Great Basin Tribes Seek National Monument Status for Sacred Nevada Site

Bahsahwahbee, a site of historical significance and spiritual importance, could be recognized for its cultural and historical value.

The Ely Shoshone, Duckwater Shoshone, and the Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation are lobbying the federal government to designate nearly 40 square miles as Bahsahwahbee National Monument.
Bahsahwahbee, Shoshoni for 'Sacred Water Valley', is a site of historical significance where hundreds of Native people were massacred in the 1800s.
The site is considered sacred by the tribes, who believe the spirits of their ancestors live on in the trees growing among the open graves.
The tribes had to defend the valley's historical significance in state hearings in the 2000s when authorities considered diverting substantial amounts of groundwater that feeds the valley.
The designation has broad support from the three tribes as well as the Nevada Legislature and the state’s U.S. senators, Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen.