TheIndigenous peoples of the Great Basin areNative Americans of the northernGreat Basin,Snake River Plain, and upperColorado River basin. The "Great Basin" is a culturalclassification of Indigenous peoples of the Americas and acultural region located between theRocky Mountains and theSierra Nevada, in what is nowNevada, and parts ofOregon,California,Idaho,Wyoming, andUtah. The Great Basin region at the time of European contact was ~400,000 sq mi (1,000,000 km2).[1] There is very little precipitation in the Great Basin area which affects the lifestyles and cultures of the inhabitants.
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The oldest knownpetroglyphs in North America are in the Great Basin. Near the banks ofWinnemucca Lake in Nevada, this rock art dates between 10,500 and 14,800 years ago.[11]
Archaeologists called the local period 9,000 BCE to 400 CE the Great Basin Desert Archaic Period. This was followed by the time of theFremont culture, who werehunter-gatherers andagriculturalists.Numic language-speakers, ancestors of today'sWestern Shoshone and bothNorthern Paiute people andSouthern Paiute people entered the region around the 14th century CE.[12]
The first Europeans to document their encounters with Native groups in the Great Basin wasJuan María Antonio de Rivera's expedition in 1765. Rivera led two expeditions from Santa Fe that year, the first departing sometime in June. Rivera's party camped with Paiutes on theDolores River in July, and returned to Santa Fe for supplies. His second expedition departed Santa Fe in late September and went considerably farther, crossing the Colorado just south of present-dayMoab, Utah. Rivera's diaries greatly influenced theDomínguez–Escalante expedition, which set off 11 years later in 1776 and passed far from present dayDelta, Utah.[12] Great Basin settlement was relatively free of non-Native settlers until the firstMormon settlers arrived in 1847. Within ten years, the firstIndian reservation was established, in order to assimilate the native population. TheGoshute Reservation was created in 1863.[12] The attemptedacculturation process included sending children toIndian schools and limiting the landbases and resources of the reservations.
Because their contact with European-Americans and African-Americans occurred comparatively late, Great Basin tribes maintain their religion and culture and were leading proponents of 19th century cultural and religious renewals. TwoPaiute prophets,Wodziwob andWovoka, introduced theGhost Dance in a ceremony to commune with departed loved ones and bring renewal of buffalo herds and precontact lifeways. TheUte Bear Dance emerged on the Great Basin. TheSun Dance andPeyotereligion flourished in the Great Basin, as well.[2]
In 1930, theEly Shoshone Reservation was established, followed by theDuckwater Indian Reservation in 1940.[12]
Conditions for the Native American population of the Great Basin were erratic throughout the 20th century. Economic improvement emerged as a result of President Franklin Roosevelt'sIndian New Deal in the 1930s, while activism and legal victories in the 1970s have improved conditions significantly. Nevertheless, the communities struggled against with poverty and low unemployment.
Todayself-determination, beginning with the 1975 passage of theIndian Self-determination and Education Assistance Act,[12] has enabled Great Basin tribes to develop economic opportunities for their members.
Different ethnic groups of Great Basin tribes share certain common cultural elements that distinguish them from surrounding groups. All but theWashoe traditionally speakNumic languages, and tribal groups, who historically lived peacefully and often shared common territories, have intermingled considerably. Prior to the 20th century, Great Basin peoples were predominantlyhunters and gatherers.
"Desert Archaic" or more simply "The Desert Culture" refers to the culture of the Great Basin tribes. This culture is characterized by the need for mobility to take advantage of seasonally available food supplies. The use ofpottery was rare due to its weight, but intricate baskets were woven for containing water, cooking food,winnowing grass seeds, and storage, including the storage of pine nuts, a Paiute-Shoshone staple. Heavy items such asmetates would be cached rather than carried from foraging area to foraging area. Agriculture was not practiced within the Great Basin itself, although it was practiced in adjacent areas (modern agriculture in the Great Basin requires either large mountain reservoirs or deepartesian wells). Likewise, the Great Basin tribes had no permanent settlements, although winter villages might be revisited winter after winter by the same group of families. In the summer, the largest group was usually the nuclear family due to the low density of food supplies.
In the early historical period, the Great Basin tribes were actively expanding to the north and east, where they developed a horse-ridingbison-hunting culture. These people, including theBannock and EasternShoshone, share traits withPlains Indians.
Today, the Great Basin Native Artists, which was cofounded byMelissa Melero-Moose andBen Aleck represents Indigenous visual artists from the region and curates groups exhibitions.[13]
