Timpanog

"Timpanogos" redirects here. For other uses, see Timpanogos (disambiguation).

The Timpanog - also called "Timpanogos," "Utahs" and "Utah Indians" - were a large tribe of Native Americans who historically inhabited a vast portion of Central Utah, in particular the area from Utah Lake eastward to the Uinta Mountains and southwards into Sanpete County. In the past, they have also been referred to as the "Timpiavats",[1] Timpanogots and numerous other names. At the time of the arrival of the Mormon Pioneers, they were one of the principal tribes in Utah, based on population, area covered, and influence. It is difficult to find information about the language they spoke, and thus difficult to classify them, because most communication with them took place in English or Spanish, and many of their leaders spoke multiple native dialects. They have generally been classified as Utes ,however, some words they used do appear to be Shoshone, and thus they were possibly a Shoshonean band. Certainly there were other Shoshone in Utah and some people have said that the Timpanogos were one of the four sub-bands of the Shoshone.[2] Their most famous chief in the past was Chief Walkara, also called Chief Walker and 'Walkara' means Hawk, in Shoshone.[3] The Shoshone and Utes did share a common genetic, cultural and linguistic heritage as part of the Numic branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Today, they live on the Uinta Valley Reservation. Currently, they are listed by the Federal government as being part of the Northern Ute Tribe.

History

Mt. Timpanogos, a namesake of the tribe

It is not entirely clear which cultural group the ' Utahs ' belonged to, however, historically, the Timpanogos Tribe likely entered the Utah area as part of the original Southern Numic expansion, which included the Utes - around 1000 CE - or in the subsequent Central Numic Shoshonean expansion to the north and west - from their Numic homelands in the Sierra Nevadas. Some archaeologists place the Shoshoneans expansion around the 1300s or 1400s. It is clear that the tribe were hunter-gatherers and lived mostly on fish, wild game, and the seeds of wild plants. Later, they adopted the horse, when it became available, but they did not take part in the Great Plains buffalo hunter lifestyle.

It is possible that the Timpanogos' first contact with anyone of European descent was with the Spanish Franciscan missionaries during what is now known as the Dominguez–Escalante Expedition of 1776. It was recorded that three Timpanogos served as guides for the expedition, and the explorers named many geographic features in Central Utah for the Timpanogos Tribe.

One of the native leaders that the Escalante expedition met was a powerful Timpanogos chief named Turunianchi. By the time the Mormon Pioneers arrived in 1847, the Timpanogos Tribe was guided by his grandson, Chief Walkara, also called Chief Walker. Walkara led the tribe, along with a number of sub-chiefs, most of whom were his brothers: Chief Arapeen, Chief San-Pitch, Chief Kanosh, Chief Sowiette, Chief Tabby, Chief Grospean and Chief Amman. Brigham Young once referred to them as a "Royal Line" of Indian chiefs. Later, during the Utah Black Hawk War, the leader, Chief Black Hawk was a son of San-Pitch.[3]

Some people have estimated that in 1847 at the time of the arrival of the pioneers, the Timpanog numbered approx. 70,000. Their numbers had been dwindling because of the rise of competing bands of Shoshone raiders since the early-19th century and then their population was diminished further by smallpox and other diseases introduced by the influx of American settlers, which culminated with a devastating measles epidemic in the early 1850s. Many Native American tribes had their numbers reduced by more than 90% as a result of disease, after contact with Europeans.

However, the true number of Timpanogos may have been less. "The exact number of all the Indians who lived in Utah Territory is unknown. An 1861 report from J. F. Collins, Utah superintendent of Indian Affairs, acknowledged that no one had ever 'been able to obtain satisfactory information in regard to their numbers.' Collins’s estimated . . . that there may have been fifteen to twenty thousand Indians (of all tribes), in Utah, prior to the arrival of the first Mormon settlers" in 1847.[4]

Perhaps the best approximation - prior to the Civil War - may be an estimate included in Superintendent Forney’s 1859 annual report to the federal commissioner of Indian Affairs, with estimates as follows:

Shoshones or Snakes - 4,500 (This clearly did not include the Timpanogos as shown by additional information below. Certainly there were other Shoshones in Utah, in the North and West.)

