Unfortunately, the Shoshone have not benefited from the influx of visitors to their land, as have the Navajo. When Death Valley became a national monument in the 1930s, the Timbisha were promptly relocated to a different section of the valley, where employment opportunities included making handicrafts for tourists or doing laundry for park service employees. Understandably, many chose to leave instead. Those who remained lived in adobe homes that lacked indoor plumbing or electricity. To make matters worse, the National Park Service sometimes bulldozed their homes when they vacated them in the summertime to gather beans up in the mountains. These humiliating hardships made it nearly impossible for the Shoshone to uphold their traditional lifestyle. Today, only fifty Timbisha Shoshone remain in Death Valley.
Fortunately, their future is looking brighter. The Shoshone became a federally recognized Indian tribe in 1983 and got funding to renovate their homes as well as build new ones, install electricity, pave their roads, and improve their water distribution system. They still lack a steady land base, but that just might change—and you can help! The Shoshone have drafted a bill in Congress that would grant them 300 acres of land in Death Valley plus an additional 7,200 outside the park. This means they could finally build their own homes and revenue-generating tourist attractions such as restaurants and museums. If that happened, perhaps the Shoshone who moved out of the valley would return. They could rebuild their nation, just as the Navajo did! This bill has already passed through the Senate and is currently in Committee in the House of Representatives. By writing a letter to your legislator and those listed below, you could impact the lives of Shoshone and end 150 years of pain.
Ask the following to support legislation that would grant the Shoshone a land base:
Senator Daniel K. Inouye
Hart Office Building - 722
2nd and C Street, NE
Washington, DC 20510
Congressman Jerry Lewis
2112 Rayburn House Building
Independence Ave & S Capitol St. NW
Washington, DC 20515
Senator Dianne Feinstein
Hart Office Building - 331
2nd & C Street, NE
Washington, DC 20510
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