“Nevada Penkh Nemmen Nakkant” “Nevada Is Where We Live”
By Antoinette Cavanaugh
The earthy scent upon the cool morning air silently announces northern Nevada’s perennial transition of seasonal change to fall. Fine, airy tendrils playfully tease at loose strands of hair playing them against my forehead as if tugging at seemingly ancient Shoshone memories embedded at the back of my mind, announcing, “It is time.”
My internal voice confirms, “Yes, it is time,” as I look out over the high desert valley that I call home.
This land, known in the Western Shoshoni language as, “Newe Sogobi,” means “land of Our People.” This land is vast, diverse, fragile, and magically rich in the abundance of all that sustains life. This land can be harsh, yet forgiving; predictable, yet surprising; beautifully resilient, yet magnificently fragile. On occasion, through petroglyphs, pictographs, archeological discoveries, and through indigenous legends, songs, and prayer ceremonies, secrets about how to live with this land and stories about those who have lived before us, are revealed. Yellow willow’s lightly acidic scent mixed with soothing sage successfully delivers the secret message that it is time, once again, for transition and preparation for winter.
Original artwork, Cradleboard, Antoinette Cavanaugh.
Photo/Antoinette Cavanaugh.
Fall is the time to offer up prayers of gratitude for all that this ecologically fragile, but rich land offers to sustain life in the high desert. It is the season to gather and prepare sehepi (willow), the naturally, strong and flexible fibers woven to make utility baskets used for the processes of harvesting and storing foods or for making cradleboards that carry and protect future generations. For winter storage, it is time to gather and prepare, berries, seeds, and nuts rich in fiber, antioxidants, and protein. It is time to gather the prized debah (pine nuts), a food source now known to humankind as one of the most nutritiously balanced foods on earth. It is also a time to prepare for and hunt for dehiya (deer), wahnzi (antelope), and other wild game to be preserved for winter provisions.
Photo/Norman Cavanaugh.
The Numu (Northern Paiute), Wa She Shu (Washoe), and Newe (Western Shoshone) have lived for thousands of years in the Great Basin area, living in small, nomadic bands practiced in the art and science of hunting and gathering foods, medicines, and other resources offered by this diverse homeland. Nomadic movement across the Great Basin landscape, done in concert with the changing seasons, was carefully orchestrated to ensure that essential resources would be naturally replenished to maintain the delicate balance of existing life systems. In celebration and in expression of gratitude for all things, tribal nations continue to gather across Nevada to sing songs about Phaa (water), Debah, Whanzi, and Pha’ahma (rain) while also dancing the owl, bear, pine nut, snow, and basket dances, to name a few. To understand the indigenous people’s value for their land base, is to hear and sense the ancient songs sung about it. Katherine Blossom, a respected educator and elder of the Western Shoshone, sings a song with the lyrics, “Dammen Sogobi TsaanNaboi(th),” which translates to the English language as, “Our Land is Beautiful.” In 1933, the Nevada legislature, established “Admission Day,” better known as “Nevada Day.” During that legislative session, state leaders also adopted the state song, written my Mrs. Bertha Raffetto, titled, “Home Means Nevada.” The lyrics describe the vast homelands of the Indigenous Peoples of the Great Basin and others who also began to call Nevada home. The lyrics, “Home means Nevada. Home means the hills, home means the sage and the pine…” conveys, in the English language, the natural beauty, power, and value of the landscape of Nevada.
Across Nevada, it is the season to celebrate and pay our respects for the many gifts presented by our high desert land. This land is vast, diverse, fragile, and magically rich in the abundance of all that sustains life. Nevada, penkh nemmen nakkant, “Nevada, is where we live.” Happy Nevada Day.
Photo/Norman Cavanaugh.
Antoinette Cavanaugh is the board chair of the Nevada Humanities Board of Trustees. She is an enrolled member of the Shoshone Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Indian Reservation. Her passions lie in writing, beading, weaving, and being of service to others through building diversity awareness, inclusive practices, and equitable opportunities for all.