Tüpippüh Valley (Death Valley National Park) 

ABOUT THIS LAND AND ITS INDIGENOUS PEOPLE 

Tüpippüh is the Timbisha name for their ancestral homeland and we encourage you to use this name, as calling this land ‘Death Valley’ is offensive to many tribe members.  The name Timbisha comes from the red healing ochre that was collected in this region by the Original People of this land.

If you are participating in a Lost Borders Program that takes place in Death Valley National Park, please join us in honoring that the ceremony  will be held on the ancestral, historical and contemporary lands of the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe. 

The story of  How the Timbisha Shoshone Got Their Land Back is a remarkable testimony of the tenacity of the Timbisha and a 65-year struggle to secure a permanent land base within their ancestral home. The act transferred 7,753.99 acres to the tribe in the year 2000, including 313.99 acres at Furnace Creek. 

There is an excellent documentary film, a little over an hour, called 'The Women in the Sand'. It may be available other places but we know for sure  that it is available on Amazon.   See the trailer below for a taste.

Today only 35 to 40 Timbisha Shoshone live year-round at the homeland within DVNP, after being forcibly removed in the early 1900’s and many relocated to the Big Pine reservation.  Their tribal membership numbers range around 400 regionally.  

Timbisha Shoshone residing in their original homeland today continue to face multiple sets of challenges, from federal land management, to intertribal conflicts, to climate change resulting in increasing temperature spikes that dry up critical traditional food sources like pine nuts in higher elevation regions where they are gathered seasonally.  

While there currently is no official indigenous cultural center, the Timbisha operate “Timbisha Indian Tacos” (Facebook link here) just a mile from the Furnace Creek Visitor Center,  with some cultural resources and exhibits in the building.  The tacos are excellent!  Stop by if you can. There is a big sign right by the road.