Book on Bear River Massacre from Shoshone perspective out now – Cache Valley Daily

The Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation has stated its intention to build an Interpretive Center at the site of the Bear River Massacre near Preston.   And now it looks like the groundbreaking for the project may take place in early summer of this year.

January 29^th is the 157^th anniversary of the tragic event and Shoshone tribal chairman Darren Parry has released a book about it that’s been getting a lot of positive attention.  On KVNU’s For the People program on Wednesday, Parry talked about what prompted him to write the book.

“It took about three years, but the thing that motivated me the most was my grandmother Mae Timbimboo Parry, she was our tribal historian, she was the keeper of the sacred records.  She did something years ago after going to boarding school that literally saved our tribe. She came home and began writing down all of the stories,” he explained.

Parry said his grandmother took those oral stories and while still continuing the oral tradition of storytelling, started writing down all the stories she had heard from her grandfather who had been at the massacre.

“So now we have a written text, and it was always her goal to write a book and she just ran out of time.  And so the whole book project for me was honoring her legacy, everything she had done for the tribe. And not only for our tribe…for other tribes.”

The book ‘The Bear River Massacre – a Shoshone History’ is available online at the Booktable and at Herms Inn where a book signing will take place the evening of January 23^rd from 6 to 8p.m. They’re asking those interested to RSVP.

Shoshone Tribal chairman Darren Parry talks to Jason Williams on For the People