Rios Pacheco

Great Salt Lake was kind of like a reference point, because it was a gathering area for not just the Shoshone people but for other tribes that came to the area. So it gave a distinct landmark because of that type of water it was. Even though it wasn't fit to drink, it was still fit to be able to have different plants that grew from the resources that came from the lake, and a lot were plants that we use for medicines. Great Salt Lake also helped cleanse the wounds that you had because it would take out the bacteria with that water.

Rios Pacheco is the Cultural and History Advisor for the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation. He is also an artist and illustrator of the book Shoshone Plants of Antelope Island. Willows, one of the plants detailed, has been important for creating cradle boards to carry babies, baskets to carry duck eggs and jugs lined with pine gum to carry water. 

Pacheco has lived in Brigham City most of his life. He leads all of the spiritual blessings and ceremonies for his tribe, and he is currently helping guide his tribe’s restoration work at Wuda Ogwa, or Bear River, where the U.S. Army murdered an estimated 500 Shoshone people on January 29, 1863. For thousands of years prior to the Bear River Massacre, the site was a camping and gathering place for the Shoshone people. In 2018, the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation purchased their land back at the site, and they’re reclaiming and restoring the area to a gathering place once again.