=our mountains or cro, Iisaxpúatahchee Isawaxaawúua, label=none, lit=bighorn sheep's mountains) are a mountain range in northern Wyoming and southern Montana in the United States, forming a nort ...
, or Powder River Basin.
Coming from the other direction, the post-1600s westward migration of
Siouan
Siouan or Siouan–Catawban is a language family of North America that is located primarily in the Great Plains, Ohio and Mississippi valleys and southeastern North America with a few other languages in the east.
Name
Authors who call the entire ...
and
Algonquian-speaking peoples brought new populations onto the plains and traditional Shoshone territory of the middle Rocky Mountains. The earliest of these midwestern, Missouri River, and
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...
tribes to migrate to the Great Plains include the Crow, Cheyenne, and Arapaho, though some sources say the Arapaho potentially occupied the Great Plains for 1,000 years. Most of these tribes were initially located on the Great Plains farther north and east of the Wind River area. The powerful and numerous Lakota were the last to push west in response to American expansion, bumping up against the earlier-migrating tribes, and then moving farther west into the Rocky Mountains. By the mid-1800s, all of these tribes would make incursions into the now-contested Wind River valley.
Shoshone place names include dozens in the Bighorn Basin, demonstrating a detailed knowledge of lands further east than the Wind River Basin as part of traditional Shoshone territory. Likewise, the Arapaho were familiar with the Wind River Basin, referring to the
Wind River/
Bighorn River
The Bighorn River is a tributary of the Yellowstone, approximately long, in the states of Wyoming and Montana in the western United States. The river was named in 1805 by fur trader François Larocque for the bighorn sheep he saw along its ban ...
as ''Hotee Niicie'', meaning "mountain sheep river", in reference to the numerous herds of the species in the area.
By the middle 1800s, the Crow were largely dominant in the Wind River Valley and Absaroka Range, using the area as winter range, and fighting with Shoshones who came into the area. Crow Chief Arapooish mentioned the Wind River Valley as a preferred wintering ground with
salt bush Saltbush is a vernacular plant name that most often refers to ''Atriplex'', a genus of about 250 plants distributed worldwide from subtropical to subarctic regions. ''Atriplex'' species are native to Australia, North and South America, and Eurasia. ...
and
cottonwood bark for horse forage in a speech recorded in the 1830s and published in
Washington Irving
Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and " The Legen ...
's ''Adventures of Captain Bonneville''. Meanwhile,
Washakie
Washakie (1804/1810 – February 20, 1900) was a prominent leader of the Shoshone people during the mid-19th century. He was first mentioned in 1840 in the written record of the American fur trapper, Osborne Russell. In 1851, at the urging o ...
and his people avoided the Crow treaty lands in the Wind River Valley in the 1850s, preferring to hunt away from the emigrant trails and the Crow in places like
Henrys Fork and
Yellowstone
Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowston ...
.
The Crow dominance in the Wind River Valley, though secured as official Crow territory under the
Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851
The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 was signed on September 17, 1851 between United States treaty commissioners and representatives of the Cheyenne, Sioux, Arapaho, Crow, Assiniboine, Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nations. Also known as Horse Cree ...
, effectively ended when Chief Washakie defeated a Crow chief in one-on-one fight at
Crowheart Butte
Crowheart Butte is a summit located in the Wind River Valley in rural Fremont County, Wyoming. The community of Crowheart is located nearby.
Crowheart Butte was named after an 1866 battle between the Shoshone and Crow tribes. According to leg ...
, sometime in the late 1850s or early 1860s. Washakie likely opted to challenge the Crow because the emigrant trails and increasing white settlement in Utah, Idaho, and Montana made hunting in those areas harder. This left the Crow-occupied Wind River Valley as the only place Washakie could use force to secure hunting grounds from a rival tribe without significantly opposing American interests.
The Crow legacy in the Wind River persists in the name of the
Middle Fork Popo Agie River
The Middle Fork Popo Agie River is a river in Wyoming in the United States. The river is long. The river is sometimes referred to as simply the 'Middle Fork'. The river is part of the Popo Agie Watershed and from its headwaters in the Wind River ...
, pronounced "poepoe-zhuh", which comes from the Crow word ''Poppootcháashe'', an
onomatopoeia
Onomatopoeia is the process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Such a word itself is also called an onomatopoeia. Common onomatopoeias include animal noises such as ''oink'', ''m ...
meaning "plopping river". The Crow word for the Green River, farther west, is ''Chiichkase Aashe'' or ''Seedskadee Aashe'', meaning "
sage hen river."
The
Fort Bridger Treaty Council of 1868
This Fort Bridger Treaty Council of 1868, was also known as the Great Treaty Council, was a council that developed the Fort Bridger Treaty of 1868 (also Shoshone Bannock Treaty). The Shoshone, also referred to as the Shoshoni or Snake, were the ...
effectively designated the Wind River Valley as exclusive territory of the Shoshone, superseding the Crow's 1851 Fort Laramie treaty claims.
In 1872, the Shoshone agreed to sell part of the reservation to the U.S., establishing the
North Fork of the Popo Agie River as a southern border.
The reservation era
Originally known as the Shoshone Indian Reservation, the Wind River Indian Reservation was established by agreement of the United States with the Eastern Shoshone Nation at the
Fort Bridger Treaty Council of 1868
This Fort Bridger Treaty Council of 1868, was also known as the Great Treaty Council, was a council that developed the Fort Bridger Treaty of 1868 (also Shoshone Bannock Treaty). The Shoshone, also referred to as the Shoshoni or Snake, were the ...
, restricting the tribe from the formerly vast Shoshone territory of more than . A later settlement and land transaction after ''
United States v. Shoshone Tribe of Indians
''United States v. Shoshone Tribe of Indians of the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming'', 304 U.S. 111 (1938), was a Supreme Court of the United States, United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that mineral rights on a reservation b ...
'' gave the Arapaho legal claim to the reservation, which was renamed the Wind River Indian Reservation.
