Forging a Path Through Trust

Amidst the shifting light of an autumn morning, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service trucks rolled into the South Fork Shoshone Tribal Headquarters. This was an opportunity for Forest Service employees in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest to meet with the Tribe in the first ever South Fork Band Cultural Workshop.

The Tribe is one of four bands that compromise the Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone Indians. They have a long history of resilience, having faced numerous challenges throughout history, and still they thrive. Today, they continue to maintain their cultural identity and traditions.

On the steps, Te Moak Tribal Council Member Dallas Smales and Elder Kathy Honeyestewa stood waiting, their presence exuding a quiet reverence.

From the beginning, it was clear the workshop was not going to be an ordinary meeting. The usual stiffness of federal workshops was absent, replaced by a sense of ease and natural, flowing conversations— focused not on directives, but on understanding the land and its cultural significance.

The Forest Service designated the Elko Front as a high-priority landscape in 2022 as part of the Wildfire Crisis Strategy and recognized the critical role of Tribes in this work.

Wendy Markham, Deputy District Ranger for the Ruby Mountains-Jarbidge Ranger District, has spent countless hours meeting with tribal members, sometimes multiple times a month, building relationships and trust. The result is a genuine alliance that culminated in this Tribal-led workshop. As Smales and Honeyestewa shared stories, it became clear this day would not only address wildfire strategies, but rather focus on reconnecting with and educating about a land that has sustained the Tribes for millennia. The agenda included a tour of the region with stops in strategically identified locations for discussions and reflection.

The Tribe and the Forest Service chose Ruby Lake Estates Fuel Reduction Project as the first stop for the workshop. The area includes five chosen units that were designed in coordination with the Nevada Department of Wildlife to promote healthy wildlife habitat. The group viewed the fire mitigation project, which began in 2019 for wildfire protection. The goal for this stop was to understand the Tribes’ view of mitigation in a place rich in tradition and where Tribes still harvest pine nuts to this day.

“My grandparents taught me that when the Rabbitbrush is in bloom, the pine nuts are ready to gather,” Smales said. “All the pine nut picking sites that my elders would go to hold significance.”

Here, Warren Graham, Tribal-Historical Preservation Officer for the Duckwater Shoshone Tribe, expressed concern for these sacred places to be viewed with the intention and detail they deserve. He urged the Forest Service and partner agencies to take a more thorough approach to the layers of millennia-old Tribal presence.

"What you don’t understand," Graham said, "is that all of these places are sacred, and asking the Tribes to explain their significance is not easy."

Trust, built through time and understanding, is precisely why this workshop mattered so much.

As the sun climbed higher, the field trip took the group along a mule deer migration corridor, rich with a natural spring and abundant willows and chokecherry bushes. The group made an unplanned stop here. Under an expansive blue sky, they gathered around an unusual rock outcropping. Inside the hollowed rock was a space perfectly suited for one person to sit and survey the vast landscape of Harrison Pass.

“These lands,” Honeyestewa announced, “they are important to us."

The weight of her words extended beyond her family or Tribe, conveying a message about the connection all humans have to the land. This sentiment became a defining moment of the field trip, illustrating that the work being done is for the benefit of all humanity.

The next stop, Soldier Canyon. The canyon embodied the interconnectedness of the land and the people. It is filled with pinyon trees, juniper, chokecherry bushes, and Dosa, a traditional medicinal plant for the Shoshone and Paiute. Juniper trees, with their berries and seeds, hold special significance.

The seeds inside the juniper berries are often used as jewelry, an expression of both beauty and cultural identity. Juniper berries are a tangible connection to their ancestors and their traditions. For thousands of years, Tribal members have used these resources to heal, nourish, and sustain the community both physically and spiritually. During the stop in Soldier Canyon the importance of holistic land management was emphasized. Protecting these plants wasn’t just about conservation but about preserving the very fabric of Tribal identity.

Conversations led to traditional recipes that use native flora and fauna and how Elders gather pine nuts, wild carrot, known as yamba, and other plants near roads which alleviates navigating rough terrain. This knowledge spurred an impromptu brainstorming session among the different agencies and Tribe. The conversation concluded with several new and innovative management solutions as potential future actions.

The light began to soften as the group reached the final stop, a cool-shaded spot where Smales’ cows grazed along a trail near a spring. Smales shared her growing concerns about a once vibrant aspen stand on nearby Forest Service-managed lands. Over the past few seasons, the stand has started to lose its luster. Her observations sparked questions among the group. Why are the trees struggling now? What does it mean for the range and the wider ecosystem?

The workshop was a turning point, blending Indigenous knowledge with modern science to create the shared purpose: to manage the land with respect for its history, protection for its present, and the promise of its future.