Goshute History
Our People
We are descendants of the Numic speaking bands of indians who settled Eastern Nevada and Western Utah. Our ancestors have lived in the Great Basin for nearly 1000 years. The early Shoshone-Goship people were highly nomadic, moving regionally as resource availability changed due to precipitation, temperature, animal movements, etc. The word Goshute (Gosiute) is derived from the native word Kutsipuiti (Gutsipiuti) which means "desert people". We have inhabited this land (the Great Basin) long before the arrival of the white man in America.
To survive in this unforgiving landscape we acquired a sophisticated knowledge of the plants and animals, and most importantly, sources of water. Many of the water sources that support the biological resources of the Great Basin desert are ephemeral. Our ancestors could not have survived in this landscape without developing a highly tuned awareness of the water sources - including wetlands, springs, creeks, seeps, marches, wet meadows, etc. - that were the key to the existence of the natural resource on which we still rely on today.
Recent History
On October 12, 1863, Tabby and Autosome, Tints-pa-gin and harry-nap, the designated chiefs of the Shoshone-Goship Tribe, signed a "Treaty of Peace and Friendship" at Tale (Toolele) Valley. This treaty required that we give up our wandering lifestyle and live on a reservation. The U.S. Government also compensated us on the destruction of game. the treaty was ratified by Congress and signed into law on January 17th, 1865 by President Abraham Lincoln. The federal government and Mormon Church organized indian farms for our people near Ibapah, Utah. We farmed and adopted much of the white mans culture.
A permanent resevation was established south of Ibapah in 1914. The federal government built a log school, a log assembly hall, and log cabins for us, but many of us continued to occupy traditional dwellings for many years. In 1939, the reservation was extended to include the Eight Mile, Goldsmith and Gash Ranches and in 1914, the Will Cession homestead and Kelly Ranch were purchased.
We adopted a Constitution and By-Laws which were approved on November 25th, 1940. Our Business Council is made up of five council members whcih serve three consectutive year terms. The council then chooses a Chairman (currently, Amos Murphy). The council governs the reservation and manages tribal government.
Our reservation covers approximately 112, 870 acres in White Pine County Nevada as well as Juab and Tooele Counties in Utah.
*Our reservation is half in Utah and Half in Nevada (RED). We are a different tribe/community than the Skull Valley Goshute.
