13 Facts About Washoe people

Washoe people have lived in the Great Basin and the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains for at least the last 6,000 years, some say up to 9,000 years.

Beside Lake Tahoe the Washoe people utilized the upper ranges of the Carson, Truckee, and West Walker rivers to the east as well the Sierra Valley to the north.

Since the western part of the Washo territory was in the mountains and subject to heavy snows, few Washoe people wintered there so very few were organized into the western group.

Washoe people are the only Great Basin tribe whose language is not Numic, so they are believed to have inhabited the region prior to neighboring tribes.

Washoe people may have made contact with Spanish explorers in the early 19th century, but the Washoe did not sustain contact with people of European culture until the 1848 California Gold Rush.

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The Washoe people were deeply knowledgeable about their land and where resources were plentiful.

Wasiw Washoe people were dependent on fishing at Lake Tahoe and the surrounding streams.

The Wasiw Washoe people once relied on medicine men and their knowledge of medicinal plants and ceremonies.

Washoe people culture was based mostly on the legends that carried the explanation of different areas of life.

The whole Washoe people life was concentrated on cooperation and unity, and older tribe members needed to convey their knowledge to the younger so the tribe culture would survive.

Since each way required having special skills and knowledge Washoe people were usually trained in one field to reduce the possibility of failing the tasks they were responsible for.

However, Washoe people learned how to survive the hardest time of the year by learning how to use the resources the land had given them.

Washoe people are considered to be the indigenous inhabitants of Lake Tahoe area, occupying the lake and surround lands for thousands of years.