Native American Cultural Resource Studies at Yucca Mountain, Nevada Richard W. Stoffle David B. Halmo John E. Olmsted Michael J. Evans i i i i The Research Report Series of the Institute for Social Research is composed of significant reports published at the completion of a research project. These reports are generally prepared by the principal research investigators and are directed to selected users of this information. Research Reports are intended as technical documents which provide rapid dissemination of new knowledge resulting from ISR research. Native American Cultural Resource Studies at Yucca Mountain, Nevada Richard W. Stoffle David B. Halmo John E. Olmsted Michael J. Evans Institute for Social Research The University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan 1990 This volume was originally prepared for Science Applications International Corporation of Las Vegas, Nevada (work performed under Contract No. DE-AC08-87NV10576). Disclaimer This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by the United States Government. Neither the United States nor the United States Department of Energy, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any Information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, mark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the Unites States Government or any agency thereof. The view and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of tbe United States Government or any agency thereof. Library of Congress Cato log Ing-in-Publ icat Ian Data Native Anerlcan cultural resource studies at Yucca Mountain. Nevada / Richard H. Stoffle ... let al.j ; Institute for Social Resiarch. University of Michigan. Ann Arbor, Michigan ; prepared for Science Applications International Corporation. Las Vegas. Nevada, p. c*. Inc > udes blb 1lograph1ca1 references. ISSN 0-87944-328-6 r $20.00 (est.) l. Indians of North Anertca—Nevada—Yucca Mountain Region- -Antlquitles. 2. Indians of North America—Nevada—Yucca Mountain Region—History. 3. Yucca Mountain Region (Nev.)—Antiquities. 4. Ntvada—Antiquities. I. StafFla, Richard W. II. University of Michigan. Institute for Social Research. III. Science Applications International Corporat i on. E78.NaN33 1990 979. 3" 3C—dc20 89-71729 CIP ISR Code Number 9030 ISBN 0-87944-328-6 Copyright 1900 by The University of Michigan, All Rights Reserved Published in 1990 by: Institute for Social Research, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This report presents an integrated analysis of findings generated during more than a year's work on the Yucca Mountain Project Native American cultural resources study. It is the result of a collaborative, diligent effort put forth by many individuals. The authors would like to extend their sincere thanks to Dr. Tom Greider, SAIC, Las Vegas, for his tireless assistance in helping to coordinate and arrange the American Indian on-site visits, providing essential field equipment, preparing route maps, and offering valuable comments on the interim reports. Various individuals at SAIC, too numerous to mention here by name, served as support staff and are also gratefully acknowledged for their help in coordinating the past year's efforts. Several social and biological scientists made valuable contributions to this study. We would particularly like to thank Dr. Lonnie Pippin and Cari Lockett of the Desert Research Institute in Reno, Nevada, for selecting archaeological sites for visitation by Native American participants and their comments on the first interim cultural resources report. Dr. Tom O'Farrell, Betsy Collins, and Cathy Wills of EG&G Energy Measurements, Goleta, California, assisted in site selection and coordinating the ethnobotany on-site visits. Betsy and Cathy also served as field escorts and photographers during the early portion of the ethnobotanical field work. Angela Colarusso and Steve Woolfolk of SAIC also served as on-site escorts throughout the study. The efforts of all of these individuals in making the Native American on-site visits a success are greatly appreciated. A special thanks must go to Dr. Wesley E. Niles and Joan T. O'Farrell, of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, for their assistance during the ethnobotanical field work, collecting voucher specimens, providing scientific identification of Native American plants, and making significant written contributions to the interim ethnobotany report. Their participation in the ethnobotany study was invaluable to its success. For their expert advice, comments, criticisms and suggestions throughout the course of the study, we are most