Shoshone Indian Days a big hit for attendees
By Christina Gould
Staff Writer

It is an old form of entertainment, but people at the 49th annual Eastern Shoshone Indian Days in Fort Washakie attentively sat on bleachers circled around the arena with eyes wide open to watch fellow attendees of all ages compete in foot races and other events.
Chants for family members or friends were heard throughout the area as spectators sat under the shelter on a hot summer Saturday afternoon.
For friend trio Lily Spoonhunter, 11, Adrianna Soto, 11, and Marci Medicine, 10, the tug-of-war competition was the most interesting contest.
“I won at tug of war,” said Soto, who is from Nevada.
That event was only a part of the three-day event. Powwows took up Friday and Saturday nights with a parade and feast wrapping up the festivities Sunday.
Each of the three girls had their own opinion on what was the best part of Indian Days.
For Spoonhunter, who is from Fort Washakie, it was eating the homemade fry bread and Indian tacos that have brought her to the event every year since she can remember.
Soto agreed.
“I like the playing around and the eating,” she said.
This was Soto’s first time attending.
“I am here with my family,” she said. “It is cool. I met a lot of friends here, and I already want to come back next year.”
Soto met the other two girls, who are cousins, during the Shoshone reunion a few weeks ago.
“I wrote a note to her (Soto), and gave it to her and then started to play,” Spoonhunter said. “Then I introduced her to Marci.”
Another one of Soto’s favorite parts of the event is dancing in the powwows.
“It is by far my favorite thing,” she said. “I have been doing it ever since I was a little girl.”
Father and son James and Jesse Tone also were among the dancers last weekend.
“Last night we danced until 2 a.m.,” James Tone said on Saturday.
At least the two had a short commute to a tent they pitched in the field where the event was held, as did several other attendees.
“He (Jesse) dances in the junior boys grass, and I do men’s traditional,” the father said.
The two traveled six hours from Fort Hall, Idaho, to attend Indian Days.
“We have been coming for at least 10 years,” James Tone said. “We have family here. It is great to reunite with old friends and family and to meet new people.”
The powwow at Fort Washakie is just one of many the Tones attend during the summer.
“We enjoy powwows, and we like to travel around,” he said. “During the summer we attend powwows almost every weekend.”
The powwow circuit has so far taken the two to Montana, Nevada, Utah, Oregon and Washington.
There was one event, however, the Tones were disappointed had been taken out of Indian Days and changed to another week.
“We both do the Indian relay,” James Tone said. “We were disappointed they moved it to later this week in Lander. We leave before then.”