Boise Mayor David Bieter has declared June 8, 2017 Return of the Boise Valley People Day in Boise, Idaho.
The Return of the Boise Valley People is an annual event where the original inhabitants of the valley join together to share stories, oral history, traditional customs, and pray for their ancestors.
The original Boise Valley inhabitants are descendants of the Burns Paiute of Oregon; Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs; also of Oregon, the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone of Nevada; the Shoshone-Paiute Tribe of Idaho and Nevada, along with the Shoshone-Bannock of Idaho.
Idaho Territorial Governor and Superintendent of Indian Affairs Caleb Lyons signed the Boise Treaty of 1864. The treaty said the Boise Shoshones would give up most of the valley but the exception was land 30 miles on each side from the center of the Boise River and to all country drained from its mouth to its source. An equal share of fisheries was promised and the land was relinquished in good faith but Congress never ratified the treaty. The title to the land has never been relinquished.
Cavalry forcibly removed tribal people from the area in 1869 when silver and gold were discovered in the Boise Valley. Most of the tribal people were marched to the areas they are now located. However some were imprisoned at either Fort Boise, Fort Simco or Fort Vancouver in Washington. It was a difficult time for all as many died along the way.
“The Boise Valley is important to all of us and we continue to return to Eagle Rock or Castle Rock located above Quarry View Park where we pray for our ancestors as many are buried there.”
