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The Tukudeka or Mountain Sheepeaters are a band of Shoshone within 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 d ...
and the
Northern Shoshone Northern Shoshone are Shoshone of the Snake River Plain of southern Idaho and the northeast of the Great Basin where Idaho, Wyoming and Utah meet. They are culturally affiliated with the Bannock people and are in the Great Basin classificat ...
.Shimkin 335 Before the reservation era, they traditionally lived in the central Sawtooth Range of
Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...
and the mountains of what is now northwest Wyoming. Bands were very fluid and nomadic, and they often interacted with and intermarried other bands of Shoshone. Today the Tukudeka are enrolled in the
federally recognized This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States of America. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes were legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United ...
Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation of Idaho The Fort Hall Reservation is a Native American reservation of the federally recognized Shoshone- Bannock Tribes (Shoshoni language: Pohoko’ikkateeCrum, B., Crum, E., & Dayley, J. P. (2001). Newe Hupia: Shoshoni Poetry Songs. University Press ...
and 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 d ...
of the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming.


Name

"Tukudeka" is spelled several ways, including Tukadüka, Tukudika, Tukku Tikka'a, Tukkuikka, Tukkutikka, and Tukuarika, and is translated as "Eaters of White Meat," "Eaters of Mountain Sheep," "Mountain Sheepeaters," or simply, "Sheepeaters.""Original Tribal and Band Names of Idaho's Native Peoples."
''Digital Atlas of Idaho.'' Retrieved 24 Oct 2013.
A Shoshone word for bighorn ram is "duku", which also translates to "meat" according to anthropologist Demetri Shimkin. So the name may also mean "eaters of meat." They were named for the
bighorn mountain 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 ...
('' Ovis canadensis''), which they commonly hunted. They are also called Mountain ShoshoneMurphy and Murphy 306 or Toyahini, the mountaineers.


Language

The Tukudeka speak the
Shoshone language Shoshoni, also written as Shoshoni-Gosiute and Shoshone (; Shoshoni: soni ta̲i̲kwappe'', ''newe ta̲i̲kwappe'' or ''neme ta̲i̲kwappeh'') is a Numic language of the Uto-Aztecan family, spoken in the Western United States by the Shoshone ...
, as well as
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
. Shoshone is a
Central Numic language Numic is a branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family. It includes seven languages spoken by Native American peoples traditionally living in the Great Basin, Colorado River basin, Snake River basin, and southern Great Plains. The word Numic ...
in the Northern
Uto-Aztecan language Uto-Aztecan, Uto-Aztekan or (rarely in English) Uto-Nahuatl is a family of indigenous languages of the Americas, consisting of over thirty languages. Uto-Aztecan languages are found almost entirely in the Western United States and Mexico. The n ...
family.


History

The Tukudeka's traditional homelands were along the Salmon River in the Sawtooth Mountains,"History."
''Sawtooth National Recreation Area.'' Page 8. Retrieved 24 Oct 2013.
as well as southern
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 Columb ...
, 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 ...
in
Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the 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 southwest, and Colorado to the s ...
. Europeans first entered their territory in 1824. American and British trappers hunted beavers in the 1840s. In 1860, gold was discovered, and non-native prospectors flooded the region. In the 1860s, Indian agents estimated the Tukudeka and
Lemhi Shoshone The Lemhi Shoshone are a tribe of Northern Shoshone, also called the Akaitikka, Agaidika, or "Eaters of Salmon".Murphy and Murphy, 306 The name "Lemhi" comes from Fort Lemhi, a Mormon mission to this group. They traditionally lived in the Lemhi Ri ...
, to be 1,200.Murphy and Murphy 289 In 1879 five Chinese miners were killed near
Loon Creek The Middle Fork of the Salmon River is a river in central Idaho in the northwestern United States. It is a tributary to the Salmon River, and lies in the center of the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness Area. The middle fork is an e ...
. Despite a complete lack of evidence, the Tukudeka were blamed for the murders, and the US Cavalry attacked the tribe in what would be called the
Sheepeater War The Big Horned Sheepeater Indian War of 1879 was the last Indian war fought in the Pacific Northwest portion of the United States; it took place primarily in central Idaho. A high mountain band of approximately 300 Shoshone people, the Tukudeka, ...
. Fifty-one Tukudeka were captured and relocated to the
Fort Hall Reservation The Fort Hall Reservation is a Native American reservation of the federally recognized Shoshone- Bannock Tribes (Shoshoni language: Pohoko’ikkateeCrum, B., Crum, E., & Dayley, J. P. (2001). Newe Hupia: Shoshoni Poetry Songs. University Press ...
.


