As has been the case with so many Tribes, the Washoe culture and homelands have been decimated and invaded since the turn of the century. The Washoe Tribal Council— along with Barbara Snyder, a Washoe/Paiute living in New York City— are making a tremendous effort to reclaim some of the sacred lands.

Cave Rock

In particular, the Washoe are working to reclaim their "most sacred site"—Cave Rock— which is now being overrun by tourists and rock climbers. "The ground around this site has been paved over, people urinate in the cave, and rock climbers have placed pitons and metal bolts in the cave wall", says Barbara. Even the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) in 1999 candidly reported that "Cave Rock is a Washoe sacred site—a church— that should be designated a National Monument and not allowed to be defaced and devalued by rock climbing. Climbers at Cave Rock are an objectionable example of the Washoe Tribe being excluded from the Tahoe Basin and their heritage."

Barbara Snyder became a part of the vision to protect Cave Rock from the desecration that was currently happening. She could not approach Cave Rock, a place sacred to the Washoe people until certain protocols had been met. She went for the first time with an Elder from the Washoe Tribe in January 2002.

The first year she visited the site four times to offer prayers and make food offerings to the spirits of Cave Rock. The second year she went three times, since then she has visited twice a year. She has continued to support the efforts of the Washoe people to make Cave Rock a Traditional Cultural Property.

Her endeavors have helped to restore Cave Rock as a sacred site. In July, 2003 a record decision was rendered by the USFS to provide maximum protection for Cave Rock. January 29, 2005 Federal Court Judge McKibben upheld the decision to ban rock climbing at Cave Rock. In June 2005, the Access Fund (representing the rock climbers) filed an appeal and the case is presently waiting to be heard by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Washoe people continue the struggle to provide protection for sacred sites. The outcome of this decision is very important to other Native American organizations and tribes who are watching this case. This could set a precedent for the protection of sacred sites. The UN Permanent Forum, Session Five, will take place May 2006. It's entitled "Millennium Development Goals.” Topic Seven is the environment; this includes strength and protection for sacred sites around the world.

NCPC is proud to have been a contributor from the beginning of the Cave Rock Restoration Project, and we continue to support it.

The Story of De-ek Wadapush

On the eastern shore of Lake Tahoe, between what is now Glenbrook and Zephyr Cove, stands a natural monument of great spiritual significance to the Washoe people. Among the Washoe, Cave Rock is known as De-ek Wadapush (Standing Rock). It’s caves were frequented by the powerful supernatural beings--the Me-tsunge--referred to in English today as Waterbabies. These beings used the caves as a passageway from their homes in the depths of the lake when they chose to travel along the streams and through the lands inhabited by humans. It’s said that Waterbabies created all the lakes and streams of the region and that their powers are so great that utmost care should be taken not to offend them.

For this reason the Washoe people avoided trespass at Cave Rock out of respect for its ancient spirit owners. Any person passing by spoke a prayer and left an offering in their honor. Only great Damomliw (doctors/shamans) who possessed a Waterbaby as a guardian spirit dared to go into the caves to commune with them and to seek guidance. In the early part of this century a renown Washoe doctor named Willikushkush used the caves, and it is said that he and other men of special power could travel from Cave Rock to Carson Valley by way of a tunnel under the mountains...

Elderly Washoe remember the shock they felt when the highway was blasted through Cave Rock in 1931, and then again in the 1950s. They feared that the spirits of the place would be angered and would send a deluge of water from Lake Tahoe through the ancient tunnel under the mountains to flood Carson Valley and destroy all the people who had allowed such a desecration to occur... And though most modern Washoe people may not interpret these events in the same way as their parents or grandparents, they regard Lake Tahoe and Cave Rock as sacred places in their tradition. They deplore the pollution and silting of its once clear blue waters where large trout were so abundant they could be speared from the shore. For the hundreds of Washoe who once came to the lake every summer it was a major source of food and a center of ceremonial life. But after whites swarmed into the area during the last century, the Washoe were discouraged from fishing or camping at Tahoe as they had done since ancient times. There was no place left for the Washoe to gather there, and most younger people know of the wonders of the place only through the memories of their elders.