Bannocks - 500

Uinta Utes - 1,000

Spanish Fork and San Pete Farms - 900 (Farms = Reservations) (These were part of the Timpanogos band)

Pahvant (Utes) - 700

Paiutes (South) - 2,200

Paiutes (West) - 6,000

Elk mountain Utes - 2,000

Washo, of Honey lake - 700

This gives a total of 18,500 Native Americans, including all tribes, estimated to be in Utah in 1859.[5]

Some people have said that the Timpanogos were Snake Shoshone [3] however, there is little if any documentation that the Timpanogos Tribe were a part of the Shoshone Tribes. In particular, it is clear that they were not the branch of the Shoshones that frequently lived on the plains - who were called Snakes because of the sign language name for them. The Utahs appear to be quite separate from both the Snakes and other Shoshones, as shown in the “Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, UTAH SUPERINTENDENCY, September 6, 1858, by Jacob Forney"

“The tribes and fragments of tribes with whom I had business relations . . . are as follows, to wit: on the second day of December last I was visited by San-Pitch, a principal chief of the Utahs, and a few of his men . . .

“On the 10th of December following, Little Soldier, chief, and Benjamin Simons, sub-chief, of a band of Sho-sho-nes, with some of their principal men, called on me . . . The territory claimed by them includes Salt lake, Bear river, Weber river and Cache valley . . .

“About the 22nd day of December last, I was visited at Camp Scott, by White-eye and San-Pitch, Utah chiefs, with several of their bands . . . These Indians belong to one of the principal tribes of this Territory. There is but one other large tribe, (the Snakes,) as I am informed.

“The best land belonging to the Utahs is situated in Utah valley . . . Much has been done and is doing for this tribe, (the Utahs.) . . . Strenuous efforts will be made to induce this tribe (the Utahs) to locate permanently . . .

“I visited San-Pete creek farm last month, (August,) which is situated in the west end of San-Pete valley and county. This farm was opened about two years ago, under the directions of Agent Hurt, for a band of the Utahs under Chief Arapeen, a brother of San-Pitch . . .

“I have heretofore spoken of a large tribe of Indians known as the Snakes. They claim a large tract of country lying in the eastern part of this Territory, but are scarcely ever found upon their own land. They generally inhabit the Wind river country, in Oregon and Nebraska Territories and they sometimes range as far east as Fort Laramie . . . This tribe numbers about twelve hundred souls, all under one principal chief, Wash-a-kee. He has perfect command over them, and is one of the finest looking and most intellectual Indians I ever saw . . .

“For several years, an enmity has existed between the Utahs and the Snakes . . . Accordingly, on the 13th of May, Wash-a-kee, of the Snakes, White-Eye, Son-a-at, and San-Pitch, of the Utahs, with the sub-chiefs of the different tribes, and also several chiefs of the Ban-acks, assembled in council at Camp Scott, when, after considerable talk and smoking, peace was made between the two tribes.”[6]

The Timpanogos numbered only about 1,200 by the time the Walker War - named for famed Chief Walkara - started with the Latter-day Saints, who had come out of the United States and settled in the Utah territory. The war involved several conflicts with settlers and the Mormon militia.

Later, the Utah Black Hawk War (1865–72) was even more extensive and caused additional deaths, on both sides.

“In 1861, President Abraham Lincoln signed an executive order establishing the original Uintah Valley Reservation in the eastern part of the Utah territory. . . Congress ratified the order in 1864. . . A council of the Ute people was called at Spanish Fork Reservation on 6 June 1865. The aged leader Chief Sowiette (a brother of Chief Walkara, who had died 10 years before) explained that the Ute people did not want to sell their land and go away, asking why the groups couldn't live on the land together. Chief Sanpitch (another brother of Walkara) also spoke against the treaty. However, advised by Brigham Young that these were the best terms they could get, the leaders signed. The treaty provided that the Utes give up their lands in central Utah, including the Corn Creek, Spanish Fork, and San Pete Reservations. Only the Uintah Valley Reservation remained. They were to move into it within one year, and be paid $25,000 a year for ten years, $20,000 for the next twenty years, and $15,000 for the last thirty years. (This was payment of about 62.5 cents per acre for all land in Utah and Sanpete Counties.) However, Congress did not ratify the treaty; therefore, the government did not pay the promised annuity. Nevertheless, in succeeding years most of the Utah Ute people were removed to the Uintah Reservation.”[7]