grateful to Dr. Richard v I. Ford of the University of Michigan; Dr. Florence C. Shipek, San Diego, California; and Dr. Henry F. Dobyns, Edmond, Oklahoma. At the Institute for Social Research, special thanks must be given to Susan Clemmer for her help in typing and editing various versions of the present report. We are grateful, also, for her help in past report production. Most importantly, this report could not have been written without the participation of the many Native American people who took time out from their busy schedules and traveled many miles to attend meetings and share their knowledge about traditional life and resources with us during the on-site visits. We thank the chairpersons and Official Tribal Contact Representatives of each of the 16 involved tribes for all of their efforts throughout the project. To all of these Indian people, the authors would like to express their deepest appreciation and gratitude. Despite the appearance of the four author's names at the front of this report, the vast majority of data inside has come directly from the Native American participants (See Appendix D). To a very real extent, therefore, this is their report. SPECIAL RECOGNITION Special recognition needs to be accorded to Dan Bulletts, a study team member who has participated in more than a dozen American Indian cultural resource studies over the past decade. Dan is a Southern Paiute person who has observed much in his 86 years. He has been a sheep herder, cowboy, cat-skinner, farmer, Indian doctor, religious leader and, during the past decade, the spiritual and intellectual core of our study team. Because of Dan, more than a dozen tribal governments and hundreds of Indian people have trusted our team to represent their cultural concerns. Dan translates the complex legal and technical aspects of projects into terms that are meaningful from an Indian perspective. During field work, Dan talks with elders in their own language, facilitating recall and providing them with a culturally appropriate atmosphere for identifying and interpreting cultural resources. Teaching in a traditional Indian style, Dan quietly explains both our failures and our successes in cross-cultural communication; then, he provides guidance for improving our research methods. Because of Dan, there are more complete findings and more complete interpretations associated with the Yucca Mountain American Indian study. vi • . • Photo 1. Dan Bulletts, Canyon Lands, Utah, 1989 • i Photo 2. Dan Bulletts, Skull Valley, Utah, 1989 vu Photo 3. Mike Evans, Death Valley, California, 1988 i ft Photo 4. David B. Halmo, Death Valley, California, 1988 viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword by Richard I. Ford xxi CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1 Repository Site Characterization 3 Background for Native American Involvement 4 American Indian Religious Freedom Act 4 National Historic Preservation Act 5 Yucca Mountain Programmatic Agreement 6 Involved Indian Tribes 6 Cultural Resources Study Area 9 Organization of this Report 9 CHAPTER TWO INTERPRETING CULTURAL RESOURCES 11 World View: American Indians and Western Scientists 12 Archaeologists and American Indian Interpretations 13 Occupational Complex Model 13 Holistic Analysis 14 Labor Efficiency 14 Life-Force in Nature 14 Holy Lands 15 Spatial Analysis Model 16 Micro Spatial Analysis 16 Semi-Micro Spatial Analysis 17 Macro Spatial Analysis 17 Summary 19 Rules of Evidence: What is Valid Knowledge? 20 Supernatural Data 21 Oral History Data 22 Culturally-Based Logical Data 22 Summary 23 Cultural Significance: Who's To Decide? 24 ix Academic Significance 24 Regulatory Significance 25 American Indian Significance 25 Conclusion 26 CHAPTER THREE ETHNOHISTORY OF NATIVE AMERICAN PEOPLE IN THE YUCCA MOUNTAIN REGION 28 Traditional Paiute and Shoshone Adaptations in the Region . 29 Summary of Interactions between Euroamericans and Native Americans since Contact 35 Competition in the Early Contact Period: 1776 to the mid-1800s 39 Competition and Cooperation: mid 1800s to 1904 44 Native American Response to Mormon Colonization in the 1850s 44 Native American Interaction with Euroamericans: 1860s and 1870s 45 Native American Resistance 46 Economic Interaction and Intermarriage 47 Demographic Change 52 Manipulation of Ethnicity 52 Native American Cultural Persistence 55 Euroamerican Dominance: The Early 1900s 56 Labor Camps, Refuge Areas, and Independent Farming: Complementary Strategies 58 Native American Labor Categories 64 Resource Appropriation 66 Demographic Decline 67 Interethnic Relations 67 Sociopolitical Organization