The Shoshone leader Washakie had a preference for the area, and had previously defeated the Crow in battle to hold the territory. As early as 1862, Indian Agent Luther Mann Jr. recommended creating a permanent reservation for the Shoshone. After prospectors discovered gold at
South Pass in 1867, the United States
Indian agent
In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with American Indian tribes on behalf of the government.
Background
The federal regulation of Indian affairs in the United States first included development of t ...
sought to limit numerous tribes from raiding mining camps by placing the Shoshone reservation in the Wind River Valley as a buffer. The United States hoped that tribes like the Crow, Blackfeet, Cheyenne, Lakota, and Arapaho would attack their traditional Shoshone enemies instead of the miners. However, the area was too dangerous for the Shoshone to occupy year-round, so Chief Washakie kept his people closer to
Fort Bridger
Fort Bridger was originally a 19th-century fur trading outpost established in 1842, on Blacks Fork of the Green River, in what is now Uinta County, Wyoming, United States. It became a vital resupply point for wagon trains on the Oregon Trail, Ca ...
for several years after 1868. Washakie's son was killed in a raid by enemy tribes, and the
Oglala
The Oglala (pronounced , meaning "to scatter one's own" in Lakota language) are one of the seven subtribes of the Lakota people who, along with the Dakota, make up the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Seven Council Fires). A majority of the Oglala live o ...
Lakota leader Hump, a mentor of
Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse ( lkt, Tȟašúŋke Witkó, italic=no, , ; 1840 – September 5, 1877) was a Lakota war leader of the Oglala band in the 19th century. He took up arms against the United States federal government to fight against encroachment by wh ...
, was killed fighting the Shoshone in the Wind River Basin.
Intertribal conflicts occurred several times in the 1860s and 1870s in the Wind River region. The Arapaho briefly stayed in the Wind River valley in 1870, but left after miners and Shoshones attacked and killed tribal members and
Black Bear
Black bear or Blackbear may refer to:
Animals
* American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species
* Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species
Music
* Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...
, one of their leaders, as they moved lodges. At another event, a combined force of Lakotas, Cheyennes, and Arapahos surrounded and attacked Washakie's camp at Trout Creek on the reservation. The Shoshones survived the attack by digging rifle pits inside their tepees, and then mounting a counterattack. The last significant conflict occurred in June 1874, when 167 Shoshones and U.S. cavalry attacked the Arapaho at the
Bates Battlefield
The Bates Battlefield was the scene of an 1874 action in which an Arapaho encampment was attacked by U.S. Army forces under Captain Alfred E. Bates. The battlefield is a narrow valley in Hot Springs County, Wyoming near the junction of the Big Ho ...
on the head of Nowood Creek in the
Bridger Mountains east of the Shoshone Indian Reservation.
Camp Augur, a military post with troops named for General
Christopher C. Augur, was established at the present site of
Lander on June 28, 1869. (Augur was the general present at the signing of the Fort Bridger Treaty in 1868.) In 1870 the name of the camp was changed to Camp Brown, and in 1871, the post was moved to the current site of
Fort Washakie
Fort Washakie was a U.S. Army fort in what is now the U.S. state of Wyoming. The fort was established in 1869 and named Camp Augur after General Christopher C. Augur, commander of the Department of the Platte. In 1870 the camp was renamed Camp ...
. The name was changed to honor United States ally and Shoshone
Chief Washakie
Washakie (1804/1810 – February 20, 1900) was a prominent leader of the Shoshone people during the mid-19th century. He was first mentioned in 1840 in the written record of the American fur trapper, Osborne Russell. In 1851, at the urging o ...
in 1878. The fort continued to serve as a military post until the US abandoned it in 1909.
By that time, a community had developed around the fort.
Sacagawea
Sacagawea ( or ; also spelled Sakakawea or Sacajawea; May – December 20, 1812 or April 9, 1884)[Sacagawea]
...
, a guide with the
Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gro ...
of 1804–06, was later interred here. Her son
Jean Baptiste Charbonneau
Jean Baptiste Charbonneau (February 11, 1805 – May 16, 1866) was a Native American-French Canadian explorer, guide, fur trapper, trader, military scout during the Mexican–American War, ''alcalde'' (mayor) of Mission San Luis Rey de Franc ...
, who was a child on the expedition, has a memorial stone in Fort Washakie but was interred in
Danner, Oregon
Danner is an unincorporated community located in Malheur County, Oregon, United States. It lies along Danner Road off U.S. Route 95 west of Jordan Valley. Jordan Creek flows by Danner.
History
The old Idaho-Oregon-Nevada highway ran throug ...
.
A government school and hospital operated for many years east of Fort Washakie; Arapaho children were sent here to board during the school year. St. Michael's at
Ethete
Ethete ( arp, Koonoutoseii') is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fremont County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 1,553 at the 2010 census. The town is located on the Wind River Indian Reservation. It grew up around the Episcopal St. ...
was constructed in 1917–1920. The village of
Arapahoe
The Arapaho (; french: Arapahos, ) are a Native American people historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Lakota and Dakota.
By the 1850s, Arapaho band ...
was originally established as a US sub-agency to distribute rations to the
Arapaho
The Arapaho (; french: Arapahos, ) are a Native American people historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Lakota and Dakota.
By the 1850s, Arapaho band ...
. At one time it also operated a large trading post.
Irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...
was constructed to support farming and ranching in the arid region. The Arapaho constructed a flour mill near Fort Washakie.
Separately, under the
Dawes Act
The Dawes Act of 1887 (also known as the General Allotment Act or the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887) regulated land rights on tribal territories within the United States. Named after Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts, it authorized the Pre ...
, communal tribal land was allotted to individual households, which could later be sold to non-tribal members, further diminishing the tribal land base.
In 1904 the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho ceded a portion of the reservation north of the Wind River to the United States and opened to white settlement. The Riverton Reclamation Project and the city of
Riverton developed on some of this land. Instead of a lump-sum payment or upfront purchase, the cession required the United States to pay the tribes for each area of land settled upon. Seeing that large parts of the ceded area were never taken up by settlers, the ceded portion of the reservation was later restored to the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes.
