Population: 11,000
Elevation: N/A
Region: Northwest
Wind River Visitors Council
Annual Festivals: Shoshone Indian Days is held the last weekend in June every year. The Ethete Celebration Powwow is held every July.
Click here for Northern Arapaho Information
Click here for Eastern Shoshone Information
Home to two Indian nations, the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho, the Wind River Indian Reservation reaches 70 miles east to west and 55 miles north to south. It spreads over 2.2 million acres from Thermopolis on the northeast, to Shoshoni on the east, Lander on the south, and Dubois on the west. The population of the reservation includes 4,500 Arapaho and 2,500 Shoshone.
The reservation was established by the Fort Bridger Treaty of July 2, 1863. The original treaty included sections of Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. On July 3, 1868, a second treaty was signed which established the reservation on the present location.
There are a dozen powwows and all-Indian rodeos held throughout the summer months in the towns of Arapahoe, Crowheart, Ethete and Fort Washakie. Cultural program schedules can be obtained from the area Chambers of Commerce and the local tribal cultural centers. Visitors are welcome to attend most non-religious events on the reservation.
THE ARAPAHO AND SHOSHONE PEOPLE
The Northern Arapaho people were to have their own reservation set aside by the federal government, but as with many agreements in this infamous era of broken promises, this did not come to pass. In 1878, the government obtained permission from the Shoshone tribe to temporarily place the Arapaho on the Shoshone Indian Reservation until a new reservation could be determined. However, a new administration moved into the White House soon after this arrangement and all promises made by the previous administration were forgotten. Consequently, the Arapaho remained on the Shoshone Indian Reservation.
The government officially changed the reservation name to the Wind River Indian Reservation and recognized it as jointly owned by the two tribes in 1937.