A crowd of around 150 people gathered Thursday for the 163rd annual Gathering of Remembrance memorial service at the historic Bear River Massacre monument just north of Preston.
The massacre was horrific, leaving hundreds of Shoshone men, women and children dead. Some accounts call it the largest mass murder of Native Americans by the U.S. military in the nation’s history.
Yet the members of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation — the direct descendants of the massacre’s victims — endure.
“This was not a battle. It was not a fair fight,” Jason S. Walker, chairman of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation, said at Thursday’s memorial service. “It was an attack on a winter village. Families, elders and children, people who were just trying to survive the cold like everyone else.”
Bradley Parry, the tribe’s vice chairman and the event’s keynote speaker, described the morning of the Jan. 29, 1863, massacre as bitterly cold.
“I’ve read soldiers’ accounts where they were upset that their whiskey was freezing in the barrels so you can imagine how cold that was,” Parry said.
Parry addressed a common misconception that the tribe’s families were left to fend for themselves against the Army soldiers.
“There have been several papers written by former Army members that talk about the arrogance of our people for leaving our women and children sleeping in the teepees. That people rested because we thought we could win any fight,” Parry said. “We thought these were just men who were coming to talk to us. That is why we left our people there. We didn’t think we were going to be in this fight.”
Many tribal members tried to flee once it became clear the Army was attacking their encampment. But they were surrounded. Hand-to-hand fighting ensued and the few survivors were either left for dead or hid well enough to escape detection.
“We are not here to rewrite history,” Walker said. “But to complete it. We are here to speak the names of those who are lost. To honor their lives and ensure that what happened, that the Bear River Massacre, is no longer forgotten or dismissed. Awareness is not about blame. It’s about truth, understanding and respect.”
Following the speeches, the Reading of the Names Ceremony began with Gracie Reyes and Lilly Martinez reading dozens of additional names added to the list of the fallen this year after being uncovered by ongoing research.
Some estimate that nearly 500 Native Americans were killed during the massacre. Fourteen Army soldiers died during the attack.
Thursday’s memorial service also saw Idaho Historic Preservation Officer Rick Phillips read the state proclamation signed by Gov. Brad Little declaring Jan. 29 as a day of remembrance of the Bear River Massacre and encouraging Idaho citizens to recognize the special observance. Phillips then presented the framed proclamation to Walker.
Parry also addressed questions about trees removed from the massacre site, explaining that Russian olives are not native to the area and were replaced with native trees. The tribe’s ongoing restoration of the massacre site will also include plants and herbs that people will eventually be able to harvest and use to teach their children traditional gathering practices.
At the conclusion of Thursday’s service, smudging — a sacred traditional purification ceremony involving the burning of sacred herbs — was offered to those who desired it, performed by Rios Pacheco.
Attendees were also invited to visit a teepee set up above the Bear River for the Sunrise Ceremony performed earlier in the day.