Yet every Washoe person knows that Lake Tahoe (Da-aw) was part of their ancient territory and that their ancestors had named every mountain, jutting rock, stream and cove around it. They know that it is a sacred place and that many of their people are buried there. Elders still recount the tales of origin and of the historical events that give this great lake its meaning to them. Most Washoe children have heard the story of Ang , the enormous man-eating bird that terrorized the earliest inhabitants of the area. It was eventually killed by a brave old man (some say a clever little boy) and its great bones could be seen scattered around its submerged nest few hundred yards off the shoreline of Cave Rock. It is said that Ang will return again if the Washoe forget their traditions or were disrespectful to the lake and it’s creatures.

Recently, the Washoe Tribal Council was dismayed to learn that Cave Rock was being vandalized by tourists and rock climbers. Debris is strewn about, large boulders moved aside, and there are signs of digging. The floor of the largest cave has been cemented over and lined with gravel paths. The elders of the tribe have called upon the Council and the U.S. Forest Service to take steps to prevent further desecration of Cave Rock as well as other sacred places around the lake. They call upon all those who share a concern for Washoe cultural heritage to respect it’s traditions and to help preserve the meaning and wonder of Lake Tahoe. And, please, let us not allow Cave Rock to be destroyed.

Warren L. D’Azevedo
University of Nevada, Reno
September 7, 1992

Cave Rock
(to the left of center)

CAVE ROCK UPDATE:

Appeals court backs climbing ban at sacred site
Tuesday, August 28, 2007

A ban on recreational climbing at Cave Rock, a sacred Washoe site, does not violate the U. S. Constitution, a federal appeals court ruled on Monday, August 27, 2007.

In a unanimous decision, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said the U. S. Forest Service acted lawfully when it banned climbing at the site. The three-judge panel cited the historical and cultural importance of Cave Rock not just to the Washoe Tribe, but to the entire country.

"The fact that Cave Rock is a sacred site to the Washoe does not diminish its importance as a national cultural resource," Judge J. Clifford Wallace wrote for the majority.

The decision marks the latest in a string of defeats for The Access Fund, a climbers' group that challenged the ban. The non-profit organization lost an administrative appeal and a lower court ruling.

At issue was whether the Forest Service's management plan for Lake Tahoe, where Cave Rock is located, violates the Constitution's Establishment Clause, which bars the government from favoring one religion over another. The climbers also said the plan was "arbitrary and capricious."

The 9th Circuit rejected the constitutional claim on two grounds. On the first, the court said the Forest Service's climbing ban served a "secular purpose" because it protects the cultural, historical and archaeological features of Cave Rock.

"Historical and cultural considerations motivate the preservation of national monuments that may have religious significance to many or even most visitors," Wallace wrote, comparing Cave Rock's importance to that of National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.

Second, the court said the ban doesn't favor Washoe religious beliefs. In fact, the Forest Service rejected the tribe's contention that all activity, not just climbing, should have been covered in the management plan.

"The Forest Service's chosen alternative not only provides for general public use and access well beyond members of the Washoe Tribe, but also permits activities that are incompatible with Washoe beliefs," the opinion stated.

As for the "arbitrary and capricious" claim, the 9th Circuit rejected the argument that the ban unfairly singles out climbing over other recreational activities. The decision pointed to years of unauthorized drilling and boring by climbers at Cave Rock, which the Washoe Tribe views as a desecration of the site.

"As documented in extensive research and consultation with various community groups, rock climbing harms the physical (not necessarily geological) integrity of the rock," Wallace wrote.

This isn't the first time the 9th Circuit has backed a government policy that protects sacred sites. In September 2004, the court said the state of Arizona acted lawfully by refusing to buy materials that were mined from a sacred Hopi, Navajo and Zuni site.

"Native American sacred sites of historical value are entitled to the same protection as the many Judeo-Christian religious sites," Judge Betty B. Fletcher wrote in a decision that was cited as precedent in the Cave Rock case.

>>READ MORE: Indianz.com story