The Shoshone-Bannocks Culture and Commerce at Fort Hall, 1870-1940 (review)

The Shoshone-Bannocks Culture and Commerce at Fort Hall, 1870–1940 provides readers with a historical view of the Shoshone, the Lemhi Shoshone, and the Bannocks at Fort Hall (in southeast Idaho) during the reservation era up to the beginning of World War II. In an era when Indian people were not expected to succeed in civilized society, Wheaton reveals how Shoshone-Bannock culture and commerce was resilient, and their entrepreneurial aptitude allowed them to survive and in some cases flourish. In short, the author portrays the Shoshone-Bannock people as "market savvy" Indians whose resiliency and forcefulness brought "agrarian success" (3).

The author uses Indian Agency records to provide readers with background information to show how, after Allotment, the Shoshone-Bannock people became successful entrepreneurs by simply observing the successful non-Indians on their borders and in their midst in a reciprocal culture of commerce. The documents and records from the Fort Hall Agency that provided the author with historic information on the Shoshones' and the Bannocks' assimilation suggests the need for further research on Indian agents among Indian tribes. The Indian agents themselves were players in the daily lives of many of the Indian people, but was it for good or ill? The answer is a matter of perspective, but, as Wheaton makes clear in his research, there was a high turnover rate for agents at the Fort Hall Agency, and a few of the agents did not want to be and found little satisfaction working with the Shoshone-Bannock people. In certain instances the Shoshone-Bannock people would "deflect agency attempts to exploit tribal divisions," especially with regard to the policy on the education of Indian children, by not obliging Indian agents' wishes, even knowing the consequences were the withholding of rations during the Ghost Dance movement.

Wheaton discusses the revival of the Ghost Dance among the Shoshone and the Bannock elders who were resistant to change and the forced cooperation they were subjected to by the Indian agent, who in turn informed government officials. Wheaton names the agents who requested military support to enforce the federal government's Indian education policy. He also provides an example of how the Shoshone-Bannock people responded when forced to conform and cooperate with federal policies or pay a heavy price. The Shoshone-Bannock knew the consequences and accepted them. The role of the Indian agents and their documentation of Indian–white relations at the Fort Hall Agency describe the community the Shoshone-Bannocks had created

The historical information that Wheaton provides is this book in chapters 2 and 3 offers insight into the daily operations of the Fort Hall Agency and the many Indian agents with whom the Shoshone-Bannock people were forced to cooperate, according to federal policy, from 1880–1900. Wheaton writes about the political unity among the bands of Shoshone and the Bannocks, who were spread out in a range of one hundred miles, that later resulted in a successful cattle ranching venture for the bands. Indian agency records are Wheaton's main source and his use of them is thorough and commendable. There are, no doubt, many people left at Fort Hall who remember the 1930s, and Wheaton's account might be more interesting if he could have used more personal testimony from the Indians themselves for the section on Roosevelt's New Deal era.

One of the enduring themes of agricultural success, and sometimes decline, on the Fort Hall Reservation, was the cattle industry. The hard-riding people took to this industry about as well, if not better, than other folks all over the American West. Even in this arena, however, their successes were linked to the larger non-Indian community and national market trends. Even when the market was poor, beef and deer hides were good subsistence because of the market for Indian goods. John Wheaton's thesis of the Shoshone-Bannocks at Fort Hall includes information about the Shoshone...