New trail signs at Craters of the Moon honor Shoshone-Bannock Tribes

(Idaho Capital Sun) — This year marks 100 years since Craters of the Moon was first designated a national monument and preserve by the federal government. But long before that designation, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes lived and stewarded the land, and shared many tales of its origin.

At a ceremony – dedicated to a new interpretive trail honoring the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes at Craters of the Moon – with the National Park Service on Friday, Rose Ann Abrahamson, a member of the Tribes and descendant of Sacajawea, shared the Tribes’ oral history behind the volcanic monument.

Among the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, it was said that long ago on salmon eater lands there lived a “doe-gwo’ah pah-do-up,” a snake-like reptile that nested in southern Idaho, Abrahamson said. One day, the creature moved and curled itself around a small mountain.

During a storm one day, the creature awoke to lightning strikes near it.

“His coils started to tighten around that mountain, and he started squeezing and squeezing and squeezing until molten rock came from underneath the ground and around him,” she told the crowd. “The old people said it caused this place that you see here today, Craters of the Moon.”

The story of the “doe-gwo’ah pah-do-up” is just one of the many stories passed down through the Tribes. Now, with the new interpretive signs located at the Devil’s Orchard Nature Trail within the preserve, visitors can learn about the Shoshone-Bannock people’s historical connection to the volcanic landscape.

Signs are an effort to tell a more inclusive story

The National Park Service began discussion of a partnership with the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes six years ago, said Wade Vagias, superintendent of Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve.

Today, Craters of the Moon receives more than 250,000 visitors annually, and tourism to the monument brings up to $12 million of dollars to the local economy, the Idaho Capital Sun previously reported.

While its monument designation has benefited the Idaho economy, Vagias said he is “so cognizant” of the role that the designation played at displacing the Tribes. The new trail signs are an effort to tell a more inclusive story of Idaho’s beloved monument.

The interpretive signs highlight aspects of Shoshone-Bannock Tribal history, perspective, culture and language.

Bailey Dann, a resource and education specialist with the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, said the project is a way for everybody to learn that the Tribes’ history extends beyond what is taught in history classes.

“Our presence, our people, have always been here, and we will always be here,” Dann said. “I want to emphasize that, because our story is not in history books… and it’s not from our perspective. This collaborative project with the National Park Service and the Shoshone-Bannock Tribe is really a powerful way that we can reclaim our story and share it with the world in a way that’s appropriate and from our perspective.”