Hopes Rise for Tribe That Has No Reservation : Native Americans: Federal actions may help the Timbisha Shoshone establish a land base at Death Valley. Only 40 to 60 members now live in a bleak settlement there.

For decades, the Timbisha Shoshone lived in fear of losing their historic homeland here.

One of the few federally recognized Native American tribes without a land base, the Timbisha were moved to a settlement near Furnace Creek in the mid-1930s by the National Park Service. They say the park service deliberately made life miserable for them, hoping they would move away.

“They wanted to get rid of us and they thought if they put us here we would all pull out, but we’re not going to pull out,” said tribal council member Grace Goad, 66. “This is our home from way back.”

Now, the Timbisha are hopeful that their fortunes might soon change.

The U.S. Senate recently passed an amendment to its version of the California Desert Protection Act providing for a one-year study period to identify suitable lands for a Timbisha Shoshone reservation. Efforts are under way to add a similar amendment to the House version of the bill.

The Timbisha were also recently awarded a federal grant to be used to begin identifying and acquiring a permanent land base and protecting longstanding cultural and natural resources. The tribe insists that the reservation be inside the borders of Death Valley National Monument.

Having their own reservation would allow them land for houses and economic development and make them eligible for federal grants and programs awarded only to tribes with a land base.

After years of attempting to achieve federal recognition as a tribe, the Timbisha--whose name refers to a reddish rock found in the mountains just east of the valley--finally gained that status in 1983. Their aboriginal homeland lies mostly within the proposed boundaries of Death Valley National Park as described in the desert bill.

Most of the tribe’s 276 members live outside the Death Valley area. Between 40 and 60 Timbisha people remain here in the 60-acre village, a bleak settlement consisting of several adobe houses and a few mobile homes.

For decades, luxury rooms at the exclusive Furnace Creek Inn resort have looked out over the Timbisha village less than two miles away.

The village lies in the path of sand blowing in from nearby dunes. The sand seeps into the houses through door and window openings and even electrical outlets, and kills plants and lawns, leaving much of the area barren.

About a dozen adobe houses were built for the Timbisha decades ago. Plumbing and electricity were installed just eight years ago, through a Department of Housing and Urban Development grant. Before that, tribe members said, they used outhouses, kerosene lamps and wood stoves.

During one period, the park service brought in fire hoses to demolish the adobe houses after the occupants died. Seven of the houses were destroyed.

“Those that live there live at the whim of the National Park Service,” said the tribe’s attorney, Frederick Marr of California Indian Legal Services. “The park service has rules, regulations and restrictions, so the tribe cannot practice its religion. . . . They can’t gather firewood without special permission. If they have bugs in their house, they have to get special permission from the park service to use Raid. They’re totally restricted.”

Tribe members also have complained about foul smells wafting toward their homes from sewer ponds for tourist facilities near the Timbisha village.

The current park service administration in Death Valley acknowledges that the Timbisha were mistreated by previous administrations.

“They may have some valid complaints,” said Linda Greene, a Death Valley National Monument cultural resources manager. “Certainly things were done and said that would not be done and said today, but we try to look at that as past history in working out a cooperative arrangement today. But a lot of those resentments are pretty strongly held.”

Although the Timbisha acknowledge that relations between the park service and the tribe have improved, a residue of resentment and mistrust keeps the relationship strained.

Disputes continue to arise, most recently over the removal of Shoshone artifacts. Park visitors can be prosecuted for picking up objects such as pieces of basketry or arrowheads, but the tribe complains that the park service itself gathers artifacts without consulting them and stores them in the Death Valley Museum.

“The problem is we can’t leave them on site once they’ve been discovered, because people walk away with them,” Greene said. “People have been looting all over the monument.”

Death Valley National Monument Supt. Ed Rothfuss said the park service favors the establishment of a two-year study period to find suitable lands for a Timbisha reservation, which could be either inside the proposed national park, entirely outside or some combination.

But Rothfuss said park officials have some concerns about how the Timbisha would develop their land.

“The National Park Service would want some assurance that those uses to which the tribe may put those lands would be compatible with the purposes and the spirit of a national park,” he said.

“For example, things like developing a motel, restaurants, or gift shops would be acceptable. Activities like high-rise apartments or a car dealership would not be compatible. . . . A gaming casino would be a totally incompatible concept.”

The Timbisha have said they would only build houses and facilities such as a store, gas station and curio shop.

Referring to their their quest for a reservation, Goad said, “I hope this works, because we want houses. Then a lot of our tribe will come back.”