page_title: Reno-Sparks Indian Colony
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Reno-Sparks Indian Colony / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Located on what is now 1995 E. Second St., Sparks, Nevada, the Field Matron's Cottage was built circa 1925. The Rock Building as it is sometimes called currently serves as the home to the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony's Cultural Resources Department.
context_page_description: The Reno-Sparks Indian Colony in Nevada was established in the early 1900s by members of related tribes who lived near Reno for work; they became a federally recognized tribe in 1934 after forming a government under the Indian Reorganization Act.
  With its base in Reno, Nevada, the RSIC consists of 1,134 members from three Great Basin tribes: the Paiute, the Shoshone and the Washoe. The reservation lands have been limited, consisting of the original 28-acre Colony located in central-west Reno and another 1,920 acres put into trust for the tribe in 1984 in Hungry Valley, which is 19 miles north of the Colony and west of Spanish Springs, Nevada, in Eagle Canyon.
  In November 2016, the Barack Obama administration announced transfer of 13,400 acres of former Bureau of Land Management land to the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony. This was achieved under the Nevada Native Nations Lands Act. It authorized the transfer of more than 71,000 acres of BLM and U.S. Forest Service lands into trust status for six Nevada tribes. This will provide the tribes with more sustainable bases for their peoples, as well as enlist other parties with an interest in conservation of animals and resources.
context_section_description: The people who inhabited the Great Basin prior to European settlement were the Numa or Numu (Northern Paiute), the Washeshu (Washoe), the Newe (Shoshone), and the Nuwuvi (Southern Paiute). In each of these groups' language, their autonyms (names for themselves) meant "The People."
  Bands within these groups were often known by names that referred to their geographic location or characteristic foods. For example, the Agai Ticutta referred to the trout eaters near the Walker River;  the Toi Ticutta referred to the tule eaters near the Stillwater Marshes. The People continue to recognize their special place on Earth and all the life cycles.
  Traditionally, The People lived a well-planned, harmonious life which was predicated on their immediate surroundings and nature. Time could not be wasted. Knowing what the land would offer was a matter of survival, thus The People's migration patterns were strategic and well-thought-out.  The People followed the food and over the years, each band evolved as an efficient, social and economic unit that could comfortably inhabit the land.
  Living in cycles with the seasons, the Numu occupied the strip now known as Western Nevada, Eastern Nevada, Eastern Oregon, and Southern Idaho. The Washeshu gathered annually at Lake Tahoe and dispersed for several hundred miles throughout the remainder of the year. The Newe were found in what is today called Eastern Nevada, Utah, and Southern California. The Nuwuvi inhabited the Colorado River Basin, where they cultivated corn, squash, and beans (the three sisters), and wheat.
  Each group believed that the animals of the Great Basin, on which they depended for many for food, also gave insight to creation and wise guidance on how to live. Each group spoke a different language: Washo is a Hokoan derivative; and the other dialects are of Uto-Aztecan origin. They lived in relative peace with other tribes, as all had territory for procuring resources. Much trade and commerce occurred among the original inhabitants of the entire continent.  Conflicts occurred when a group raided or confiscated the resources of another group.
  Archeological evidence places the earliest residents of Nevada as living here about 10,000 years ago. In 1994, the Nevada State Museum carbon-dated remains which were unearthed in 1940 near Fallon. According to modern science, the burial remains of the Spirit Cave mummy prove that he lived in the area more than 9,400 years ago.
  Because Indian land in the Great Basin was one of the last major frontiers to be explored and settled by European-Americans, The People sustained their way-of-life and ethnic identity much longer than most Tribes in other parts of the country. When first contact occurred between Europeans and indigenous peoples in what would become Nevada, hundreds of other Tribes in areas of earlier settlement were already enduring the fourth major shift in U.S. Government policy toward American Indians.
  From 1492-1828, or during the Colonial Period, Indians were dealt with as sovereign nations.  Many treaties and agreements were negotiated with France and England, as these countries recognized that the Indians had their own form of government, their own leaders, and their own homelands.
  Around 1830, the Spanish Trail opened in southern Nevada and explorers and trappers made their way into the arid landscape. In the beginning, many tribal groups were curious about these newcomers and The People attempted to establish relationships with them. Yet, as time went on, cohabitation was difficult.
  Spanish records have little documentation of their explorers or traders being in Washo territory, but The People's oral history suggest there were encounters. Non-Indians first recorded being in Washo lands in 1826. The Shoshone and Northern Paiute also encountered non-Indians about this time.
  The explorers and settlers did not understand how The People survived well in this area, using seasonal bounty and living lightly on the land. Settlers struggled to establish farms or ranches according to their known models.
  The 1848 discovery of gold in Cali
caption: Matron's Cottage, built 1967; photo prior to renovation for use as cultural center