Arapaho settlement on Wind River
In the winter of 1878–79, the United States Army escorted the Northern Arapaho to the
Sweetwater Valley near
Independence Rock and then temporarily placed them at the Shoshone's Fort Washakie Agency to receive rations. This decision to place the Arapaho in close proximity with their historic enemies the Shoshone has had significant historical and political consequences.
![Chief Black Coal - An Arapaho Chief](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Chief_Black_Coal_-_An_Arapaho_Chief.jpg)
The former Arapaho and Cheyenne reservation under the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 encompassing much of eastern
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
and southeast Wyoming had been overrun by whites after the
Colorado gold rush of 1859. The Northern Arapaho then signed the
Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868
The Treaty of Fort Laramie (also the Sioux Treaty of 1868) is an agreement between the United States and the Oglala, Miniconjou, and Brulé bands of Lakota people, Yanktonai Dakota and Arapaho Nation, following the failure of the first Fort ...
, giving them claim to locate in the
Great Sioux Reservation
The Great Sioux Reservation initially set aside land west of the Missouri River in South Dakota and Nebraska for the use of the Lakota Sioux, who had dominated this territory. The reservation was established in the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 ...
, encompassing the western half of present-day
South Dakota
South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...
west of the Missouri River, and rights to hunt north of the Platte River in Wyoming so long as game remained.
In practice the Arapaho did not wish to locate permanently at an agency shared by the Sioux. They were belittled by leaders of the more powerful Sioux including
Red Cloud
Red Cloud ( lkt, Maȟpíya Lúta, italic=no) (born 1822 – December 10, 1909) was a leader of the Oglala Lakota from 1868 to 1909. He was one of the most capable Native American opponents whom the United States Army faced in the western ...
, and wanted to avoid being culturally subsumed within the Lakota Nation. Instead, the Arapaho hoped for a reservation of their own. In 1868–69, the Arapaho briefly sought to locate with the linguistically-related
Gros Ventre
The Gros Ventre ( , ; meaning "big belly"), also known as the Aaniiih, A'aninin, Haaninin, Atsina, and White Clay, are a historically Algonquian-speaking Native American tribe located in north central Montana. Today the Gros Ventre people are ...
s at the agency on the
Milk River in
Montana
Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...
, but left after a
smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
epidemic. Further, Arapaho priest and leader Weasel Bear had a vision that the Arapaho would find a permanent home closer to the Rocky Mountains, and not on the Great Plains.
[Fowler, Loretta. ''Arapaho Politics, 1851-1978''. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1982.] The Arapaho way of life had historically included significant use of mountain hunting grounds, especially in the Colorado Rockies around
Estes Park
Estes Park is a statutory town in Larimer County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 5,904 at the 2020 United States Census. Estes Park is a part of the Fort Collins, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Front Range Urban Corr ...
, but also including the
Snowy Range
The Medicine Bow Mountains are a mountain range in the Rocky Mountains that extend from northern Colorado into southern Wyoming. The northern extent of this range is the sub-range the Snowy Range. From the northern end of Colorado's Never Summer ...
, the Bighorns, the
Black Hills
The Black Hills ( lkt, Ȟe Sápa; chy, Moʼȯhta-voʼhonáaeva; hid, awaxaawi shiibisha) is an isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States. Black Elk P ...
, and the
Laramie Range
The Laramie Mountains are a range of moderately high peaks on the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains in the U.S states of Wyoming and Colorado. The range is the northernmost extension of the line of the ranges along the eastern side of the Rock ...
.
To seek favor of the Army, leaders
Chief Black Coal
Wo’óoseinee’, known commonly as Black Coal, (c.1840-1893) was a prominent leader of the Northern Arapaho people during the latter half of the 19th Century. Serving as an intermediary between the Northern Arapaho and the United States, he help ...
(Northern Arapaho), Sharp Nose and their followers allied with Gen.
George Crook
George R. Crook (September 8, 1828 – March 21, 1890) was a career United States Army officer, most noted for his distinguished service during the American Civil War and the Indian Wars. During the 1880s, the Apache nicknamed Crook ''Nantan ...
as scouts against their former allies the Cheyenne, participating in the November 1876
Dull Knife Fight
The Dull Knife Fight, or the Battle on the Red Fork, part of the Great Sioux War of 1876, was a battle that was fought on November 25, 1876, in present-day Johnson County, Wyoming between soldiers and scouts of the United States Army and warrio ...
on the side of the United States, along with Shoshone, Cheyenne, Sioux, and
Pawnee Pawnee initially refers to a Native American people and its language:
* Pawnee people
* Pawnee language
Pawnee is also the name of several places in the United States:
* Pawnee, Illinois
* Pawnee, Kansas
* Pawnee, Missouri
* Pawnee City, Nebraska
* ...
scouts. Officers of the United States Army supported the idea of an Arapaho reservation in eastern
Wyoming Territory
The Territory of Wyoming was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 25, 1868, until July 10, 1890, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Wyoming. Cheyenne was the territorial capital. The boun ...
— General Crook may have promised an agency on the
Tongue River. Yet federal policy prevented this from coming to fruition, partly because the United States had essentially stopped negotiating reservation treaties with tribes after 1868, preferring instead to use
executive order
In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of th ...
s in such agreements.
In 1878 the U.S. Army saw the onset of winter with roughly 1,000 hungry and impoverished Arapaho still averse to living near the
Red Cloud Agency
The Red Cloud Agency was an Indian agency for the Oglala Lakota as well as the Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho, from 1871 to 1878. It was located at three different sites in Wyoming Territory and Nebraska before being moved to South Dakota. It w ...
, at an agreed-upon agency of
Fort Randall
The Fort Randall Military Post was established in 1856 to help keep peace on the frontier. It was located on the south side of the Missouri River in South Dakota, just below the present site of the Fort Randall Dam.
