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Show THE SHOSHONES W E S H A L L R E M A I N : U TA H I N D I A N C U R R I C U L U M G U I D E 130 AT A GLANCE: Washakie and HIS LEGACY Chief Washakie was an important American Indi-an leader whose life spanned nearly one hundred years-from sometime around 1804 to 1900- and he witnessed many intense developments in Shoshone history. Washakie's story is particu-larly informative because he lived through three important phases of American Indian-United States relations. When he was born, Native American nations made agreements with the United States as equal parties. Starting around 1828, however, the balance of power between Indians and the federal government shifted, and the United States enacted policies to remove and relocate Indians, usually in order to free up Indi-an lands for non-Indian settlers. Finally, starting in 1887, the government developed policies of assimilation and allotment, seeking to destroy the sovereign status of tribal communities. Washak-ie's life stretched through these eras; thus, his experiences reflect the degrees of agency the Shoshone people exercised during these periods of change. Washakie was born around 1801 in the Bitterroot Valley of what is now Montana. His father was a member of the Salish tribe and his mother was a member of the Shoshone tribe. When Washakie was about five years old, a group of Blackfeet Indians attacked the Salish village where he and his family lived. Washakie's father was killed, and Washakie's mother decided to take her children and try to return to her tribe. The family settled with the Lemhi Shoshones on the Salmon River in what is now Idaho. Washakie lived with the Lemhi until, as a young man, he left to live with a group of Bannock Indians for a few years before settling with a group of Shoshones in what is now southwestern Wyoming. Washakie married during this time and began hunting, trapping, and trading with non-Indian trappers and traders. Through these activities he befriended a number of non-Indian trappers and traders, including Jim Bridger. In addition to his activities in the fur trade, Washakie successfully participated in a number of battles defending the Shoshones against their enemies in the Blackfeet and Crow tribes. By the early 1840s, Washakie became the leader of a number of bands of Shoshones who lived in the area. Washakie's emergence as the leader of the Shoshone coincided with a dramatic increase in the white presence on Shoshone lands. In 1843 the first large group of settlers headed out across what came to be known as the Oregon Trail, and thousands of other whites followed, making their way to Oregon and California. In 1847, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, known as the Mormons, entered Shoshone territory and began to settle in Utah near the Great Salt Lake. Washakie was friendly to these various groups of early settlers, as were most other Shoshone leaders in the area. In 1851, the federal government, in an attempt to secure the safety of the overland trails, signed the Treaty of Fort Laramie with several Great Plains tribes. Though the Shoshones were not officially part of the treaty, Washakie and a contingent of Shoshones attended the negotiations. Washakie's military strength and diplomacy impressed white offi-cials, building his reputation as a great leader of the Shoshones. |