On August 16th and 17th the Sacajawea Center is excited to welcome the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes to for the annual Agaidika (salmon eater) Gathering. Each year the tribe visits the Lemhi Valley to commemorate the forced removal of the Agaidika from their homeland in 1907. The Tribe hosts a number of activities and this year they are adding a few special events including a basketball tournament. Everything is free and open to the public.
On Friday, August 16th at 7am there will be a send-off for the Red Runners at Tendoy School. The Red Runners will run from Tendoy to Lima, Montana over Lemhi Pass. This 70 mile route was used when the Agaidika were marched out of the valley. At Lima they were put on a train and taken to Fort Hall, Idaho. Each year the tribe holds a spiritual walk/run from Tendoy to Lemhi Pass. However, last year several elders brought up the fact that the original walk was much longer. This year the Red Runners will be completing the entire journey.
Minnie Burton is being remembered by her family and tribe this year in several ways. Minnie was born in 1884 at Fort Lemhi. In the 1900 US census she is listed as “at school” (possibly at Hayden Creek or maybe already at Fort Shaw in Montana) while her parents, William and Maggie are living on the reservation near Lemhi, Idaho. From 1902 to 1904 Minnie played on the Fort Shaw Indian Boarding School women’s basketball team which became famous in Montana around 1902 and solidified their place in history during their time at the St. Louis 1904 World’s Fair. A history of the Fort Shaw basketball team can be found here!
Standing, from left: Rose LaRose, Flora Lucero, Katie Snell, Minnie Burton, Genevieve Healy, Sarah Mitchell. Seated, from left: Emma Sansaver, Genie Butch, Belle Johnson, Nettie Wirth. Fort Smith [Shaw] Indian School girl’s basketball team. U.S. Government Indian exhibit. [Louisiana Purchase Exposition]. Photograph by Jessie Tarbox Beals, 1904. World’s Fair Presentation Album 11, plate 801. Missouri Historical Society Photographs and Prints Collections. NS 20703. Scan © 2004, Missouri Historical Society.
In honor of Minnie there will be a 3-on-3 basketball tournament at the Salmon City Park court on Friday at 7pm. Team sign-ups begin at 6pm. There will be prizes for the winning team. Bring your own lawn chair and enjoy an evening of basketball!
Saturday morning will begin as it has for many years with a spiritual walk/run from Tendoy School to Lemhi Pass up Agency Creek Road (12 miles) at 7 a.m. This year the run is in memory of Minnie Burton. You can register for the run the morning of the event and even have breakfast before it begins right outside Tendoy School. There will be roving aid stations (ATVs loaded with water, sports drinks, and food) along the route and lunch is also provided at the top of Lemhi Pass.
The PBS documentary, “Playing For The World: 1904 Fort Shaw Indian Girls’ Basketball Team” will be shown at the Sacajawea Learning Center at 10am.
From 10am to 4pm the Lewis and Clark 1805 Living Experience will be doing demonstration at the Outdoor School. The living experience is an immersive 10-day program where participants explore what life would have been like for the Corps of Discovery here in the Lemhi Valley in 1805. There will also be various interpretive programs onsite throughout the day.
When the runners return from Lemhi Pass there will be children’s games in the Amphitheater around 3pm. At about 4pm the tribe will serve a community feast at the Amphitheater and there will be traditional singing and drumming to accompany a dancing exhibition. Bring your own blanket or lawn chair and join us in welcoming the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes home.
All times are subject to change. You can contact the Sacajawea Center with specific questions at 208.756.118