History
The site for the f ...
, or in
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...
with the Southern Arapaho. Chief Black Coal had previously visited the Southern Arapaho reservation on the
Canadian River
The Canadian River is the longest tributary of the Arkansas River in the United States. It is about long, starting in Colorado and traveling through New Mexico, the Texas Panhandle, and Oklahoma. The drainage area is about .[Fort Bridger Treaty Council of 1868
This Fort Bridger Treaty Council of 1868, was also known as the Great Treaty Council, was a council that developed the Fort Bridger Treaty of 1868 (also Shoshone Bannock Treaty). The Shoshone, also referred to as the Shoshoni or Snake, were the ...]
.
The supposedly temporary placement of the Arapaho at Fort Washakie Agency became permanent because the United States government never took further action to relocate the tribe. The Arapaho held out hope for a reservation of their own until 1890, when Gen. Crook died. In late-1800s dealings including land cessions, the government repeatedly acted as if the Arapaho were a party of their reservation and its resources by including them in cession discussions like the sale of the
Thermopolis Hot Springs. This was despite Shoshone protests (which were later held up in court) that the Arapaho had no legal claim to the reservation. According to historian Loretta Fowler, Arapaho leaders at the time were aware they had no real legal status to reservation land in the Wind River Valley. They participated in land cessions and allotment of reservation land in part to solidify their title and claims to the land.
It wasn't until the conclusion of the 1938 U.S. Supreme Court Case ''
United States v. Shoshone Tribe of Indians
''United States v. Shoshone Tribe of Indians of the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming'', 304 U.S. 111 (1938), was a Supreme Court of the United States, United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that mineral rights on a reservation b ...
'' that the government recognized it had wrongly given Shoshone land and resources to the Arapaho. A subsequent land deal then officially solidified Arapaho claim as half-owners of tribal lands and resources on the Shoshone Indian Reservation, which was officially renamed the Wind River Indian Reservation.
This complicated history of the Arapaho arrival on the reservation continues to affect intertribal relations and politics on the reservation today. Over time, intermarriage between members of the two tribes has occurred, building connections between members of the historically-enemy tribes and encouraging political cooperation. Yet efforts to maintain and exert independent sovereignty of each tribe remain a major dynamic on the reservation.
Mid-20th century to present
In the 1970s and 1980s, oil and gas operators on the Wind River Indian Reservation were found to be stealing oil from the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho. In a coordinated scheme, companies extracted oil and paid some production royalties to tribes, while also secretly collecting and selling a separate supply of oil for which they paid no royalties. The exposé led to reforms.
Of the population in 2011, 3,737 were Shoshone and 8,177 were Arapaho. There were of tribal land with of wilderness area.
In 2000, 6,728 (28.9%) were Native Americans (full or part) and of them 54% were Arapaho and 30% Shoshone. Of the Native American population, 22% spoke a language other than English at home.
Land and wildlife conservation
The Wind River Indian Reservation established a roadless area in the Wind River Range in the 1930s, several decades before the passage of the national
Wilderness Act
The Wilderness Act of 1964 () was written by Howard Zahniser of The Wilderness Society. It created the legal definition of wilderness in the United States, and protected 9.1 million acres (37,000 km²) of federal land. The result of a lon ...
of 1964. The tribes have re-established populations of
big game, such as
moose
The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult mal ...
,
elk
The elk (''Cervus canadensis''), also known as the wapiti, is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. The common ...
,
mule deer
The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer.
Unlike the related whit ...
,
whitetail deer
The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...
,
bighorn sheep
The bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') is a species of sheep native to North America. It is named for its large horns. A pair of horns might weigh up to ; the sheep typically weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates three distinct subspec ...
and
pronghorn antelope
The pronghorn (, ) (''Antilocapra americana'') is a species of artiodactyl (even-toed, hoofed) mammal indigenous to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is known colloquially in North America as the American ante ...
, and have passed hunting regulations to conserve these species.
![Wind_river_reservation](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/Wind_river_reservation.jpg)
In November 2016 the Shoshone introduced ten
bison
Bison are large bovines in the genus ''Bison'' (Greek: "wild ox" (bison)) within the tribe Bovini. Two extant and numerous extinct species are recognised.
Of the two surviving species, the American bison, ''B. bison'', found only in North Ame ...
to the reservation, the beginning of what is planned as a 1,000-head herd. They were the first bison to be seen on the Wind River Reservation since 1885. The tribe is also receiving
bison from Yellowstone National Park that are coming out of quarantine at the
Fort Peck Indian Reservation
The Fort Peck Indian Reservation ( asb, húdam wįcášta, dak, Waxchį́ca oyáte) is located near Fort Peck, Montana, in the northeast part of the state. It is the home of several federally recognized bands of Assiniboine
The Assinibo ...
. Area suited as buffalo habitat is estimated at on the west side and another on the north of the reservation.
The Northern Arapaho established a bison herd in 2019.
Tourism
Lodging and museums
Facilities for tourism include hotels located at the Wind River Casino and the Shoshone Rose Casino. There are numerous cultural centers and interpretive displays at the Eastern Shoshone Cultural Center and library at Fort Washakie School, as well as the Northern Arapaho Experience Room at the Wind River Hotel and Casino. The Museum of the Rockies in Lander hosts weekly powwow dancing demonstrations during the summer.
Fishing, hiking, mountaineering, and rafting
The Wind River Indian Reservation allows access for fishing and hiking for non-tribal members who purchase a tribal fishing license available from local retailers. The license allows access to fishing lands on the southern half of the reservation, including in the tribal roadless area that encompasses part of the dramatic Wind River Range. Hikers and mountaineers seeking the closest approach to
Gannett Peak
Gannett Peak is the highest mountain peak in the U.S. state of Wyoming at . It lies in the Wind River Range within the Bridger Wilderness of the Bridger-Teton National Forest. Straddling the Continental Divide along the boundary between Frem ...
can hire a guide to drive into a trailhead. The reservation licenses contractors in Thermopolis to offer
whitewater rafting
Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...
and fishing outfitting in the spectacular
Wind River Canyon
Wind River Canyon is a scenic Wyoming canyon on the Wind River. It is located between the towns of Shoshoni and Thermopolis and is a popular stop for visitors to Yellowstone National Park. It is accessible by U.S. Highway 20 and Wyoming Highway ...
