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37-590: Before European settlement in the mid-19th century, there is evidence this area was used by the Washoe . After, it was known at times as "Devil's Valley," and most often used for cattle grazing. By the end of that century, the first formal step to limiting its development when it was made a Forest Reserve, managed first by the United States General Land Office , and later, by the US Forest Service . It

74-511: A language isolate , However, it is sometimes tentatively regarded as part of the controversial Hokan language family . The language is written in the Latin script . The Wašiw language is now considered a moribund language as only a handful of fluent elder speakers use the language. There has been a recent revival of the language and culture within the Tribe. "Wašiw Wagayay Maŋal" (the "house where Wašiw

111-408: A reservoir with shallow, clear waters sitting in a wide granite basin carved by glaciers of the last ice age. Many other alpine and wooded lakes of various sizes are scattered throughout the area. Washoe people The Washoe or Wašišiw ("people from here", or transliterated in older literature as Wa She Shu ) are a Great Basin tribe of Native Americans , living near Lake Tahoe at

148-589: A litter, though four is more usual. In the southern and lower parts of their range, they produce two litters each year. Douglas squirrels live in coniferous forest habitats along the Pacific Coast, from the Sierra Nevada (mountains) of California, northwards to the southwestern coast of British Columbia. Tamiasciurus douglasii prefer old-growth forests or mature second-growth forests, and some authors regard them as dependent on its presence. Mearns's squirrel

185-420: A single location or 'larder' called a midden . As the squirrel peels the scales of cones to get at the seeds, the discarded scales accumulate into piles that can grow to several meters across as the same site is used by generations of squirrels. Their predators include Pacific martens , bobcats , domestic cats , northern goshawks , and owls ; although they quickly acclimatize to human presence, humans can be

222-783: A specific permitting quota. Overnight permits are available online via recreation.gov and at select Forest Service ranger stations for a 'day of entry' permit, first-come, first-served. Day use permits are available at individual trailheads. The Desolation Wilderness provides a home for many species of plants, fish and wildlife. Desolation Wilderness supports predominantly red fir and lodgepole pine forests with associated species such as Jeffrey pine , mountain hemlock , ponderosa pine , western juniper , and western white pine . Most forested areas occur between 7,400 and 9,000 feet (2,300 and 2,700 m) of elevation, becoming patchy to rare at higher elevations. These hardy trees take root in excessively rocky and often nutrient-poor soils. As much of

259-401: A territory of about 10 000 square metres, but during the breeding season a mated pair will defend a single territory together. Douglas squirrels are active by day, throughout the year, often chattering noisily at intruders. On summer nights, they sleep in ball-shaped nests that they make in the trees, but in the winter they use holes in trees as nests. Groups of squirrels seen together during

296-409: A variety of game fish such as the rainbow and brook trout . Less common, but also present are brown and golden trout . The Crystal Range is within the wilderness area, with Pyramid Peak as the highest point in the range and the wilderness at 9,985 feet (3,043 m) in elevation. Among the many waterfalls within the wilderness is Horsetail Falls . Its largest body of water is Lake Aloha ,

333-544: Is a distinctive subspecies of the Douglas squirrel that instead inhabits xeric pine forests in a small portion of Baja California. Throughout most their range, Douglas squirrels essentially replace the niche of the American red squirrel , which inhabits the coniferous forests of the rest of North America. The two species have very minimal overlap in the territory. Douglas squirrels are territorial; in winter, each squirrel occupies

370-457: Is spoken") was the first attempt by the Wašiw people to renew their language for the future generations. The tribe currently relies on the tribal Cultural Resource Department to provide language classes to the community. However, there has recently been a pedagogical shift within the tribe, and the youth have become the focal point of language and culture programs. The Washoe people are considered to be

407-762: The Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California over the land around the Lake Tahoe area for cultural purposes. Under the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, the colonies in the Carson Valley area of Nevada and California gained federal recognition as the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California. The colony in Reno, Nevada , which also has a substantial Paiute, Washoe and Shoshoni population, gained separate recognition as

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444-518: The yellow-bellied marmot , golden-mantled ground squirrel and Douglas squirrel . Also found is a member of the rabbit and hare family, the pika . There are also a variety of mountain birds, including the Steller's jay , Clark's nutcracker , mountain chickadee , sooty grouse , mountain bluebird , American dipper , and occasional golden eagle . Within Desolation's numerous lakes and streams are also

481-529: The "Pillillooeet", in imitation of its characteristic alarm call . John Muir described the Douglas squirrel as "by far the most interesting and influential of the California Sciuridæ ". Adults are about 33 cm in length (including its tail, which is about 13 cm long), and weigh between 150 and 300 grams. Their appearance varies according to the season. In the summer, they are greyish or almost greenish-brown on their backs, and pale orange on

