Shoshone-Bannock Subsistence and Society

This work brings the lives of the Shoshone and Bannock peoples into clear focus, exploring how they sustained themselves on the vast plains and mountains of the American West. Framed by a series of legal claims for lost territory, the authors examine the groups’ seasonal movements, hunting practices, and the political bonds that held their societies together long before the treaties of the 1860s.

Drawing on intensive field trips to reservations in Wyoming, Idaho and Nevada, the researchers recorded stories from the oldest community members, while also combing through a wide range of historic accounts. They confront the inevitable gaps in memory and the unreliability of early fur‑trader narratives, weaving oral testimony with careful archival criticism to sketch a realistic picture of past lifeways.

Listeners will come away with a nuanced understanding of how these tribes organized their subsistence activities, the challenges of reconstructing their historic territories, and the broader implications of their cultural resilience in the face of rapid frontier change.