.
Powwows
The Wind River Country, the wide expansion of land on which the Wind River Reservation resides, provides opportunities for visitors to see and participate in important cultural experiences.
Scheduled
powwows
A powwow (also pow wow or pow-wow) is a gathering with dances held by many Native Americans in the United States, Native American and First Nations in Canada, First Nations communities. Powwows today allow Indigenous people to socialize, danc ...
are available to attend by the public. There are three larger celebrations throughout the year in Wind River Country, including the
Eastern Shoshone
Eastern Shoshone are Shoshone who primarily live in Wyoming and in the northeast corner of the Great Basin where Utah, Idaho and Wyoming meet and are in the Great
Basin classification of Indigenous People. They lived in the Rocky Mountains du ...
Powwow in June, the
Ethete
Ethete ( arp, Koonoutoseii') is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fremont County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 1,553 at the 2010 census. The town is located on the Wind River Indian Reservation. It grew up around the Episcopal St. ...
Celebration in July, and the Northern Arapaho Powwow in September. Beginning on Friday nights, these ceremonies are an important aspect of Native American culture, that involve feasting, singing and dancing. Saturday and Sundays also have powwow festivities.
An important aspect of the powwow is showcasing the regalia of the dancers. Each piece is personally significant to the dancer, uniquely handmade, utilizing feathers, shells, bones, beadwork and sometimes family heirlooms. The dances performed are traditional dances, unique to the tribe they belong to, as is the music. The spectacle is described on the Wind River Country's tourism website, telling prospective visitors, "If you close your eyes for a second the music will sweep you away. Drumming and singing accompanies all dancing and the drumbeat is considered sacred, representing the heartbeat of the tribe. Each thumping note carries songs to the
Great Spirit
The Great Spirit is the concept of a life force, a Supreme Being or god known more specifically as Wakan Tanka in Lakota,Ostler, Jeffry. ''The Plains Sioux and U.S. Colonialism from Lewis and Clark to Wounded Knee''. Cambridge University Press, ...
, along with the prayers of the people." The website also advertises the powwows as being free admission.
In popular culture
*
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
aired the documentary film ''Chiefs'', filmed from 2000 to 2001 by
Daniel Junge
Daniel Junge (born ) is an American documentary filmmaker. On February 26, 2012, he won the Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) for the film '' Saving Face'', which he co-directed along with Pakistani filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chino ...
, about the members of the successful high school basketball team on the Wind River Reservation.
*
Margaret Coel has written a series of mystery novels set on the Wind River Reservation featuring Arapaho attorney Vicky Holden and Father John O'Malley, pastor of the fictional St. Francis mission. The actual
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
mission on the reservation is the Saint Stephen's Indian Mission.
*In 2017, the film ''
Wind River'' was released. Written and directed by
Taylor Sheridan
Taylor Sheridan (born May 21, 1970) is an American filmmaker and actor. Sheridan portrayed David Hale (Sons of Anarchy), David Hale in the FX (TV channel), FX television series ''Sons of Anarchy'' and Danny Boyd in ''Veronica Mars'' (2005–2007 ...
, it stars
Jeremy Renner
Jeremy Lee Renner (born January 7, 1971) is an American actor and musician. He began his career by appearing in independent films such as '' Dahmer'' (2002) and ''Neo Ned'' (2005), then supporting roles in bigger films, such as ''S.W.A.T.'' (2 ...
,
Elizabeth Olsen
Elizabeth Chase Olsen (born February 16, 1989) is an American actress. Born in Sherman Oaks, California, Olsen began acting at age four. She starred in her debut film role in the thriller ''Martha Marcy May Marlene'' in 2011, for which she wa ...
,
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...
and
Gil Birmingham
Gil Birmingham (born July 13, 1953) is an American actor known for his role as Tribal Chairman Thomas Rainwater in the Paramount Network's television series ''Yellowstone''. He is also known for his portrayal of Billy Black in '' The Twilight Sag ...
. Set in winter, the thriller mystery explores the death of a young Arapaho woman on the reservation and social conditions there. The film shows depictions of
sexual assault
Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...
on reservations.
*
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
produced the film ''Good Medicine'' by director Jackson Tisi to show the broad definition of "good medicine" today on the reservation, ranging from traditional spiritual practices and powwow dancing to
skateboarding
Skateboarding is an extreme sport, action sport originating in the United States that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry Profession, job, and a ...
.
Contemporary issues
Current social and economic conditions on the Wind River Indian Reservation have complicated historical roots. The reservation has many examples of cultural survival, adaptation, and patriotism.
Yet the reservation community also suffers from the legacy of
settler colonialism
Settler colonialism is a structure that perpetuates the elimination of Indigenous people and cultures to replace them with a settler society. Some, but not all, scholars argue that settler colonialism is inherently genocidal. It may be enacted ...
, dispossession from land, forced
assimilation and cultural destruction, family disruption, environmental extraction and degradation,
disenfranchisement
Disfranchisement, also called disenfranchisement, or voter disqualification is the restriction of suffrage (the right to vote) of a person or group of people, or a practice that has the effect of preventing a person exercising the right to vote. D ...
, and inter-generational poverty. Though media portrayals produced by outsiders frequently note these disparities, tribal members have publicly objected to such narratives, noting that they are not the whole story of life in reservation communities.
''
High Country News
''High Country News'' is a monthly independent magazine based in Paonia, Colorado, that covers environmental, social, and political issues in the Western United States. Syndicated stories from ''High Country News'' have appeared in ''The New York T ...
