“Our legend stories take us to the stars – we are people from the stars, we were planted here, on top of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, as peaceful people, to live with all the other nations of the Earth, the plant nations, the animal nations, the ones that fly, the ones that swim, the ones that crawl upon the Earth. We are here to be part of this circle of life. Washoe people have been here since time immemorial, and we are not going away.” – Lisa Grayshield, PhD, Washoe Tribal Member
Washiw Zulshish Goom Tahn-Nu (“Washoe Warrior Society”, WZGT), was established in 2009, when a group of Elders came together to discuss a shared concern for cultural loss and disconnection within the Washoe community. The Washoe people have inhabited the lands surrounding Lake Tahoe, at the border of Nevada and California, in the western United States, for thousands of years. As a result of colonial exploitation that started with the gold and silver rush in the mid-1800s, the Washoe have suffered loss of land and livelihoods. The resulting historical trauma has led to a drastic decrease in the number of youth committed to carrying on the traditions of their ancestors, and speaking their language.
To respond to the severe situation, WZGT is carrying out a powerful mission to revive the Washoe’s understanding of themselves as a cultural people, with a unique and valuable heritage, by preserving their traditional knowledge and practices into the future. This includes knowledge sharing, for example, on the use of wild plants as part of traditional, healthy diets, and as medicine. However, in order to revitalize such cultural traditions and enhance the passing of traditional knowledge from one generation to another, there is a strong need for a proper gathering place that the community has been missing since the early 1900s. Therefore, WZGT is striving towards building Washiw Tahn-Nu Ung-Gahl, a People’s House – a place to gather, talk and learn Washoe language, conduct ceremonies, pray, and remember the values that their ancestors held as stewards of the land.
Lake Tahoe is the center of the universe for the Washoe people. The lake has suffered severe degradation due to long-lasting, unsustainable land use, climate change, as well as the construction of casinos, housing and roads. WZGT, among other groups, has been actively involved in restoring the lake towards a healthier state. They are also advocating for Lake Tahoe to be granted rights as a legal person. Over recent years, Indigenous-led efforts to gain legal personhood for lakes and rivers has become a strong movement towards incorporating Indigenous worldviews into environmental protection. WZGT stands with Indigenous Nations around the world who seek to reinstate their Indigenous values and encourage a world-wide change of consciousness towards care for Mother Earth. Currently, negotiations are ongoing for obtaining a piece of land on Washoe territory along Lake Tahoe, where Tahn-Nu Ung-Gal will be built and the people can once again gather as a symbol of the healing of the land, the water, and the people.
“There is that within our bodies – we are organic beings – to live in balance with the Earth, to respect the Earth as a living being, and to re-learn how to be stewards of the Earth. It is important for everybody to stand up for the rights of nature and recognize that we have industrialized ourselves to the point of stressing the Earth. We need to reverse that by recognizing Indigenous peoples in these places and learning how it is that we maintained a peaceful existence for thousands of years.
It is important to recognize that Indigenous ways of thinking and being in the world are still alive, and by supporting tribal groups in their areas we are making a statement that an Indigenous way of being in the world is different from the industrialized way that has formed as a result of colonization. Now it is the time for all of us to return to a more simple way of living, in balance and harmony with the Earth, and to revive the traditional knowledge of Indigenous peoples. That knowledge is in our language, it is in our culture, and it is in our ceremonies. It is important not just for Washiw, it is important for everybody; that Indigenous peoples maintain their knowledge because that teaches us how to be and how to take care of the Earth.” – Lisa Grayshield, PhD
Land is Life’s partnership with WZGT is currently in support of their realization of the People’s House on Washoe land. Learn more about WZGT by watching this video.