BULL. 30] 



SHOSHONI 



557 



nated among some other tribe. The 

 Chej'enne name for the Comanche, who 

 speak the Shoshoni language, is Shlshl- 

 noats-hitdneo, 'snake people'; but they 

 have a different name for the Shoshoni. 

 The term Snake seems to have no ety- 

 mological connection with the designation 

 Shoshoni. It has been variously and fre- 

 quently applied to the northern bands of 

 the Shoshoni, especially those of Oregon. 

 By recent official usage the term Snake 

 has been restricted to the Yahuskin and 

 Walpapi of Oregon. Hoffman was of the 

 opinion that the name Snake comes from a 

 misconception of the sign for Snake In- 

 dian, made by a serpentine motion of 

 the hand with the index finger extended. 

 This he thought really has reference to 



SHOSHONI vv 



the weaving of the grass lodges of the 

 Shoshoni, a reasonable assumption, since 

 they are known as "grass-house people," 

 or by some similar name, among numer- 

 ous tribes. 



The more northerly and easterly Sho- 

 shoni were horse and buffalo Indians, 

 and in character and in warlike prowess 

 compared favorably with most western 

 tribes. To the w. in western Idaho along 

 Snake r. and to the s. in Nevada the 

 tribes represented a lower type. Much 

 of this country was barren in the extreme 

 and comparatively devoid of large game, 

 and as the nature of the country differed, 

 so did the inhabitants. They depended 

 for food to a large extent on fish, which 



was supplemented by rabbits, roots, nuts, 

 and seeds. These were the Indians most 

 frequently called ' ' Diggers. ' ' They were 

 also called Shoshokos, or "Walkers," 

 which simply means that the Indians 

 so called were too poor to possess horses, 

 though the term was by no means re- 

 stricted to this section, being applied to 

 horseless Shoshoni everywhere. 



None of these Shoshoni were agricul- 

 turists. In general the style of habita- 

 tions corresponded to the two types of 

 Shoshoni. In the n. and e. they lived in 

 tipis, but in the sagebrush country to the 

 w. they used brush shelters entirely, and 

 Bonneville found the tribes of Snake r. 

 wintering in such shelters without roofs, 

 being merely half circles of brush, behind 

 which they obtained an imperfect pro- 

 tection from wind and snow. There 

 were many dialects among the Shoshoni, 

 corresponding to the greater or less de- 

 gree of isolation of the several tribes. 

 They presented, however, no essential 

 differences and were all mutually intelli- 

 gible. 



In 1909 there were in Idaho 1,766 Sho- 

 shoni and Bannock under the Ft Hall 

 school (of whom 474 had recently been 

 transferred from the old Lemhi res. ), and 

 about 200 not under official supervision; in 

 Nevada there were 243 under the Western 

 Shoshoni school, and about 750 not under 

 agency or school control; In Wyoming, 

 under the Shoshoni school, there were 

 816, formerly known as Washaki's band, 

 from its chief. Deducting about 500 Ban- 

 nock from these figures, the total Sho- 

 shoni population approximates 3,250. 

 The Shoshoni divisions, so far as known, 

 were: Hohandika, Shobarboobeer, Sho- 

 hoaigadika, Shonivikidika, Tazaaigadika, 

 Towahnahiooks, Tukuarika, Tussawehe, 

 Washaki, Wihinasht, and Yahandika. 

 See also Pohoi. (h. w. h. ) 



Aliatan.— For forms of this name, see Idan. 

 Bik-ta'-she.— Hayden, Ethnog. and Philol. Mo. 

 Val., 402, 1S62 ('grass lodges': Crow name). 

 Chochones.— Ind. Aff. Rep. 1873, 192, 1874. Cho- 

 shon-ne.— Orig. Jour. Lewis and Clark, 11,867,1905. 

 E-wu-fia'-wu-si. — Hayden, op. cit., 326 (=' people 

 that use grass and bark for their lodges or huts': 

 Arapaho name). Gens de Serpent. — Orig. Jour. 

 Lewis and Clark, vi, lOfi, 1905. Gens des Serpent. — 

 Lewis and Clark, Discov., 60, 1806 (so called by the 

 French). Gens du Serpent. — La Verendrye (1742) 

 in Margrv, Dec, vi, 601, 1886. Ginebigonini.— Ba- 

 raga, Otchipwe-Eng. Diet., 136, ISSO (pi. Gine- 

 big6niniwog, 'snake men': Chippewa name). 

 Grass House People. — Mooney, Cheyenne Inds., 

 422, 1907 (translation of Kiowa nanie). Indiens- 

 Serpents. — Ga.ss, Voyage, 18,5, 1810. Kinebikowin- 

 iniwak. — Cuoq, Lexique Algon., 167.. 1886 ('ser- 

 pents' ; Algonkin name). Ma-buc-sho-roch-pan- 

 ga.— Long, Exped. Rocky Mts., ii, Ixxxiv, 1823 

 (Hidatsa name). Mika-ati. — Curtis, N. Am. Ind., 

 IV, 186, 1909 ('grass lodge'': Hidatsa name). Mi'- 

 kyashe. — Ibid., 180 (Crow name, with same mean- 

 ing). Nation of the Snake. — Jefferys, Frencli 

 Dom. Am., i, map, 1741. Pe-ji'-wo-ke-ya-o-ti. — 

 Cook, Yankton MS. vocab., B. A. E., 184, 1882 

 ( = ' those dwelling in grass lodges': Yankton 

 name). PeQii-wokeyotila.— Curtis, N. Am. Ind., 