'' tribal desk editor Tristan Ahtone (
Kiowa
Kiowa () people are a Native American tribe and an indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th and 18th centuries,Pritzker 326 and eve ...
) used Wind River media coverage by the ''New York Times'', CNN, and ''Business Insider'' as examples of simplistic negative narratives that future journalists can work to disrupt through accurate portrayals of Native American realities, both good and bad.
Crime on the reservation and media portrayals
A decades-long study titled "Delinquency Among Wind River Indian Reservation Youth" showed that large amounts of the reservation's youth were charged with a variety of crimes. This study shows that from the years 1967–71, 1,047 juvenile cases were examined by the Court of Indian Offenses on the reservation. 693 of the 1,047 cases dealt with
delinquency
Delinquent or delinquents may refer to:
* A person who commits a felony
* A juvenile delinquent, often shortened as delinquent is a young person (under 18) who fails to do that which is required by law; see juvenile delinquency
* A person who fa ...
, with 470 of these cases involving a young male defendant. The distribution of juvenile charges showed that 251 of 917 total charges involved alcohol-related crimes (
public intoxication
Public intoxication, also known as "drunk and disorderly" and "drunk in public", is a summary offense in some countries rated to public cases or displays of drunkenness. Public intoxication laws vary widely by jurisdiction, but usually require an ...
, minor in possession, and
driving under the influence
Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...
).
In 2009, three young Native American girls (13, 14, and 15 years of age) were murdered on the reservation. They were found in the bedroom of a small home in Beaver Creek, which is a low-income tribal housing community. They had overdosed on
methadone
Methadone, sold under the brand names Dolophine and Methadose among others, is a synthetic opioid agonist used for chronic pain and also for opioid dependence. It is used to treat chronic pain, and it is also used to treat addiction to heroin ...
, a painkiller which is used to wean
heroin
Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...
addicts off of heroin. However, no one knows how they received the painkillers, which is why the coroner ruled their deaths
homicide
Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...
s. The reservation has a very thin police force, which led to the
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
being the lead investigators on the homicide. The reservation has six officers who are responsible for patrolling an area about the size of
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...
. Two teenage boys were arrested in connection with the girls' deaths. One boy had given them his grandmother's methadone, saying that the girls were already high and he wanted to help them, because they didn't want to go home and have their parents see them.
In the early 21st century, the media reported problems of
reservation poverty
Reservations in the United States, known as Indian reservations, are sovereign Native American territories that are managed by a tribal government in cooperation with the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, a branch of the Department of the Interi ...
and unemployment, resulting in associated crime and a high rate of
drug abuse
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods which are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder. Differing definitions of drug abuse are used in public health, ...
. In 2012, ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' released an article titled "Brutal Crimes Grip an Indian Reservation". According to this article, written by Timothy Williams, an
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
war strategy, "the surge", was used to attempt to fight crime, taking hundreds of officers from the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
and other federal agencies. This had major success at other reservations, but on the Wind River Indian Reservation,
violent crime
A violent crime, violent felony, crime of violence or crime of a violent nature is a crime in which an offender or perpetrator uses or threatens to use harmful force upon a victim. This entails both crimes in which the violence, violent act is t ...
increased by seven percent. In 2013, ''
Business Insider
''Insider'', previously named ''Business Insider'' (''BI''), is an American financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Insider''s parent company Insider Inc. has been owned by the German publ ...
'' produced a photo scrapbook and indicated locals refer to different streets by infamously violent American locations such as
Compton
Compton may refer to:
Places
Canada
* Compton (electoral district), a former Quebec federal electoral district
* Compton (provincial electoral district), a former Quebec provincial electoral district now part of Mégantic-Compton
* Compton, Que ...
near Los Angeles.
The reservation was experiencing a
methamphetamine crisis that has since been significantly reduced, even while
addiction
Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use o ...
continues to be a problem. Other residents say the Wind River Indian Reservation is a more hopeful place than is often portrayed in press reports.
Public health
There are two
outpatient clinic
An outpatient department or outpatient clinic is the part of a hospital designed for the treatment of outpatients, people with health problems who visit the hospital for diagnosis or treatment, but do not at this time require a bed or to be admitte ...
s located on the reservation. There is one located in
Arapahoe
The Arapaho (; french: Arapahos, ) are a Native American people historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Lakota and Dakota.
By the 1850s, Arapaho band ...
, and the second one is located in
Fort Washakie
Fort Washakie was a U.S. Army fort in what is now the U.S. state of Wyoming. The fort was established in 1869 and named Camp Augur after General Christopher C. Augur, commander of the Department of the Platte. In 1870 the camp was renamed Camp ...
. The clinics offer a variety of services such as Behavioral Health, Social Services, Business Office, Community Health Nursing, Purchased/Referred Care (PRC), Dental, Diabetes Program, Laboratory/Radiology, Medical Records, Medical Services, Nursing, Optometry, Office of Environmental Health, Utilization Review and Compliance. The average
life expectancy
Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the average time an organism is expected to live, based on the year of its birth, current age, and other demographic factors like sex. The most commonly used measure is life expectancy at birth ...
for someone living on the reservation is 49 years.
According to ''A Suicide Epidemic in an American Indian Community'', a study done regarding
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
on the reservation in 1985, the months of August and September produced very high suicide numbers. There were 12 reported deaths, and 88 additional verified instances of suicide threats or suicidal attempts. This epidemic among Native American tribes can be attributed to high unemployment and abuse of alcohol. 40 of the attempts were between the ages of 13 and 19, and 24 attempts were between the ages of 20 and 29. Of the 88 attempts, alcohol was involved in 47 cases, with 46 male and 42 females attempting suicide. Many events were created to attempt to stop this suicide epidemic that hit the reservation. Parents and elder community members closed
bingo
Bingo or B-I-N-G-O may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Gaming
* Bingo, a game using a printed card of numbers
** Bingo (British version), a game using a printed card of 15 numbers on three lines; most commonly played in the UK and Ireland
** Bi ...
nights for children and hosted recreational activities instead. The schools extended hours for learning centers and gymnasiums. An alcohol treatment program began holding weekly alcohol-free teen dances, which were very popular and had a high attendance. These initiatives were designed to provide a safe and alcohol-free environment for the children and young adults. This ultimately helped quell the epidemic, and prevented suicide attempts across such young age groups.
