Lorrain and Alvin Sims are both members of the Duck Valley Sho-Pai tribe. Alvin speaks first about his parents Edna Charles and Jack Sims and where they came from before moving to the Duck Valley reservation. He also spoke about how his father worked for the Conservation Corps. Moreover he speaks about his relative Captain Sam and how Duck Valley became a reservation. Both Alvin and Lorrain talk about the usage of traditional medicines, and the medicine/spiritual leaders who were traditional doctors within the tribe. Lorrain also speaks about the traditions surrounding right-of-passage and pregnancy. They both recall the traditional way that sweat lodges were also used. They also tell us about how items such as sugar, clothes, and food were rationed when they were younger. They end by cautioning the youth to keep away from drugs and alcohol.
Video pendingDave McKinney is a Western Shoshone and was born in Gold Creek, NV in 1907, and currently resides at the Duck Valley Reservation (Owyhee). His parents were Bill and Sadie McKinney. He was one of six children: 1 older sister and 4 younger brothers. He begins his oral presentation by describing how the Chinese emigrants living in Gold Creek use to pan mine gold. He also speaks about how he used to trap coyotes and sell their fur, stack hay for 2 dollars and fifty cents a day, and then how he worked for the Conservation Corps building roads. Dave also tells us about how he worked on many community projects around Duck Valley Reservation such as the Wild Horse Dam and the canal within the reservation as well as becoming a cattle rancher. He also speaks about the Fandango and the accompanying hand games and foot races – particularly about Race Harney.
Video link [opens in separate window]Elizabeth “Liz” Brady was born in Elko, NV between the Elko Smoke Shop and I-80 where the old Elko Senior Citizens Center was located. Her father’s name was Sontag Jackson whose grandparents were from the Austin area and were part of the Dubba Diccada. Her mother was Mary Horton who belonged to the Dosa Wihi near Battle Mountain, NV. Liz talks about how she grew up around ranches while her father ran mustangs. She speaks about her experience going to Battle Mountain for grammar school, and her experience at Stewart Indian School where she was punished for speaking her language. She also speaks about how her grandfather partook in contact with the emigrants and their wagons. She also speaks about growing up in tzsogogotti (Antelope Valley) and how her family was ran out of the area. She also tells the audience about the history of Elko including the start-up of a lot of the old businesses including who ran them. She also speaks about living on the outskirts of Battle Mountain and the diseases impacting the Shoshone there.
Video pendingBeverly Brazzanovich and Harold Miller are both Paiute from eastern Nevada. Harold Miller was born in 1927, and whose native name is Bazinokwah, is from the Walker River reservation near Schurz, NV. Beverly Brazzanovich, on the other hand, heralds from the Pyramid Lake Tribe by Pyramid Lake, NV. Harold begins the interview by speaking about the Depression and how many natives worked on ranches, and how his parents met one another at Stewart Indian School and eventually married. He also speaks of his childhood, being raised by his grandparents, and going to the Indian School in Schurz. Likewise, Beverly was partially raised by her grandparents on a homestead or ranch called the Potato Patch. Both speak of the native Paiute culture including women’s rights of passage, hunting practices, religious teachings, taboos, folk tales, and harvesting practices. They both emphasize how the younger generations, by means of assimilation and contact with other groups, have lost many indigenous cultural practices including their native language.
Video pendingAnthony Tom Oral History Video pending
Read Anthony Lee Tom Oral History Transcript [pdf file]
Anthony Tom is a member of the Te-Moak Western Shoshone and a veteran from the Air Force who lives at the South Fork Reservation, which he and others referred to as Lee, NV. He speaks about the South Fork community’s virtues, as well as, his experience growing up there and ranching. Anthony also talks about how and what he would hunt with his Grandpa John. He goes on to tell of his time at the Phoenix Indian School, and how it changed his life, an in fact led him to attend the California College of Arts and Crafts. He also informs his audience of the Indian Relocation Program, and the resulting aftermath. He also speaks about his time in Tribal administration, his time as an artist, and how he owned Picture This in Elko, NV. He ends his presentation by telling us about his time playing hand-games.
