Healing the Watershed: How the Northwestern Shoshone are Restoring Wuda Ogwa

The Northwestern Shoshone have called Great Salt Lake and the Bear River home for time immemorial. In 2018, the tribe bought back their land at the Bear River Massacre Site, where the U.S. Military murdered an estimated 500 Shoshone people in 1863. Now, the tribe is reclaiming their land and leading a massive restoration effort, including repairing the waterways and planting thousands of native plants. The tribe estimates that these efforts will return 13,000 acre-feet of water annually to Great Salt Lake — with hopes of increasing that number.

In this episode, host Olivia Juarez talks with Brad Parry, Vice Chairman of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation, about the Wuda Ogwa project and the importance of Great Salt Lake and the Bear River to the Shoshone people.

Resources and references:

RSVP for the tree planting day at Wuda Ogwa

The Northwestern Shoshone are restoring the Bear River Massacre site [High Country News]

‘You Can’t Erase Us’: Shoshone and Ute Connections to Great Salt Lake [Stay Salty: Lakefacing Stories, Episode 3]