An article published in 2001, ''The Social Construction of American Indian Drinking: Perceptions of American Indian and White Officials'', discovered, by qualitatively interviewing a small sample size of 12 Native Americans residing on the reservation and 12 Whites who also reside on the reservation, that
alcoholism
Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...
is present on the reservation. 10 of 12 Natives said that alcohol is a problem shared by both minors and adults, while all 12 Whites said this. 10 of 12 American Indians said that alcohol is strongly linked to crime, while 11 of 12 Whites agreed. The biggest outlier was that only 8 of 12 American Indians said that alcohol is a very serious problem on the reservation, while 11 of 12 Whites said the same.
In an article in the ''
Casper Star-Tribune
The ''Casper Star-Tribune'' is a newspaper published in Casper, Wyoming, with statewide influence and readership.
It is Wyoming's largest print newspaper, with a daily circulation of 23,760 and a Sunday circulation of 21,041. The ''Star-Tribune'' ...
'', of the 79 deaths from 2004, a quarter of the deaths were attributed to alcoholic
cirrhosis
Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, and end-stage liver disease, is the impaired liver function caused by the formation of scar tissue known as fibrosis due to damage caused by liver disease. Damage causes tissue repai ...
and half were alcoholic deaths due to car crashes and homicide connected to drugs. According to Cathy Keene, local director for Indian Health Services, the reservation's situation has gotten to the point where the Public Health Service can only fund things that require emergency care. The lack of funding has resulted in fewer surgeries and medical procedures. The Fort Washakie Health Center is only working with slightly more than half of its needed funding, according to Richard Brannan, chief executive officer of the Indian Health Service.
A study found that approximately 71% of the population is
obese
Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's we ...
and 12% have
diabetes
Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...
, compared to the national average 36.5% and 9.4%. In 2009, the reservation received a five-year grant in funding from the Merck Foundation's Alliance for Reducing Diabetes Disparities (ARDD) to improve patient care, community clinical system of care, and clinicians. The ultimate goal of the funding is to find an ideal model or solution that can be repeated at other reservations to decrease the rate of diabetes. After receiving funding, the project team gathered other members who shared an interest in preventing and managing diabetes on the reservation. They recruited members of the Wind Reservation Coalition for Diabetes Management and Prevention, Wind River Indian Health Service, Fremont County Public Health, the University of Wyoming's Centsible Nutrition Program, Sundance Research Institute, and the State of Wyoming Department of Health's Diabetes Prevention program. These members helped create focus groups consisting of residents from the reservation to understand the barriers and the issues with health services. The group created a disease management program based on the Chronic Care Model which focused on looking at members with or at risk of diabetes. They created specific exercises and nutrition programs that took account of the lifestyle and culture of the residents. For individuals who were already diagnosed, the program created a self-management education program. After the five-year program, the results showed improved clinical outcomes. 47% of the participants saw a decrease in their
HbA1c
Glycated hemoglobin, also known as HbA1c, glycohemoglobin, hemoglobin A1c, A1C, is a form of hemoglobin (Hb) that is chemically linked to a sugar. Most monosaccharides, including glucose, galactose and fructose, spontaneously (i.e. non-enzymatic ...
levels, improved diabetes management with a mean decrease of 1.12 points. Due to the success of the program, a two-year grant from the
AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca plc () is a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with its headquarters at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in Cambridge, England. It has a portfolio of products for major diseases in areas includin ...
Foundation proposed to help 350 reservation residents who are at risk for
cardiovascular disease
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, h ...
.
Education and employment
Only 60% of Native Americans complete high school, compared to 80% of White students. The Wind River Reservation dropout rate is 40%, more than twice the state average of Wyoming. Teenagers are twice as likely to commit suicide compared to other young adults within Wyoming.
There are other issues that commonly occur on the reservation such as child abuse, teenage pregnancy, sexual assault, domestic violence, and alcoholism. There was the death of an eighth grader at Wyoming Indian Middle School who was killed by voluntary manslaughter in April 2010. Wind River's crime rate is five to seven times the national average, and the reservation has a history of gang violence.
The reservation has struggled with an alarming percent of unemployment. According to a 2005
Bureau of Indian Affairs
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and A ...
report, the Northern Arapaho Tribe's unemployment rate was 73%, and Eastern Shoshone's was 84%. Other reservations have similar or higher rates of unemployment.
There does seem to be a consensus on what some of the contributing factors are. One is lack of adequate physical infrastructure—good roads and bridges, public water supply and sanitation facilities, and adequate education. The Wyoming Department of Education decided to collaborate with the North Central Comprehensive Center in order to improve the reservation's education system. They conducted multiple listening sessions within classes of different schools within the reservation. After the sessions, parents and students came to the consensus that the Wind River Reservation schools needed more teachers that are Native American. They also advocated for more security in order to lessen bullying and gangs, and more Native American-relevant courses, such as their Native American language.
Lastly, students and parents wanted a standard for academic expectations that should be held within all schools within the reservation. One of the parents remarked, "My grandson goes to the school in
Lander. We won't transfer him back here to the reservation because they're two years behind where my grandson is." Megan Degenfelder, Wyoming Department of Education Policy Advisor, said the inputs from the listening sessions has the department headed in the right track "to improve education for Native American students and to best be able to allocate our resources and time."
Environmental
According to Folo Akintan's preliminary data, a medical doctor and
epidemiologist
Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and risk factor, determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population.
It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decision ...
from the Rocky Mountain Tribal Epidemiology Center in
Billings, Montana
Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Metrop ...
, four out of ten Wind River Reservation residents reported that they have had a relative die from
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
. Many of the residents believe it is due to a
uranium
Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...
mill and contamination plume near
St. Stephens.
