Vivamus consectetur felis quis mi tempor mollis. Mauris laoreet sollicitudin elit, at pulvinar tellus ef- ficitur sit amet. Duis a eros tincidunt, egestas tortor nec, aliquet nunc.
Traditional activities, such as the women’s game “sigayuk,” (similar to field hockey) being played at the Washeshu ‘Itdeh festival in Valhalla at south Lake Tahoe, help perpetuate the Wašiw culture and language.
PRESERVING THE ELDERS’ KNOWLEDGE FOR THE NEXT GENERATION IS WHAT WILL KEEP THE WAŠIW LANGUAGE AND CULTURE ALIVE. WITH SO FEW FLUENT SPEAKERS, INFUSING THIS KNOWLEDGE INTO THE LIVES OF YOUTH WITHOUT AN IMMERSION SCHOOL IS DIFFICULT AND WHEN THE ELDERS ARE GONE, SO IS THE WISDOM THEY CARRY.
For the past two years, the tribe’s Cul-
tural Resources Department has led teams of Wašiw youth and other youth from Hawaii and California in clearing invasive plants and brush from Meeks Meadow on the west shore of Lake Tahoe. Adjoining Meeks Bay, a lake- front resort property that the tribe manages, the area was historically important to the tribe as medicinal and edible plants could be found in abundance, and trout and whitefish were plentiful. Herman shares Wašiw vocabulary with the volunteers and introduces them to a well-known rule that young hunters and fish- ermen were traditionally taught: “Take one, leave two” to leave “seed” for next year. This past October, the tribe celebrated
the eighth annual excursion to Taylor Creek, traditional fishing grounds for tribal mem- bers on Lake Tahoe’s south shore. Parents and grandparents joined with younger genera- tions to capture kokanee salmon during the
26 AMERICAN INDIAN SUMMER 2019
annual spawning runs. The kokanee is an introduced species and is outcompeting the native Lahontan cutthroat trout, which was once a staple of the Wašiw diet and an integral part of the mountain lake’s rich fishery. By re- introducing sustainable fishing practices such as avoiding overharvesting, the tribe hopes to restore the lake’s healthy trout population. Prior to the trip, experienced fishermen at the Dresslerville community center taught the youth how to make traditional traps, nets and
spears—“Ɂitlalit,” “digeš” and “Ɂitbayati”— out of willow branches. Another important event that has been re-
vived in earnest is the “ťagɨm Gumsabayʔ,” or pine nut ceremony. The pine nut groves cover
an arc of territory on the eastern edge of Wašiw homelands. The relationship between the people and the trees is so close that the Wašiw
phrase for “my pine nut lands”—“dikMaʔaš” —is extremely similar to the phrase for my
PHOTO BY HERMAN FILMORE
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