Honoring Our Ancestors: Sierra Valley Wel-mel-ti

I grew up listening to my grandmother Carmelita’s stories about life in the Sierra Valley. This
oral tradition was more than entertainment -- the specific knowledge and values passed from
elder to child have sustained our Tribes in challenging environments for many thousands of
years. So, I always paid close attention, knowing it was my responsibility to practice what I’d
learned and continue to pass it on to the next generations.

“Elders in the tribe also had special status and wisdom that they accumulated as they
grew older. They were the keepers of the fire, and they taught the Washoe traditions
that they had learned from their grandparents. For this reason, the old ones were
treated with great respect. No one ever passed by an elder without saying something,
and during a feast, elders were always fed before anyone else.” (Dodds, 2009, p. 10)
The oral tradition was becoming harder to maintain by the time Carmelita was born in the
1930s. This is a reason the knowledge she’s shared is so precious, and a reason my family
and I are now sharing some of that knowledge in written form and with other teachers. By the
turn of the 20th century, European-American settlers had pushed most Washoes off their
homelands, and the U.S. government had taken many Washoe children away to the
repressive and abusive Indian boarding schools. This disconnection from the land and our
families disrupted Washoe oral history and cultural teachings, including traditional practices
like hunting, gathering, fishing, and healing.

The three bands of Washoe (Northern, Southern, and Eastern) had always lived in different
areas around Lake Tahoe, with some differences in customs and dialects. Some of the
ancient knowledge of the Sierra Valley Northern Washoe -- who we are in relation to the
world, how and why we do things – has been maintained only within families like Carmelita’s,
and is unknown to younger generations of the Washoe Tribe of Nevada & California. So, as
an adult, I interviewed my grandmother on topics she wanted to share about before her
passing. These lessons are based on her account, with additional perspective from some
family members and supplementary documents.

Because the Loyalton area Wel-mel-ti are no longer living there, Carmelita, her brother Wilbur
Smith, and her cousin Marvin Sam are honored in these lessons. It is important to their
descendants to pass on their teachings to future generations of Sierra Valley residents and
California students, for a complete understanding of history and place, and pride in the
attributes of the Sierra Valley Washoe people.

–Kellie Harry, with Jesse Blackburn