Wihinaite Committee provides update at Virginia City Treaty presentation
Wihinaite Committee member Darrell Shay speaks, as other committee members Brenda Honena, Leo Ariwite and Jeanette Wolfley look on at the Virginia City Treaty Day event on September 24.
By LORI ANN EDMO
Sho-Ban News
FORT HALL — The signing of the Virginia City Treaty September 24, 1868, was acknowledged with a feast and presentations at the Shoshone-Bannock Casino Hotel September 24.
Generally, the Virginia City Treaty Day Gathering is in July at Virginia City, Montana however this year, there was a conflict with another ceremony, so it was scheduled on the Treaty signing day.
Fort Hall Business Council Chairman LeeJuan Tyler Tendoy gave a welcome and said the prayer prior to feast of Indian tacos, stew and chocolate cake.
Louise E. Dixey, Language and Culture Preservation Department manager, said they were happy to host the event and was appreciative of Darrell Shay and Leo Ariwite for gathering information related to the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes presence in southwest Montana and the Virginia City Treaty. She said there were displays set up related to tribal history, along with traditional foods.
The Wihinaite Committee provided an update of their activities.
Darrell Shay talked about his Agaideka (salmon eater) and Tukudeka (sheep eater) ancestors, along with Tetoby who was a Fort Bridger Treaty signer. When he served on the Fort Hall Business Council in the 90s, they authorized Professor Orlan Svingen to do research on the southwest Montana area and the Treaty. In the early 2000s some people from Montana came to the Agaideka Gathering who were related to Chief Tendoy and they were looking for family. Eventually there was a meeting in Virginia City and they pushed to start a gathering there. In the research Svingen conducted, it was determined the government illegally forced the tribal people out of southwest Montana to the Lemhi Reservation then eventually to Fort Hall. The committee was able to get tribal attorney Jeanette Wolfley involved who is also a descendant, to determine what legal status they have. A map was shown of Chief Tendoy’s cession map of January 3, 1870. Those who occupy the area don’t have legal title to the land., “We still have it,” Shay said. That is why they continue to have the gathering in Virginia City, “we have to show up, we have a history there, our people are buried there.” All the artifacts discovered there are Shoshone – they belong to us, he continued.
Leo Ariwite, said he needed to make a correction advising LeeJuan Chief Tendoy was born at Jack Creek near Ennis, Montana not the Boise Valley. He said interpretation is done by white people but he’s always been told by elders don’t write your history because disagreements can star. They advised to use oral history, oral language, “that’s how I was taught,” he said. He said the word Lemhi is Mormon. He noted the people in Sun Valley want to know more about our people. “My hope if there is any council members present, don’t do it for yourself, your family, think about your people as a whole,” Ariwite said. He advised LeeJuan his relative will be 100 years old this year.
Brenda Honena, another committee member, said the words Leo spoke are very true. She said the goodness comes from all of us and it’s passed down. She provided an outline on what their committee has done since 2019 and at that time they had a meeting at Sho-Ban High School. They also attended district meetings to provide information. They did Zoom meetings during COVID. She talked about some of the areas they’ve visited in southwestern Montana including the buffalo jump. They discussed land issues with the Bureau of Land Management in 2023. This year they’ve reviewed additional land parcels with the BLM. Long term projects they’re looking at is a culture enter, meeting rooms, and a housing project. Virginia City officials have allowed the committee seven acres on the hill above the town where Tendoy Park is located. She said there’s a lot of things on the list that are doable. She explained the committee members are volunteer, and no one is compensated. However, people are welcome to donate.
Jeanette Wolfley said many people want land where a community center can be built, homes, secure land or some type of compensation. In the 2012 Salazar agreement there was a claim in for southwestern Montana. They’ve done administrative remedy work with the federal government to get a transfer of land. There are three primary areas – the Centennial Valley, National Park Service area around West Yellowstone and around Ennis Lake. Another option is to seek federal legislation. The challenge is to develop relationships with federal, state, local state entities, along with environmental and conservation groups. They need to secure senators and representatives to sponsor a bill for the land.
She added they’ve had meetings with federal agencies on land transfers. Recently the BLM offered the tribe to transfer of about 100 parcels of land in southwestern Montana. The committee has reviewed the parcels and GIS mapping. They vary in size from half acre to 160 acres, but most parcels are difficult to access. She showed a map of the land parcels. Wolfley said concerning the eastern boundary survey error matter in 1873 of the Fort Hall Reservation about 600,000 acres was cutoff on the eastern boundary resulting in the loss of 1.2 million acres. In May 2024, the Tribes sent a settlement proposal that included a transfer of land, and the Department of Interior is considering it.
Following the Wihinaite Committee presentation, Nolan Brown of the LCPD Original Territories and Historic Research Office, said they (he and co-worker Bailey Dann) are committed to preservation and education of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribal history. Their mission is to strengthen their connect to original territories among tribal citizens, all levels of government and the public while safeguarding the Tribes rights and interests. He’s attending the Montana History conference later this week. He showed slides of some of the things the office has been involved in at Yellowstone involving camps with tribal youth, language, technical consultation. They also visit sites in ancestral homelands, consult with the federal government, teach and show tribal perspectives. They strengthen relationships in returning to homelands where our tribal people hunt, gather, have ceremony and prayer because prayers are never ending.
Brown said he’s proud when tribal youth go out to the different areas. He also discussed other issues such as bad examples of exhibits including one in Dillon, Mont. that said traditional plants provide magical potions. He’s thankful the Virginia City Gathering continues. He’s not happy the Montana Heritage Center doesn’t want to include information on the Shoshone-Bannocks and they continue work to see it happen. The Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders have passed a resolution acknowledging the Shoshone-Bannocks to get land returned in southwest Montana.
The evening ended with oral history.
