32 T hroughout the years I have made the journey over the mountains to Idaho. I’ve traveled the mountain route, through Dubois, Jackson, and Swan Valley. Sometimes I go by way of Farson, Seedskadee, the Green River, then onward to Montpelier and on to Fort Hall. I once overheard an elder tribal member say that the meaning of the word Seedskadee was a Shoshone word for “we will camp here.” In our Shoshone language, it is pronounced Seekeesh Gahd. In my travels throughout our homelands, I often find myself wondering about the trails my ancestors once moved along. This has always been a fascination since I was a young girl. The trips “over the mountain” to our family in Idaho only takes a few hours compared to the days it took for my grandparents and their parents. One of the best memories I have is riding with my two older brothers in the back seat of my mom’s 1970 Chevy Chevelle, with “The Time of the Season” by The Zombies blasting on the radio. As we were crossing the flatlands of the basin area, I spotted a whirlwind kicking up dust and whisking it across the dry land. One of my brothers pointed with his lips (like most Natives do) toward the whirlwind. We didn’t speak, we just watched it dance across the land. Further down the road he told me our spirit relatives visit us as whirlwinds. In the mountainous areas, such as South Pass and the Wind River Range, the terrain alone leaves much to the imagination of how the ancients traveled. Old stories of our people crossing over the mountain come to mind as I recall how my Gahgoo, my grandmother, spoke of traveling by the light of the moon to navigate the rugged terrain at night. It was nothing to travel at any given time, sometimes taking up to three days to make the trip from our relatives in Idaho to our home- lands in Wyoming. These were hard times, and the stories are ever-present in my mind as I take my seat in the lodge of many winters. Traditionally, we gauge our years on this earth by the number of winters we’ve lived. The Green River, Boohee Ohgway, lies at the heart of our Shoshone ancestral homelands. The Buffalo herds in the Green River lands contributed to the economy of not only our Shoshone people, but other tribes as well. This area became the meeting place for trading with fur trappers, pioneer settlers, and other tribes. As a result, the Shoshone people were able to establish themselves as a strong nation, wealthy in stature. The beauty of the lands added to the richness inherited by descendants of the Great Basin people, my ancestors. It is in the Green River Valley that the reciprocal relationship the people have with tamme sogope beyah, our Mother Earth, was reinforced. As one peers off into the foothills before the mountains, one might think how insignificant the lands appear: flat, dusty, and full of sagebrush. To me, the landscape appears to be full of life and good medicines. The sage- brush is a prime example of something that appears insignificant yet so powerful—the mother of all medi- cines. Other medicinal herbs and plants grow wild in Seasons of Green Lynette St. Clair CULTURAL PRESERVATIONIST, EASTERN SHOSHONE, WIND RIVER