Anthony Tom Oral History Video pending
Read Anthony Lee Tom Oral History Transcript [pdf file]
Delores Shaw Cummings was the daughter of Maria Jones and Kelly Shaw Sr. Her lineage is that of the Dosa Wihi (White Knife) clan. She explains her family’s journey towards Duck Valley Reservation by means of a horse and buggy. She describes growing up on the Duck Valley Reservation, and the native traditions that were practiced in regards to the rights of passage and death. She also tells us a story of the Mother Bear and the Mother Doe and Her Fawn as told to her by her mother. She also speaks of the traditional practices associated with the Fourth of July gathering in Duck Valley and the peyote meetings. She goes on to leave a message for the younger generations – respect.
Video pendingNevada Penoli was born in Wells, Nevada, and has lived there for 74 years. Nevada spoke about growing up in the area pine-nutting with her Grandmother and the rest of her family. She illustrates how her family lived back when she was a young girl. She also talks about how she use to travel around in wagons drawn by horses, and how they would camp along the way when traveling to distant locations. Nevada also speaks about how her Grandfather would go hunting and how the women in the family would take care of the deer, rabbit, or birds that were gathered. She tells us about her grandfather, grandmother, and mother and their experience with ranching.
Video PendingDan Blossom (Cho Cho Kunn) was born in Battle Mountain (Dona Muzza), Nevada in 1924. His mother was Miley Jackson-Cavanaugh. He is part of the Jackson Clan. Dan Blossom describes how he grew up on the outskirts of Battle Mountain. He describes how he would hunt for food such as gomba (type of desert ground squirrel), and eat other foods such as deer, duck, etc. He describes how his grandmother Aggie Jackson and his family lived while he was growing up in Battle Mountain. Dan also tells us of his school experience, and how he was not allowed to speak Shoshone. He later describes his life while he was in the Army during the Korean War. He later tells us a traditional Shoshone Tale: Coyote and Wolf.
Interviewed by Norm Cavanaugh
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Oral History Interview with Dan Blossom, Western Shoshone from Battle Mountain, NV on 03/27/2012
This oral history contains significant Shoshone language conversation, and is recommended for usage by community language teachers.
Dan Blossom (Cho Cho Kunn) was born in Battle Mountain (Dona Muzza), Nevada in 1924. His mother was Miley Jackson-Cavanaugh. He is part of the Jackson Clan. Dan Blossom describes how he grew up on the outskirts of Battle Mountain. He describes how he would hunt for food such as gomba (type of desert ground squirrel), and eat other foods such as deer, duck, etc. He describes how his grandmother Aggie Jackson and his family lived while he was growing up in Battle Mountain. Dan also tells us of his school experience, and how he was not allowed to speak Shoshone. He later describes his life while he was in the Army during the Korean War. He later tells us a traditional Shoshone Tale: Coyote and Wolf.
Interviewed by Norm Cavanaugh
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Ellison Jackson was the son of Robert Jackson and Lena Jackson. He is best known by his Native name Bombo. Bombo tells us of his childhood growing up in a tent near the Presbyterian Church in Owyhee, Nevada. He also tells us of his experience at the Swayne School. Bombo also tells us about his buckaroo and cowboy days riding horses, and what his grandfather James Cavanaugh told him to expect. He also tell us a Shoshone tale about Coyote, the Shoshone, and the Paiute. Also tells us about another tale about the Sun, Brush Rabbit, and Cottontail.
Interviewed by Norm Cavanaugh
Interviewed by Norm Cavanaugh
Transcript Pending
Helen Walker is from Duckwater Reservation near Eureka, NV she had 3 older sisters, 2 brothers, and 1 younger sister. Her family was originally from the Smoky Valley area then they were given a house by the government and started ranching in Duckwater. Her father worked the ranch while she helped her mother garden. She went to Stuart Indian School and learned housekeeping she also lived in a Ranch in Moapa, NV. Later in life she worked at the Senior Center in Duckwater as a cook and took the elders to powwows and to go pine-nutting. She also talks about hand games, sweat lodge and Indian doctoring. She ends by telling us about the Shoshone language class and the young children taking it.
Interviewed by Norm Cavanaugh
Transcript Pending