The Goshutes are a Native American tribe that once numbered 20,000. The name Goshute derived either from a leader named Goship or from Gutsipupiutsi, a Shoshonean word for Desert People. The Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians is a federally recognized Indian Tribe located in the west desert of Tooele County. They are part of the larger Shoshonean-speaking Native American groups that lived in the Intermountain West.
The Skull Valley Band of Goshute exemplify the historic Great Basin desert way of life perhaps better than does any other group because of the nature of their territory. Organized primarily in nuclear families, they hunted and gathered in family groups and would often cooperate with other family groups that usually made up a village.
They lived in the most desolate part of what is now the western portion of Utah and eastern Nevada. Because of this, their culture has long been recognized as the simplest of any to be found in the Great Basin. Although exact boundaries are hard to determine because of the nature of the land, they lived in the area between the Oquirrh Mountains on the east and Steptoe Mountain in eastern Nevada, and from the south end of the Great Salt Lake to an area almost parallel with the south end of Utah lake.
The first contact with whites was documented in 1826. The contact with whites remained sporadic and insignificant from that time until the arrival of the Mormons in 1847 when contact became continual and prolonged.
On October 12, 1863, a treaty was signed with the U.S. Government. In 1917, and again in 1918, by Executive Order, the U.S. Government set aside and reserved a specific area of land for the Skull Valley Goshute Indian Reservation.
The current enrollment is one hundred twenty three. Approximately thirty members live on the reservation, some on a permanent basis and some on a temporary basis. The balance live in the outlying cities or out-of-state. The Reservation consists of approximately 18,000 acres.
The Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians has no natural resources and rely on economic development to sustain them. They currently lease a rocket test facility located on the Reservation from which they currently derive their income and benefits.
Because the Skull Valley Goshute Reservation is located in an area which has been designated as a waste zone by the State of Utah, they must rely on economic development programs which are consistent with the numerous waste, production and testing facilities which surround the Reservation. They have been approached by numerous entities and have decided against a business relationship with most of them because they did not meet the strict criteria standards which the Tribal Band has established.