In 1958 Susquehanna–Western began processing uranium and
vanadium
Vanadium is a chemical element with the symbol V and atomic number 23. It is a hard, silvery-grey, malleable transition metal. The elemental metal is rarely found in nature, but once isolated artificially, the formation of an oxide layer ( pas ...
ore on the reservation with
sulfuric acid
Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid ( Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen and hydrogen, with the molecular formu ...
. Although the mill closed in 1963, there were
tailings
In mining, tailings are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction (gangue) of an ore. Tailings are different to overburden, which is the waste rock or other material that overlie ...
left behind. In 1988 the Department of Energy (DOE) found that soils, surface water and shallow groundwater were all contaminated. The DOE believes the land will naturally flush itself and be contamination-free 100 years from now.
In 2010, the DOE recorded levels of contamination 100 times higher than what is allowed by the USEPA Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for drinking water. Tribal officials were worried about their water sources being contaminated by these deadly toxins. The DOE placed plastic PVC for the water pipeline. They reassured the residents that it was secure and wouldn't break; however, Wind River Environmental Quality Commission officials state that the pipe has broken multiple times within the past year. The residents have become fed up with the DOE due to lack of cleaning up the land, poor pipeline equipment, and lack of spreading data about the high levels of contamination from flooding.
Although it's hard to suggest that a uranium tailing site is causing an increased cancer rate, Dr. Akintan suggests, "It is a risk indicator." The cancer rates on the reservation are higher than the national and state average. Although Dr. Akintan's reports show an increased cancer rate, the research had many limitations. The first limitation was lack of responses returned. There was a total of 3,000 surveys and only 286 were completed. Also, the data collected was only self-reported data which is unreliable due to response bias from the participants. Also, the results were leading but not statistically significant.
Relationship with Arapahoe High School
In 1993, the
Northern Arapaho
The Wind River Indian Reservation, in the west-central portion of the U.S. state of Wyoming, is shared by two Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribes, the Eastern Shoshone ( shh, Gweechoon Deka, ''meaning: "buffalo eaters" ...
Tribe on the Wind River Reservation began a relationship with a high school in
Centennial, Colorado
Centennial is a home rule municipality located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,418 at the 2020 United States Census, making Centennial the 11th most populous municipality in Colorado. Centennial is a par ...
, to "
romoteawareness to the co-existence of two very diverse cultures." Despite previous controversy,
Arapahoe High School and the Arapaho Nation established an agreement, in which the tribe endorsed the school mascot, the "Arapahoe Warrior". The image of the mascot used by the school was drawn by Northern Arapaho artist Wilbur Antelope. The agreement also promised a long-standing relationship between the school and the tribe. Signed September 17, 1993, this proclamation allowed for the "Arapahoe Warrior" to become a reminder of Elder Anthony Sitting Eagle's words, "Always take care of one another," a phrase repeated often by students and faculty at Arapahoe High School.
As part of the agreement, Arapahoe High School and the Arapaho Nation alternate visiting each other every year. When the Arapaho tribe comes to visit the school, the daily activities are put on pause for an assembly. Arapahoe High School students accompany those visiting from the Wind River Reservation and file into the large gymnasium, renamed in December 1994 after Arapaho Elder Anthony Sitting Eagle. Two cultures unite for a celebration, the Arapaho tribe performing traditional dances and the tribal leaders speaking to the students. When the students visit the Wind River Reservation, they take a tour of the school and learn more about the Arapaho Nation's culture.
Image:Wind River.jpg, The Wind River at the Wind River Indian Reservation, Wyoming
File:Wyoming sunset.jpg, Sunset with tepees on the Wind River Indian Reservation
File:Eastern Shoshone Flag WY.jpg, Flag of the Eastern Shoshone tribe
File:Flag of Arapaho Nation.svg, Flag of the Northern Arapaho tribe
Communities
*
Arapahoe
The Arapaho (; french: Arapahos, ) are a Native American people historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Lakota and Dakota.
By the 1850s, Arapaho band ...
*
Boulder Flats
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Crowheart
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Embar
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Ethete
Ethete ( arp, Koonoutoseii') is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fremont County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 1,553 at the 2010 census. The town is located on the Wind River Indian Reservation. It grew up around the Episcopal St. ...
*
Fort Washakie
Fort Washakie was a U.S. Army fort in what is now the U.S. state of Wyoming. The fort was established in 1869 and named Camp Augur after General Christopher C. Augur, commander of the Department of the Platte. In 1870 the camp was renamed Camp ...
*
Hudson
Hudson may refer to:
People
* Hudson (given name)
* Hudson (surname)
* Henry Hudson, English explorer
* Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back
* Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudso ...
(part, population 72)
*
Johnstown
*
Kinnear
*
Midvale
*
Pavilion
In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings:
* It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...
*
Riverton
*
Willow Creek
See also
*
Friday
Friday is the day of the week between Thursday and Saturday. In countries that adopt the traditional "Sunday-first" convention, it is the sixth day of the week. In countries adopting the ISO-defined "Monday-first" convention, it is the fifth day ...
, interpreter and negotiator
*
Wind River Tribal College
Wind River Tribal College, or WRTC, is a tribally chartered college located in Fort Washakie, Wyoming. The campus is on the Wind River Indian Reservation in central Wyoming. WRTC serves residents of the Wind River Indian Reservation and surroun ...
References
External links
Wind River Reservation and Off-Reservation Trust Land, WyomingUnited States Census Bureau
*
Good Medicine (film)*
Historic American Engineering Record
Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...
(HAER) documentation, filed under Wind River Indian Reservation, Fort Washakie, Fremont County, WY:
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{{Authority control
1868 establishments in Dakota Territory
American Indian reservations in Wyoming
Wind River Indian Reservation
Federally recognized tribes in the United States
Geography of Wyoming
Historic American Engineering Record in Wyoming
Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin
Arapaho
Native American tribes in Wyoming
Plains tribes
Shoshone