Land Acknowledgment of the Wind River Range

Indigenous people have been naming, hunting, exploring, creating routes, and living in and around the Wind River mountains from prehistoric times, going back to the last ice age. The Wind River was known as Beeyah Ohgway (Big River) by the Shoshone tribe in the 19th Century. The Shoshone and their ancestors have lived in the area for 13,000 years. The Fort Bridger Treaty of 1868 forcibly removed the Shoshone from the entire Wind River mountain range, restricting them to their current reservation boundaries on the eastern side of the Continental Divide. The Shoshone and the Northern Arapaho have shared this land since 1878. In an act of great foresight, the Wind River Indian Reservation, as it is now officially called, established a roadless area in the mountain range in 1932, decades before the Wilderness Act of 1964. I hope that those reading this blog, those travelling in the Winds, and those who regard the Wind River mountains and their glaciers as sacred, will take to heart the wisdom of Wes Martel. I hope that we will protect the lands, water and wildlife of this mountain range. I hope that we will follow Leave No Trace principles not just in the backcountry but in our lives. And I hope that we will support and respect the Indigenous community of the Wind River Indian Reservation.