All about the ancient tribes
Traditionally, the Washoe were fishers, hunters of small mammals, and gatherers of pine nuts, acorns, and various roots and berries. They depended on deer and antelope for food, for clothing, and for hides to cover their cone-shaped dwellings.
The land where the Washoe people lived was a mix of the Sierra Nevada’s high mountains, low valleys and dry meadows. Because of the dry climate, fewer plants and animals populated the area than that of neighboring regions.
The Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California are a federally recognized tribe of Washoe Indians, living in California and Nevada. They are several communities south and east of Lake Tahoe united under a tribal council. The tribe owns over 64,300 acres (26,000 ha) in different parcels.
An indigenous Native American people, the Washoe originally lived around Lake Tahoe and adjacent areas of the Great Basin. Their tribe name derives from the Washoe word, waashiw (wa·šiw), meaning “people from here.”
These grass houses consisted of cone-shaped huts that were built using a frame of willow boughs and covered with reeds, branches and grass. The Washoe grass house was rounded at the base and at the top of the dome was an open smoke hole. Rocks were piled around the base of the grass house for added insulation.
Wa She Shu means “The People’s Place”.
As the native inhabitants, they believe that they have the best knowledge of how the land should be maintained, and consider themselves to be the proper caretakers of the Lake Tahoe area, which has been a center Washoe tribes yearly cultural gatherings, where most traditional events took place.
The name ” Washoe ” is derived from the autonym waashiw (wa·šiw) meaning “people from here” in the Washo language (transliterated in older literature as Wa She Shu (Wašišiw) the plural form of wašiw). Washoe people have lived in the Great Basin for at least the last 6,000 years.
Though there are variances in beliefs, roles, and duties in Native American tribal life, in general the Native spiritual leader is called a shaman.
Tahoe is a Native American name and literally means ‘big water’. Lake Tahoe in Nevada, United States, gets its name from the mispronunciation of the Washo ( Native American tribe) word, ‘da’aw’, which means ‘lake’.
Archaeological investigations trace evidence of the Washoe people from approximately two to five thousand years ago (Kings Beach and Martis culture complexes), but native history states that the Washoe people have been here since the beginning, when Old Woman harvested cattail seeds to make people.
Games like Baloyap, Sugayuk, or Hinoyowgi. These are the games of the Washoe people, a group native to the mountains and valleys straddling the California-Nevada border. And they’re critical for sustaining Washoe culture and language.
Tahoe. as a boys’ name is of Native American Indian origin, and the meaning of Tahoe is “big water”.
He was the only relative that remained for Walker when his parents died. He was born and raised in the Indian reservation, where Walker grew up learning the traditions of the tribe. His uncle gave him the name of Washoe which means Lone Eagle.