Shoshone Treaty

The Shoshone Indians roamed freely on a portion of the Unites States before the 1800s, including nine northern and mid-western states. The tribes were hunter/gatherers and moved about, depending on the seasonal vegetation and game animals. The Shoshone tribe lived peacefully and happily until the US Government came and intimidated them into signing a treaty. The Treaty of Ruby Valley, also known as The Treaty of Peace and Friendship was signed in 1863. The treaty offered compensation for the damages suffered by the tribes in return for the safe passage of the gold through their territories.

Around 1863, United States was involved in the Civil War. President Lincoln wanted to get gold to finance the war, so he bought it from California. The soldiers needed to bring the gold across Nevada, which happened to belong to the Western Shoshone Indian Nation. At the time President Lincoln decided a peace treaty was necessary to bring to gold back safety.

The representatives of the United States Government sent out an invitation to the chiefs of the Shoshone Nation for the purpose of negotiating a treaty. The Shoshone people came in unarmed and ready to negotiate in good faith. The government representatives came with soldiers that were supposed to be unarmed, but they were not. The soldiers hid their weapons until everyone was at the meeting and they preceded to torture and frightened the Indians into signing a treaty that was not in the beast interests of the Shoshone tribe (http://timbisha.org/history.htm).

In the past decade, several suits and complaints have been filed over the violation of the Treaty of Ruby Valley. The lands that were given to the Shoshones are being inhabited by non-natives and the small reserves of land that they can occupy are monitored by government officials and are subjected to shifting regulations. Non-natives are actively seeking to build on these sacred lands, in violation of the Treaty of Ruby Valley and a total disrespect of the Shoshone culture and belief systems. It seems as though the contributions that Native Americans have made to American history have been overlooked. It appears that into modern day, Americans believe that actually it's them who are native to this country. It looks as if the Native Americans are being denied basic American rights. The Shoshones, however, are fighting judicially to ensure that they are not robbed of their liberties.

However, unlike the 1800's the