Historical Interpretations and Myths of Sheep Eaters in Wyoming

In 1913, Billings, Montana dentist W.F. "Doc" Allen claimed to have found the last-living Sheepeater living among the Crow Tribe, a 115-year-old woman whom he communicated with in sign language. His book ''The Sheepeaters'' was later considered by later anthropologist Ake Hultkrantz to be almost entirely fabricated, and a source of myths and folklore describing the Tukudika as impoverished pygmies without guns or horses. In contrast, when fur trapper
Osborne Russell Osborne Russell (19 June 1814 – 1 May 1884) was a mountain man and politician who helped form the government of the U.S. state of Oregon. He was born in Maine. Early life Osborne Russell was born 19 June 1814, in the village of Bowdoinh ...
encountered a band of Tukudika in what is now Yellowstone in 1834, he found them to be well-clothed, accompanied by pack-dogs, and possessing a quantity of skins for trading: "Here we found a few Snake Indians comprising 6 men, 7 women, and 8 or 10 children who were the only inhabitants of this lonely spot. They were all neatly clothed in dressed deer and Sheep skins of the best quality and all seemed to be perfectly contented and happy. ... Their personal property consisted of one old butcher knife nearly worn to the back, two old, shattered fusees which had long since become useless for want of ammunition, a small stone pot and about thirty dogs on which they carried their skins, clothing, provisions, etc., on their hunting excursions. They were well armed with bows and arrows pointed with obsidian. The bows were beautifully wrought from sheep, buffalo and elk horns, secured with deer and elk sinews, and ornamented with porcupine quills, and generally about three feet long. We obtained a large number of deer, elk and sheep skins from them of the finest quality, and three large, neatly dressed panther skins, in return for awls and axes, kettles, tobacco, ammunition, etc. ... One of them drew a map of the country around us on a white elk skin with a piece of charcoal, after which he explained the direction of the different passes, streams, etc." The Tukudika economy was largely derived from the large numbers of mountain sheep that the Tukudika were expert at hunting, whether with their sheep horn bows, or with corral traps in the shape of a spiral. They also consumed fish caught in the mountain streams using weirs. In contrast to the horse-mounted buffalo-hunting Shoshone, the Tukudika did not rely on horses. Their pedestrian way of life was well-suited for spending summer at high-elevations where migratory animals like bighorn sheep, elk, and deer abounded, and they could also harvest calorie-rich edible plants like white bark pine nuts. The lifestyle meant they weren't limited to plains areas where they needed large numbers of horses or forage to graze the horses. In contrast, horse-mounted Shoshones were much more dependent on bison hunting on the plains, which offered a major source of wealth for trade, but was also a resource that other tribes coveted, leading to conflict through much of the 1800s. The Tukudika were smaller in numbers than the other Shoshone, but judging by Russel's account lived a prosperous life by relying on a variety of food resources. The Sheepeater were potentially subject to misidentification by the 1860s and 1870s, with the Cook-Folsom expedition and the Raynolds expedition describing horse-mounted Bannock-speaking Indians as Sheepeaters. In 1870,
Wind River Indian Reservation The Wind River Indian Reservation, in the west-central portion of the U.S. state of Wyoming, is shared by two Native American tribes, the Eastern Shoshone ( shh, Gweechoon Deka, ''meaning: "buffalo eaters"'') and the Northern Arapaho ( arp, ...
agent G.W. Fleming stated that Chief Washakie allowed a band of "Toorooreka" Sheepeaters to share in the annual annuity. This likely represents the period when the Wyoming Tukudika merged with the Washakie band of the Eastern Shoshone to reside on the Wind River Indian Reservation. Later anthropologists Are Hultkrantz and Demetri Shimkin reported that members of the Tukudika formed an enclave within the Trout Creek area near
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 ...
. Early
Yellowstone National Park 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 Yellowst ...
Superintendent Norris claimed that the Sheepeater were the only year-round residents of Yellowstone National Park. Writer Susan Hughes doubts that the Sheepeaters could have live year-round in the park due to snow levels. She also points out to the fact that Jones expedition guide Togote, a Tukudika who is namesake of
Togwotee Pass Togwotee Pass (pronounced TOH-guh-tee) is a high mountain pass in the western United States, at an elevation of above sea level. On the Continental Divide in the Absaroka Mountains of northwestern Wyoming in Teton County, it is betwee ...
, was only familiar with the southern portion of Yellowstone Park, as evidence that Sheepeaters didn't live year-round in Yellowstone. Since Tukudika were aware migratory patterns of deer and elk and bighorn sheep, they likely migrated out of high elevations to spend winter at the mouth of mountain canyons where they spill out to the plains, or in the basins themselves. Some big game wintering areas, such as Sunlight Basin and the upper Wind River Valley, are nearly snow-free in winter. Other recent excavations have suggested that certain snow-free areas within the Wind River Range may have been used by Indians in mid-winter for up to 12,000 years.


