5 tribes of Utah

Finally, the fourth and final division of 1,500 people, the Northwestern Shoshoni, resided in the valleys of northern Utah–especially Weber Valley and Cache Valley–and along the eastern and northern shores of Great Salt Lake.

There were three major bands of Northwestern Shoshoni at the time the first Mormon pioneers began settling northern Utah. The Wasatch Mountains provided small game for the Northwestern bands, but of even greater importance were the grass seeds and plant roots which grew in abundance in the valleys and along the hillsides of northern Utah before the cattle and sheep of the white man denuded these rich areas and left many of the Shoshoni tribes in a starving condition and to suffer under the ignominy of being called “Digger Indians.” Before white penetration, the Great Basin and Snake River Shoshoni had been among the most ecologically efficient and well-adapted Indians of the American West.

The tragic transformation for the Northwestern Shoshoni to a life of privation and want came with the occupation by Mormon farmers of their traditional homeland

The Ute Indians took advantage of the abundance of fish in Utah Lake and other freshwater sources, drying and storing them for trade and winter use. Ute families lived in brush wickiups and ramadas in the western and southern areas and used hide tepees in the eastern reaches of Ute territory. The Walker War (1853-54) signaled the beginning of Ute subsistence displacement and the “open hand, mailed fist” Indian policy of Brigham Young–feeding when possible, fighting when necessary.

Between 1855 and 1860, Indian Agent Garland Hurt organized Indian farms at Spanish Fork, San Pete, and Corn Creek, hoping to encourage Utes to settle down and farm. In 1861 President Abraham Lincoln set aside the two-million-acre Uintah Valley Reservation for the Ute bands, but Autenquer, a San Pitch war leader, rallied Ute and Southern Paiute resistance to removal in a series of attacks and subsistence raids known as the Black Hawk War (1863-68). Short-term resistance to allotment and directed change included the Ute outbreak of 1906-08, during which nearly 400 Utes fled to South Dakota. The mixed-bloods organized as the Affiliated Ute Citizens.

In the 1970s and early 1980s, Northern Utes benefited from increased oil and gas development on reservation lands in the form of jobs and severance taxes

The Goshute Indians are part of the larger Shoshonean-speaking Native American groups that live in the Intermountain West. Although no one knows how long the Goshutes had occupied the area where they lived when first contacted by Europeans, a date of 1,000 years ago is most probable as the time when Shoshonean speakers entered the Great Basin from the Death Valley region of California.

At the time the Mormons arrived in Salt Lake Valley, the Goshute Indians lived in the desert regions to the southwest of the Great Salt Lake. Spanish and later Mexican slavers may have entered the Goshute domain in search of captives, but it was not until 1826 that white incursion into the Goshute homeland was first documented. All attempts to remove the Goshutes failed, and the government cut off the annuities promised in the treaty of 1863.

The remaining decades of the nineteenth century proved tumultuous for the Goshutes

The Native American Navajo tribe is one of the largest tribes of American Indians. They called themselves "Dine" or "the People".

What type of homes did the Navajo live in?

The Navajo lived in hogans. The door of the hogan always faced east so they could see the sun rise.

What did the Navajo eat?

The Navajo were farmers who grew the three main crops that many Native Americans grew: corn, beans, and squash. Today, Navajo rugs and blankets are still in demand and can still be quite expensive.

Navajo Jewelry

In the olden days of the Navajo, the arts and crafts were divided between men and women. The Navajo like to use turquoise in their jewelry as well.

The Long Walk

In 1864, around 9,000 Navajo were forced by soldiers on a march from Arizona to New Mexico. Four years later the Navajo were allowed to return to their homeland.

Interesting Facts about the Navajo Indians \n Manuelito was one of the main war chiefs of the Navajo. He resisted the long walk and signed a treaty giving the Navajo a reservation in Arizona. \n Jacoby Ellsbury, a professional baseball player, is a member of a Navajo tribe. \n Before horses they used dogs to pull sleds called travois. \n They are closely related to the Apache tribes. \n The Navajo Nation is the largest American Indian reservation in the United States