518-555: The Reno–Sparks Indian Colony. There is evidence that some Washoe settled in the southwest region of Montana . The Susanville Rancheria includes Washoe members, as well as Northern Paiute , Northeastern Maidu , Achomawi , and Atsugewi members. Douglas squirrel The Douglas squirrel ( Tamiasciurus douglasii ) is a pine squirrel found in western North America , from the Pacific Northwest (including

555-480: The Western world. Washoe culture was based mostly on the legends that carried the explanation of different areas of life. The legends were handed over from one generation to another by storytelling and were told to younger generations to teach them basic things about Washoe's way of living. Children could get to know about gathering techniques, medicine preparation, and the legends were meant to teach them how to appreciate

592-456: The balance as each way of obtaining food was equally crucial for these people to survive. Anthropologist Ernestine Friedl has noted that men and women's cooperation in gathering food lead to "no individual distributions of food and relatively little difference in male and female rights," contributing to gender equality amongst the pre-colonial Washoe. The Washoe / Wašiw language or Wá:šiw ʔítlu (today: Wašiw Wagayay ) has been regarded as

629-549: The border between California and Nevada . The name "Washoe" or "Washo" (as preferred by themselves) is derived from the autonym Waashiw ( wa·šiw or wá:šiw ) in the Washo language or from Wašišiw ( waší:šiw ), the plural form of wašiw. Washoe people have lived in the Great Basin and the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains for at least the last 6,000 years, some say up to 9,000 years or more. Prior to contact with Europeans,

666-420: The chest and belly, while legs and feet appear brown. In the winter, the coat is browner and the underside is grayer; also, the ears appear even tuftier than they do in summer. Like many squirrels, Douglas squirrels have a white eye-ring. Mating can occur as early as February. Gestation is about four weeks, and the young (which are altricial ) are weaned at about eight weeks of age. There may be up to six kits in

703-712: The east. Beside Lake Tahoe the Washoe utilized the upper ranges of the Carson ( dá:bal k'iláʔam ), Truckee ( dabayóduweʔ ), and West Walker rivers to the east as well the Sierra Valley (a site of extensive freshwater marshes filled with cattails, bulrushes and alkaline flats that drain into the Middle Fork Feather River ) to the north. The Washoe would generally spend the summer in the Sierra Nevada, especially at Lake Tahoe;

740-402: The expanses of barren rock. There are many wet meadows throughout the wilderness, each unique due to the differences in elevation, exposure, soil composition and soil depth, resulting in a wide diversity of annual and perennial plant life. A variety of wildflower species, sedges, and grasses inhabit these fragile wet areas. Aspen and willow are common to these wetland areas. Mule deer are

777-450: The fall in the ranges to the east; and the winter and spring in the valleys between them. Washoe Lake ( c'óʔyaʔ dáʔaw ) was named after them. The Washoe/Washo were loosely organized into three (in some sources four) regional groups speaking slightly different dialects , which in turn were divided in groups (cooperating extending families for the seasonal hunt and living together in winter camps) and in nuclear families. The regional group

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814-426: The fall provided much of the food eaten in the winter. Roots, seeds, berries and game provided much of the food eaten during the rest of the year. The Washoe people were also deeply knowledgeable about their land and where resources were plentiful. This included an understanding of the seasonal cycles of both plants and animals. Wašiw people were also dependent on fishing at Lake Tahoe and the surrounding streams. Fishing

851-602: The ground surface in Desolation is bedrock granite : soils are limited. Decomposed granite accumulations are often shallow deposits within glacially scoured basins. The most extensive forested areas are found on moist soils bordering lakes, streams, and meadows. The limited tree cover in Desolation is valuable for watershed protection, wildlife habitat, and aesthetics. The sparse woodlands of widely scattered western junipers and lodgepole pines are interrupted by patches of montane chaparral species such as pinemat manzanita , huckleberry oak , and mountain pride penstemon clinging to

888-545: The indigenous inhabitants of Lake Tahoe area, occupying the lake and surround lands for thousands of years. As the native inhabitants, they believe that they have the best knowledge of how the land should be maintained, and consider themselves to be the proper caretakers of the Lake Tahoe area, which has been a center Washoe tribes yearly cultural gatherings, where most traditional events took place. In 2002, The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources officially granted custody to

925-760: The land they were living in and give them a better understanding of Washoe's lifestyle. Children were raised in the environment which recognized family as the most valued thing. The whole Washoe life was concentrated on cooperation and unity, and older tribe members needed to convey their knowledge to the younger so the tribe culture would survive. Everyone in the family had his own role in everyday activities like fishing, gathering or hunting which helped Washoe people with doing everyday life tasks more efficiently. The area of residence of Washoe people let them obtain food from three different ways: fishing, gathering, and hunting. Since each way required having special skills and knowledge people were usually trained in one field to reduce

