History

The Ely Shoshone are descendants of the Western Shoshone bands who have lived in the Great Basin for thousands of years, thriving in a high-desert environment through a sophisticated seasonal round of hunting and gathering. Prior to European contact, they traveled in small family groups to harvest

pinyon pine nuts, hunt antelope and rabbits, and gather seeds, adapting to the harsh climate with deep ecological knowledge. The influx of silver and copper miners in the late 19th century, particularly around the boomtown of Ely, rapidly displaced the Newe from their best water sources and grazing lands, forcing many into wage labor on the fringes of the new settlements.Continue Reading

Relatives

The Ely Shoshone maintain ties with several relatives and neighbors across the region, including the Duckwater Shoshone Tribe to the southwest and the Yomba Shoshone Tribe to the west. They are also related to the Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone to the north near Elko, while their neighbors include the Confederated Tribes of the Goshute to the east along the Utah-Nevada border and the Southern Paiute people to the south.

Media Gallery

Tribal Area Map

Resources

Online Resources
Ely Shoshone Tribe Official Website (elyshoshonetribe.com) Primary source for current council info, departments (housing, environmental), enrollment, and the tribe’s history of the Ely Colony.

Great Basin Indian Archives (gbia.greatbasincollege.edu) Hosted by Great Basin College, this archive features video oral histories, photos, and transcripts from Western Shoshone elders.

University of Utah Shoshone Language Project (shoshoniproject.utah.edu) Offers audio recordings, dictionaries, and lessons for the Shoshone language (Newe Taikwappeh).

National Park Service – Great Basin National Park (nps.gov) Provides ethnographic histories detailing Shoshone connections to the Snake Range and pinyon pine harvesting traditions.

Native American Rights Fund (narf.org) Searchable database containing the Constitution and Bylaws of the Ely Shoshone Tribe, outlining legal structure and membership.

Books
“Newe: A Western Shoshone History” – Inter-Tribal Council of Nevada Essential history written from an Indigenous perspective, focusing on Nevada bands and relying on oral histories.

“The Road on Which We Came” – Steven J. Crum (University of Utah Press) Definitive academic history by a Shoshone historian covering political resilience from pre-contact to the present.

“Basin-Plateau Aboriginal Sociopolitical Groups” – Julian Steward Classic 1938 text detailing pre-contact social structures and “food-named” bands in the Steptoe Valley.

“The Nature Way” – Corbin Harney (University of Nevada Press) Insights into Western Shoshone spiritual worldviews and resistance by a renowned spiritual leader from the neighboring Duckwater tribe.

“Treaty of Ruby Valley 1863” – (13 Stat. 663) The primary treaty text; essential for understanding the “peace and friendship” relationship and modern land claims.

Nave Nations Newsletter