The Eastern Shoshoneadopted horses much sooner than their neighbours to the North, theBlackfoot Confederacy (made up of three related groups, the Piegan, Siksika, and Kainai). With the advantages that horses provided in battle, such as speed and mobility, the Eastern Shoshone were able to expand to the north and soon occupied much of present-day southern and centralAlberta, most ofMontana, and parts ofWyoming, and raided the Blackfoot frequently. Meanwhile, their close cousins, theComanche, split off and migrated south to present-day westernTexas. Once the Piegan, in particular, had access to horses of their own and guns obtained from theHudson's Bay Company via theCree and Assiniboine, the situation changed. By 1787David Thompson reports that the Blackfoot had completely conquered most of Shoshone territory, and frequently captured Shoshone women and children and forciblyassimilated them into Blackfoot society, further increasing their advantages over the Shoshone. Thompson reports that Blackfoot territory in 1787 was from the North Saskatchewan River in the north to the Missouri River in the South, and from Rocky Mountains in the west out to a distance of 300 miles (480 km) to the east.[5]
Through the early 1800s, the Eastern Shoshone and Crow fought over the contested Wind River Basin, a prime bison hunting area, culminating in an incident at Crow Heart Butte, whereWashakie challenged and defeated a leading Crow warrior for possession of the Wind River Valley. The Eastern Shoshone participated significantly in the Rocky Mountain Fur Trade and bison hide trade from the 1820s and 1840s. The rendezvous sites along the Wind River Range were established in areas previously used by the Shoshone for trade fairs.[6] By the 1850s, Washakie had emerged as a leader among the Shoshone, known for his war prowess as well as his ability to negotiate with whites. Fluent in English and a friend and father-in-law of Jim Bridger, Washakie championed the establishment of theWind River Indian Reservation through negotiations at the 1863 and 1868 treaties at Fort Bridger.[7]
After the reservation period, the Eastern Shoshone saw the arrival of Northern Arapaho on the Wind River Indian Reservation in 1878.[8] Later negotiations reduced the size of the reservation[9][10] and resulted in settlement of lands within the Wind River Reclamation Project. In 1938 the Eastern Shoshone won the case United States vs. Shoshone Tribe of Indians,[11] securing rights to timber and mineral resources on the reservation reserved to them under the Fort Bridger Treaties. This lawsuit argued by George Tunison ruled that the Shoshone were owed payment for the location of the Northern Arapaho to the Wind River Indian Reservation.[12] In the 1970s, Eastern Shoshone tribal members uncovered that oil field workers on the reservation were stealing oil without paying royalties, a scandal that led to reforms.[13]
Haivodika orHaiwodekanee (Dove Eaters, so named by theirKuccuntikka kin, because they allegedly behaved timidly on buffalo hunts, also calledBlacks Fork Indians, about 1825 they broke off from the main body ofKuccuntikka to live nearer and with white settlements and trading posts lived the greater part of the year along the creeks of Green River in the Bridger Basin in western Wyoming and particular atHenrys Fork in southeastern Idaho, they served as go-betweens between the nomadic Eastern and Northern Shoshone bands and Utes,Flathead,Nez Perce, and occasionallyCrow Indians and the whites at the trading postFort Bridger; they bought skins from thePlains Indians and sold them at the Fort and distributed the white Traders' goods among theUte andNavajo. It is even known that they went to theMormons atGreat Salt Lake and exchanged skins for agricultural products and textiles, with the end of the Fur Trade and the bison hunting the Haivodika lost their social function and their identity as a separate Eastern Shoshone band, they chose to live with theirMixed-blood relatives in the surrounding white settlements or theirKuccuntikka kin on the Wind River Reservation)
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United States (
Wyoming,
Utah)