962-575: The largest of the game species found within the wilderness. Black bears are increasingly common, with individuals being displaced from the Tahoe Basin and lower elevation western slopes into the higher country. More common, yet seldom seen, are the smaller mammals like coyote , porcupine , badger , and bobcat . Species of special interest that are very rare in the area are the fisher , pine marten , red fox , and wolverine . Desolation also provides an ideal habitat for numerous alpine rodents such as

999-679: The last armed conflict with the Washoes and non-Indians was the Potato War of 1857, when starving Washoes were killed for gathering potatoes from a European-American farm near Honey Lake in California . Loss of the valley hunting grounds to farms and the piñon pine groves to feed Virginia City 's demand for lumber and charcoal drove most Washoe to dependency on jobs on white ranches and farms and in cities. The areas where they settled became known as Indian colonies . Piñon pine nuts gathered in

1036-548: The northern Sierra Nevada are regarded as early Washoe culture. The Martis complex may have overlapped with the Kings Beach culture, and Martis pit houses gave way to conical bark slab houses of historic Washoe culture. Washoe people may have made contact with Spanish explorers in the early 19th century, but the Washoe did not sustain contact with people of European culture until the 1848 California Gold Rush . Washoe resistance to incursions on their lands proved futile, and

1073-592: The northwestern coastal states of the United States as well as the southwestern coast of British Columbia in Canada ) to central California , with an isolated subspecies in northern Baja California , Mexico . It is sometimes known as the chickaree or pine squirrel , although these names are also used for the American red squirrel . Variant spellings of the common name are Douglas' squirrel and Douglas's squirrel . The Native Americans of Kings River called it

1110-399: The possibility of failing the tasks they were responsible for. Therefore, the Washoe tribe's life was dependent on the actual environment possibilities. Also, scarcity of sources would not let the tribe perform every way at once, therefore the Washoe lifestyle was divided into three periods: "the fishing year", "the gathering year" and "the hunting year". Fall was the richest in food season of

1147-500: The summer are likely to be juveniles from a single litter. Douglas squirrels mostly eat seeds of coniferous trees such as Douglas fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii ), Sitka spruce ( Picea sitchensis ) and shore pine ( Pinus contorta ). They also eat the fleshy scales of green giant sequoia cones, as well as acorns, berries, mushrooms, the eggs of birds such as yellow warblers , and some fruit including strawberries and plums. Douglas squirrels are larder hoarders, storing their food in

Desolation Wilderness - Misplaced Pages Continue

1184-558: The territory of the Washoe people centered around Lake Tahoe ( / ˈ t ɑː h oʊ / ; Washo : dáʔaw / daʔaw / Da ow – "the lake"; or dewʔá:gaʔa /dawʔa:gaʔa / Da ow aga – "edge of the lake") and was roughly bounded by the southern shore of Honey Lake in the north, the West Walker River , Topaz Lake , and Sonora Pass in the south, the Sierra Nevada crest in the west, and the Pine Nut Mountains and Virginia Range in

1221-501: The wilderness. A list of other trailheads that provide access to the wilderness follows. Permits are required for both day use and overnight camping. In the summer, a quota system is used for overnight trips to limit the number of visitors on any given day in the wilderness. Desolation Wilderness is one of the most heavily used protected areas in the United States. This Wilderness area is split up into 45 different zones, with each having

1258-400: The year as all ways of obtaining the food could have been performed. The winter period was the time of starvation as the stocks of food run out quickly and almost no food could have been obtained over the coldest months of the year. However, Washoe people learned how to survive the hardest time of the year by learning how to use the resources the land had given them. They knew they needed to keep

1295-460: Was a huge part of Wašiw life; and each family had its own fishing grounds, until contact with Western civilization led to commercial fishing in the area, destroying another important resource for the Wašiw. The Pine Nut Dance and girls' puberty rites remain very important ceremonies. The Wašiw people once relied on medicine men and their knowledge of medicinal plants and ceremonies. Much of this knowledge and activity has been lost due to contact with

1332-505: Was determined by where people had a winter camp: Since the western part of the Washo territory was in the mountains and subject to heavy snows, few people wintered there so very few were organized into the western group. Washoe people are the only Great Basin tribe whose language is not Numic , so they are believed to have inhabited the region prior to neighboring tribes. The Kings Beach Complex that emerged about 500 CE around Lake Tahoe and

1369-633: Was set aside as the Desolation Valley Primitive Area in 1931 with an area of 64,000 acres (260 km). In 1969, it became the Desolation Wilderness after the passage of the Wilderness Act of 1964. Desolation is a popular backpacking destination, with much barren rocky terrain at the edge of the tree line. It has extensive areas of bare granite rock formations . The Tahoe Rim Trail and Pacific Crest Trail pass through

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