ABOUT THE ARTIST

David Snooks is a Native American of Washoe descent. He grew up in the Sierra Nevada foothills near Jackson, California, fifty miles east of Sacramento. After college and a stint as a Pan American flight attendant, he returned to Jackson to pursue archaeological work. David later became an interpreter for the Park Service at the State Indian Museum, before deciding to focus on his artistic endeavors.

David attributes his artistic talents to his parents: his father had a gift for producing images from original drawings, and his mother, Juanita Snooks, was an accomplished basket maker, as were her mother and grandmother. Juanita specialized in making traditional cradle boards from willow (in photo,  below). Although David has no formal art training, the influence of his parents and culture are reflected in his work. Traditional colors, themes, designs and materials characterize his art, but he often playfully incorporates modern and non-traditional images, as well. 

Before Contact  Lake Tahoe and approximately 10,000 square miles of land surrounding the lake were once home to and the responsibility of the Washoe (Washo) Indians. Washoe existence at the lake centered around fishing camps and milling sites located in lush meadows within view of the lake and along permanent streams.

By comparing the similarity of artifacts found at archaeological sites, archaeologists track Washoe lifeways back about two thousand years. Linguists think Washoe origins are earlier than any other Sierran or Great Basin Indian culture. The Washoe language is unique and unrelated to those spoken by neighboring tribes. Washoe tradition indicates that their homeland has always included Lake Tahoe and makes no reference to migrations from other worlds, as is common in other cultures. The Washoe were first to name Lake Tahoe simply “the Lake,” just as locals do today. Da ow ga, the Washoe word for “lake” is thought to be the source for the name “Tahoe.” All other lakes in the Washoe language include a descriptor: the Washoe name for the Pacific Ocean, for instance, is da ow ga shemu, meaning “real lake.”

Contact, or the Encroachment   Lake Tahoe, like the rest of the American West, was once the territory of native people—“Indians,” as Columbus named them. Discoveries of gold and silver attracted overwhelming numbers of immigrants from around the world. At Lake Tahoe, it was the 1859 Comstock silver strike in Virginia City that transformed the landscape into a frontier for massive resource extraction. After contact with non-Indian cultures (or the “encroachment,” as the Washoe describe it) in the mid 1800s, the Washoe endured as a people, many maintaining ties to Lake Tahoe even after being forced from family camps and upland resource areas. Families continued to trek to the lake each spring, gathering seeds and medicinal roots, making baskets, speaking their language, raising their children, and working as domestics, laborers, and game guides for the resorts. They maintained remnants of their lifeways and cultural traditions, even as their leaders struggled for political and social reforms and requested land and protection for their resources. 

 “Encroachment” is the legal term the federal government used to describe the process by which the Washoe gradually lost their territory: “The evidence shows that from 1848 to 1863 the area was overrun by miners, settlers and others with the approval, encouragement and support of the United States government. Encroachment continued with increasing intensity until by December 31, 1862, the tribe had lost all of its lands.” 

Today   Approximately 1500 enrolled members of the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California live on “Colonies,” tribal lands scattered in the Reno, Carson Valley, and Gardnerville areas of Nevada and in Woodfords, California. Tribal headquarters are in Gardnerville and Stewart Indian School An active tribal government continues to lobby for a land base in the Lake Tahoe basin and works with federal and state agencies and private land owners to protect locations important to Washoe Heritage.

During a recent visit to Lam Watah, a cultural site where Washoe people once lived, one tribal Elder stated: 

Yes, [the lake] was a sacred place. It is to us yet, even though it is so different today from what it was in our people’s time, before the white people came. It is hard to see what is happening to it, the surrounding area. The land is valuable, and not just in monetary value, but it was our land and we love it. We were taught to respect everything from the land… So it is very precious to us still… we were the first people to take care of the land and all the plants and things that grow. And it feels good to come up here and see these things and to walk around and remember… and hopefully the people who are here now will have respect and take care of the area…

Nevers, Jo Ann. Wa She Shu: A Washo Tribal History. Inter-Tribal Council of Nevada, 1974.

D’Azevedo, Warren L. “The Washoe” IN Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 11. Smithsonian Press, 1986.

Danberg, Grace. Washo Tales: Three Original Washo Indian Legends. Nevada State Museum Occasional Paper no. 1, 1968.