Biagaweit: Securing Water from the Mighty River in the Snake River Basin Adjudication

This symposium article describes the Shoshone and Bannock peoples’ journey to quantify their water rights in the SRBA. It begins with the Shoshone-Bannock Tribal cultural perspective on water and water rights. It then discusses the concept of tribal homelands and the water required and necessary for sustaining a tribally reserved home as guaranteed in the Fort Bridger Treaty of 1868, including a discussion of the Winters doctrine which affirms the treaty’s promises. It concludes with a review of the Fort Hall Indian Water Rights Agreement.“Biagaweit” is the Shoshone word for the Snake River. The mighty Snake River begins its journey in the Shoshone and Bannock Tribal peoples’ aboriginal area (Yellowstone Park area in Wyoming), flows through the original homelands of the Bannocks and many Shoshone bands who lived on the Biagaweit.