Historical confusion

The Timpanogos appear to have been either a Shoshonean band, who were part of the Central Numic people, or were a branch of the Southern Numic people, which includes the Utes, and it is well documented that they had a strong presence in Central Utah. In pioneer times they were often referred to as the "Utah" Indians. Utah Indians are sometimes confused with, but were not necessarily, Ute Indians. Most Utes at the time were from Colorado, and farther east in Utah. Some of the scattered Ute Indian bands were also placed into the Uinta Valley Reservation in the 1880s.[8] Afterward, the Utah Indians became conflated with—and were often considered to have merged with—the Ute Indians in historical documents. Indeed, many historians were not aware that there ever had been a difference, or that the Timpanogos might actually have been Shoshone. Many articles and historical records after that time use the term "Utes" when talking about the Timpanogos tribe, even when talking about history of the tribe from all their decades of co-existence with settlers, before relocating to the Uinta Reservation. Though many historians refer to Sowiette and San-Pitch and their people as Utes, at the time of the Uinta treaty, they were the Utah Indians or Timpanogos, and some of their descendants claim they only became known as Utes after they moved to the Uintah Reservation and joined other Utes there.[8][9] Perhaps because of their move to the Uinta reservation, the Shoshone also seem to have forgotten the Timpanogos, and the Timpanogos are not often listed among the current or former bands of the Shoshone. Certainly, many current members of the Timpanogos Tribe feel that a number of their cultural practices are clearly Shoshonean. On the other hand, in the court case of ' Timpanogos Tribe vs Conway ' U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell ruled, ""Plaintiff asks the court to make unreasonable inferences and leap to the conclusion that because Mr. Montes and his ancestors are not Ute, the (Timpanogos Tribe), whose members include Mr. Montes, is a Shoshone tribe in existence since aboriginal times and for whom the reservation was set aside. The court will not make that leap, nor will it allow a jury to do so."[10]

Uncertain Legal Status

Since relocating to the reservation, in various court cases, the Timpanogos have been defined as both Utes, and not as Utes. The Ute Tribe itself has made both of these claims in different court cases. An additional problem is that, although most of them continue to live on the Reservation, many of the descendants of the Timpanogs are of mixed blood, with less than 1/2 Native American blood. As such, the status of their rights with the Utes is even more obscure because the Federal Government terminated the rights of most Mixed Blood Utes in the 1950s, under the Indian termination policy.

In the year 2000, the Timpanogos Tribe went to court in Timpanogos Tribe v. Conway, asking that Utah's officials be stopped from prosecuting Timpanogos members for hunting and fishing on the Uinta Valley Reservation. The Ute Indian Tribe filed with the State against the Timpanogos Tribe. The Ute Tribe argued that the Timpanogos Tribe were part of them [11] After hearing argument, presiding Judge Bruce Jenkins, ruled that the Timpanogos Tribe was a separate entity from the Ute Indian Tribe. In contrast to that ruling, and causing a legal conflict, Judge Tena Campbell in Timpanogos v. Conway ruled that the Timpanogos Tribe merged with the Ute Indian Tribe in 1865.[12][13] With the conflicting rulings in the courts, the Timpanogos people have chosen to present their case to the Interior Department in Washington D.C. and are working to clarify their current rights and position

Notable Timpanogos Leaders

References

  1. ↑ Handbook of American Indians V2 North of. Books.google.com. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
  2. ↑ The works of Hubert Howe Bancroft. Books.google.com. 2007-06-12. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
  3. 1 2 3 Our Timpanogos Ancestors
  4. ↑ Collins, JF (1861), A Report of the Comissioner of Indian Affairs, p. 21, p. 125
  5. ↑ Bowman, George W. (1859), Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Accompanying the Annual Report of the Secretary of the Interior for the Year 1859 (Washinton, DC), p. 365
  6. ↑ Forney, Jacob (September 6, 1858), Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, UTAH SUPERINTENDENCY, September 6, 1858, by Jacob Forney, Superintendent of Indian Affairs,W.T., pp. 209–213
  7. ↑ "Treaty of the Uintah Reservation 6 June 1855".
  8. 1 2 "Timpanogos Tribe".
  9. ↑ "Treaty of the Uintah Reservation 6 June 1855".
  10. ↑ "Judge Rejects Motion Granting Tribe Special Rights".
  11. ↑ Note: this is in direct conflict with their prior argument in Ute Tribe v. Utah, (see cv75-408J);in which the Ute Tribe argued the Timpanogos were no part of them.
  12. ↑ "Timpanog Name".
  13. ↑ Note: This is controversial, as the Ute Indian Tribe was only formed and federally recognized in 1937. Prior to this, the several bands of Utes had existed separately in the territory of Colorado and Eastern Utah. They had been relocated by Congress, to the already existing Uinta Valley Reservation, in the 1880s.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, May 03, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.