Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe

Fort McDermitt Northern Paiute and Western Shoshone Tribes

Sarah Winnemucca, a Northern Paiute activist and author, worked as an interpreter, scout and hospital matron at Fort McDermit from 1868 to 1873.
Total population
(689 enrolled members (1992))
Regions with significant populations
United States (Nevada, Oregon)
Languages
Northern Paiute language, English
Religion
Christianity, Sun Dance, Native American Church, Sun Dance, Traditional Unity Movement
Related ethnic groups
Southern Paiute and Western Shoshone peoples

The Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe is a federally recognized tribe of Northern Paiute and Western Shoshone peoples, whose reservation Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribes of the Fort McDermitt Indian Reservation spans the Nevada and Oregon border next to Idaho. Peoples from these two tribes have historically also lived in southwestern Idaho. They are close culturally and linguistically to the Bannock and various other Shoshone-language peoples.

The tribe intermittently hosts an annual Indian rodeo in June, on Fathers Day.

Reservation

The Fort McDermitt Indian Reservation spans the Nevada–Oregon border, in Humboldt County, Nevada and Malheur County, Oregon, near the Quinn River, which runs through the Tribe's Nevada lands, east to west. Just to the east is southwestern Idaho. The Fort McDermitt Military Reservation was established 14 August 1865 at the former site of Quinn River Camp No. 33 and a stagecoach stop, Quinn River Station, in what was a traditional seasonal homeland of the Paiute, Shoshone and Bannock peoples.

Originally the fort was established to protect the stagecoach route from Virginia City through Winnemucca, Nevada to Silver City, Idaho Territory, in the southwestern part of the area. It was named after Lt. Col. Charles McDermit, commander of the Military District of Nevada, who was killed in a skirmish in the area in 1865.

The Paiute had traditional territory ranging from the Southwest up into Nevada, Oregon and southwestern Idaho. The Paiute in this area became known as the "Northern Paiute." They are related culturally and linguistically to the Shoshone, Bannock and other tribes of the region.

When the military outpost was closed in 1889, the Military Reservation was adapted as the Fort McDermitt Indian Agency. Northern Paiute and Shoshone were settled here. In 1936 an Indian reservation was established to support the tribe's organizing as the Paiute and Shoshone Tribe under the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. They had to give up their traditional, hereditary chiefs as leaders in favor of an elected, representative form of government. The Tribes drafted a Constitution and Bylaws (which were approved after changes by the US Bureau of Indian Affairs.) It also had a Corporate Charter (drafted by the federal government and containing provisions not required by the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934.

Government

On May 6, 1936 the new government: Constitution, ByLaws and Corporate Charter, was approved by 54 of 65 available voters. The government has a chairman and Tribal Council, each of whom is elected. They manage the reservation, which has 16,354 acres in Nevada and 19,000 acres in Oregon. As of the 2010 census, 313 Native Americans lived on the reservation, with 42 enrolled members living in nearby McDermitt, Oregon.

There are more tribal members than "enrolled" tribal members living on the Reservation. The Tribe's Constitution and laws have some conflicting definitions of tribal members The Constitution defines them as:

• the "original allottees,
• [at birth] such of their descendants [who] maintain a bona-fide residence on the [Reservation]", and
• "every child of one-fourth or more Indian blood both of whose parents are members of the . . . Tribe" (see Constitution and ByLaws, Article II, Section 1(a), (b))). Thus the people do not need to be enrolled citizens to be considered members.

The Constitution and ByLaws allow the Tribal Council to enroll two classes of People; see id., Article II, Section 2(a),(b). The confusion was created in the 1980s. At a time when Northern Paiute land claims funds were about to be disbursed, federal officials suggested that the Tribal Council enact an "Enrollment Ordinance" to define membership qualifications of the Tribe and note that only the Council had authority to do this. The ordinance did not address conflicts with standing definitions of members, as noted above (and in Article II, Section 1(a) and (b)).

The Fort McDermitt Tribe is headquartered at the Fort McDermitt Indian Reservation, near McDermitt, Nevada. The tribe is governed by an elected eight-member tribal council. Tildon Smart currently serves as Tribal Chairman, and Ione Crutcher serves as the Tribal Council Secretary.

Language

The tribe speaks the Northern Paiute language, also known as Paviotso, which is a Western Numic language. Fort McDermitt has the greatest concentration of Northern Paiute speakers among the various locations where they live. 20-30% of the tribe's children can speak the language.

Notable tribal members and residents

• Sarah Winnemucca
• Chief Winnemucca, also known as Old Winnemucca, Sarah's father and a war leader

Further reading

• Barry M. A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN 978-0-19-513877-1
• Constitution and By-Laws of the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe
• R. Eagleye Johnny, "Can Indian Tribes Afford to Let the Bureau of Indian Affairs Continue to Negotiate Permits & Leases of Their Resources?", American Indian Law Review 16(1): 201-211 (University of Oklahoma, Norman, 1991)
• Erickson, J.D., Chapman D. and R. Eagleye Johnny, "Monitored Retrievable Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel in Indian Country: Liability, Sovereignty, and Socioeconomics," American Indian Law Review 19(1): 73-103 (University of Oklahoma, Norman, 1994)