Leo Arriwite talks about the Virginia City Treaty Day Project on July 13.
By JOSEPH WADSWORTH
Sho-Ban News
VIRGINIA CITY, Mont. — On the morning of Saturday, July 13, a morning sunrise prayer at Tendoy Park was conducted in honor of the Virginia City Treaty Day Gathering in Virginia City, Montana.
Spring Creek Singers sang prayer songs and Clyde Duke Dixey said a prayer and had everyone cedar themselves.
Bobette Haskett, Language & Cultural Preservation Original Territories & Historical Researcher, said her father Farrell Wildcat recalled being in the Virginia City area many times in his youth with his aunt who he visited. She lived in a village around the area Wildcat told Haskett that his aunt would tell him stories letting him know about the people that was from the areas.
Bobette Haskett demonstrates tule egg basket weaving.
Haskett said “I wish we had a little time travel that we could go back and visit with the old folks because they knew this area, they knew how to live here and they knew where everything was,” — she went on to say when strangers came everything changed.
Leo Arriwite also spoke and said the Virginia City Treaty Day project started back in 2008 or 2009 when he started working with the city and community. It was his hope that native people would return one day.
FHBC member Donna Thompson said it is pretty awesome — every time she comes she learns something knew. She wants to thank everybody that is involved and that they all did a great job. She said it is important the Tribes go to our former areas and be involved. She likes to learn and ask questions.
Later there was a continental breakfast at Pace Park for the attendees. After 10 a.m. Lionel Boyer served as the emcee and called for anyone who would care to share cultural history.
Lathaniel Nappo shared his knowledge of traditional ghost songs and sang them as well. Nolan Brown explained a little about the Bannock and Shoshone in the Virginia City area.
Darrell Shay said the Shoshone people covered a very big area from Alberta, Canada North side to the Dakotas down into Mexico as well as the California, Oregon, and Washington areas before any settlers or U.S. government was established. “This Virginia City area is where our people congregated and there is evidence that our people were in these mountains, Shoshone and Bannock, and that proves that we were here.”
Along with the Culture and History presentations at Pace Park, Bobette Haskett presented a Make & Take activity for tribal members and the youth then after presentations participants share in a feast sponsored by the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes Culture Committee and Culture & Language Preservation department.
Grand entry at the social powwow.
A social powwow followed the feast where there were a total of 15 dancers that participated. Miss Shoshone-Bannock Jennie Whitehorse welcomed everyone to the event and appreciated the people and dancers who came out to gather at the Virginia City Treaty Day event. Boyer hurried the gathering because of the coming storms and right before 4 p.m. a storm started to hit Virginia City. By that time the attendees had already packed up things assisting with packing the Culture & Language Preservation departments trailer.
Site visit
Eleven Shoshone-Bannock Tribal members along with BLM Archaeologist Shannon Gilbert went out on a site visit 10 miles south of Ennis, Montana, Friday, July 12.
The main reason for the site visit was to provide tribal members with access to an archaeological site of tribal homelands said Carolyn Boyer-Smith Cultural Resources Coordinator from DOE – HETO/Cultural Resources department.
Smith said that the archaeological site covered about four acres of BLM land and what they seen there was many teepee rings, along with other tribal artifacts. The group spent around three hours searching the grounds.