Shoshone ask for territory

Friday, March 21, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

The Western Shoshone have filed a motion in U.S. District Court seeking to protect its territory in the Great Basin.

Filed Thursday by Raymond Yowell, chief of the Western Shoshone National Council, the motion asks the court to resolve the relationship between the Shoshone Nation and the federal government, dating back to the Treaty of Ruby Valley of 1863.

Under the treaty, the Shoshone claim lands in the Great Basin, including most of Nevada.

The Shoshone contend that their ancestors lived there long before Europeans settled North America. Thus, they say they have the right to the land.

archive