BOLL. 30] 



SHOSHONE AN FAMILY 



555 



Sen. Ex. Doc. 42, 36tli Cong., Istsesa.. 133, 1860 (so 

 called by mountaineers). 



Shoshonean Family. The extent of coun- 

 try occupied renders this one of the most 

 important of the hngnistic families of the 

 North American Indians. The area held 

 by Shoshonean tribes, exceeded by the 

 territory of only two families — the Algon- 

 quian and the Athapascan, — may thus be 

 described: On the n. thes. w. part of Mon- 

 tana, the whole of Idaho s. of about lat. 45° 

 30', with s. E. Oregon, s. of the Blue mts., 

 w. and central Wyoming, w. and central 

 Colorado, with a strip of n. New Mexico; 

 E. New Mexico and the whole of n. w. 

 Texas were Shoshonean. According to 

 (jrinnell, Blaekfoot (Siksika) tradition 

 declares that when the Blackfeet entered 

 the plains s. of Belly r. they found that 

 country occupied by the Snakes and the 

 Crows. If this be true, s. w. Alberta and 

 N. w. Montana were also Shoshonean 

 territory. All of Utah, a section of n. 

 Arizona, and the whole of Nevada (except 

 a small area occupied by the Washo) 

 were held by Shoshonean tribes. Of Cali- 

 fornia a small strip in the n. e. part e. 

 of the Sierras, and a wide section along 

 the e. border s. of about lat. 38°, were 

 also Shoshonean. Shoshonean bands also 

 lived along the upper courses of some of 

 the streams flowing into the San Joaquin. 

 Toward the broken southern flanks of the 

 Sierras, Shoshonean territory extended 

 across the state in a wide band, reaching 

 N. to Tejon cr. , while along the Pacific the 

 Shoshoni occupied the coast between lat. 

 33° and 3-1°. 



From the wide extent of country thus 

 covered, and its varied climatic and topo- 

 graphic features, the habits of the peoples 

 occupying it might be expected to vary 

 considerably, and such is indeed the case. 

 The Hopi, in particular, differ so widely 

 from the rest that they have little in com- 

 mon with them but linguistic affinity. 

 On the N. and along the entire e. border 

 of the territory, where lived the Shoshoni, 

 Bannock, Ute, and Comanche divisions, 

 their habits were essentially those of the 

 hunting Indians generally. None of them 

 cultivated the soil, and all derived the 

 larger part of their subsistence from the 

 pursuit of large game. The Comanche 

 alone can be said to have been buffalo 

 Indians, though buffalo were pursued 

 more or less by all the tribes mentioned. 

 Horses early became abundant among 

 them. In general character they w-ere 

 fierce and warlike. 



To the w. of the Rocky mts., in Idaho, 

 w. Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California, 

 and Oregon, the Shoshoneans were of a 

 different character. The country occu- 

 pied by many of them is barren in the 

 extreme, largely destitute of big game, 

 and of such character generally as to 

 compel its aboriginal inhabitants to re- 



sort to humble methods of procuring sub- 

 sistence. Rabbits and small game gen- 

 erally, fish, roots, and seeds formed the 

 chief support of these tribes, among which 

 were included the representatives of the 

 family that possessed the rudest and 

 simplest culture. It was chiefly to these 

 tribes individually and collectively that 

 the opprobrious name of "Diggers" was 

 applied. These are the tribes, also, which 

 were called by the settlers and by many 

 writers, Paiute. Representing as a class, 

 as they undeniably do, a culturally low 

 type of Indian, they were by no means 

 so low as many writers of repute have 

 asserted. They have been represented 

 as closely approaching the brutes in their 

 mode of life, and, like them, of passing 

 the winter in a semitorjiid state in holes 

 in the ground, from which they crawled 

 forth in spring to eat grass ujion hands 

 and knees. Of all men they have been 

 said to be the lowest. Such pictures of 

 their condition are nonsensical. They 

 are not true of them to-day, when, 

 decimated in numbers and with tribal 

 organization broken up, the remnants of 

 many of the tribes have been forced to a 

 precarious and parasitic mode of liveli- 

 hood obtained from the whites. Still 

 less are they true of their former condi- 

 tion when living under their own social 

 organizations. The inhospitable nature 

 of their country compelled them, it is 

 true, to a less adventurous and humbler 

 mode of life than their eastern brethren, 

 who possessed a more richly endowed 

 country. However, they madfe and used 

 bows and arrows, basketry, and in parts 

 pottery; and, more important than all, a 

 number of the tribes, as the Paiute of 

 Corn cr., Utah, the Gosiute of Utah, the 

 Chemehuevi of the Rio Colorado, and 

 some of the Nevada tribes, practised a 

 rude agriculture. 



The Hopi of n. e. Arizona, who had 

 made further progress toward civilization 

 than any other of the Shoshonean tribes, 

 had become true village Indians. Long 

 contact and probably considerable blood- 

 amalgamation have given them the physi- 

 cal type of their neighbors of the S. W., 

 and have made them an integral part of 

 the well-defined and highly specialized 

 Pueblo culture. They derive their sub- 

 sistence mainly from agriculture, and are 

 skilful potters and weavers. 



Over the wide expanse of territory 

 above indicated the Shoshoneans were 

 split into a number of major divisions, 

 each composed of numerous bands speak- 

 ing a great number of related dialects. 



On linguistic grounds, as determined 

 by Kroeber, it is found convenient to 

 classify the Shoshonean family as fol- 

 lows: 



I. Hopi. 



II. Plateau Shoshoneans: (a) Ute- 



