The historical Shoshone were nomadic people who traveled over a wide
portion of the Western United States. They occupied parts of
Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and Utah, from the Great Basin to the
Plains; into parts of Colorado and Wyoming.
Life in the Great Basin was fraught with hardships, as it was quite
difficult to find food, water, and shelter from the elements.
The Shoshone mostly ate berries, roots, and pine nuts, rabbit,
antelope, and buffalo meat, depending on where they were they were
traveling at the time.
Shoshone clothing changed with the seasons, ranging from a simple a
Breechcloth held on by a belt fastened around the waist for the men
and aprons for the women to rabbit fur pants and jackets, and larger
animal hides used as capes and coverings.
Unlike sedentary tribes such as the
Chumash,
the Shoshone did not own much in terms of belongings. and did not
trade with others until they acquired horses in the 1700s. The
ownership of horses served to differentiate the rich from the poor,
but those who owned horses usually did as the result of theft, as the
Shoshone would often conduct raids on other tribes to steal their
horses.
Because of this less than virtuous practice, the Shoshone had many
enemies, but none so fierce as the Crow and Pocatello tribes, who's
path they normally avoided crossing.
Not that this prevented them from injury, as the Shoshone were known
practicioners of Sutteeism; the act of self-immolation. Their
spiritual leader was the Medicine Man, who was thought of as a prophet
with magical powers.