Technology

The Tukudika are known for three innovations: the steatite or soapstone cooking pot, the corral trap for hunting bighorn sheep, and the sheep horn bow. In the Wind River Range 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 V ...
s of Wyoming, Tukudika used a cooking pot carved out of soft
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 ...
. The pot could hold up to a gallon, and be placed directly in the fire. Because of the high-specific heat of soapstone, the pot could be pulled out of the fire and maintain boiling temperatures for some time. Tukudika
quarries A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envir ...
of soap stone were found in the Wind River Range. Bighorn sheep corral traps relied on a deep understanding of bighorn sheep behavior. The Tukudika built traps in the Wind River Range and the Abaroka Range which were shaped in spirals (shaped something like a bighorn sheep horn) with the opening to the trap facing downhill. The traps were located on slopes near bighorn sheep summer range. Hunters would approach the sheep from above, then spook the animals downhill. Since sheep have an instinct to find security at high ground, the sheep would run downhill, then traverse the slope, before running uphill again. With luck, this movement of the animals would direct them straight into the mouth of a corral trap, usually constructed out of logs. The hunters would then spook the animals further into the narrowing part of the spiral trap, with the assistance of a ceremonial leader stationed in a pod along one of the corral walls. At the end of the trap, the sheep would run up a ramp into an elevated cattle-guard-like trap, with widely spaced
timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, w ...
s. They would fall off the timbers, with their feet hanging into air. Thus immobilized, the hunters would kill the sheep with clubs, spears, or projectiles. Some of these traps were used through the 1800s, with the remains still visible in the late 20th century. Tukudika also hunted sheep by driving them into deep drifts of spring snow. Shoshones in bighorn sheep habitat manufactured the sheephorn bow over a period of two to three months by boiling and straightening the spiral horn of the bighorn sheep. In geothermal areas,
hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by c ...
s may have served to heat the horn. The horn would be shaped over time and backed with sinew. When completed, this bow was shorter but also much more powerful than bows made out of wood, boasting a pull strength of up to 70 pounds. Horn bows fetched a high price in trade value of five to ten horses. The bow is one of the most powerful bows created by indigenous people in North America.Loendorf and Nabokov, p. 164-167


Notes


References

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External links

* * *
Shoshone-Bannock Tribes
official website
Shoshone Language Project
Idaho State University

essay by David Dominick {{authority control Shoshone Native American tribes in Idaho