DAV | Gathering Devah: An Ancient Pine Nut Harvest Tradition – Part 1 of 3
Funded & Presented by Nellis Air Force Base For information contact the Nellis Air Force Base Archaeologist at keith.myhrer@nellis.af.mil Produced by DAV Productions www.davproductions.com Directed by Jae Thiele, DAV Productions DP/Edited by Matt McPherson Project Manager, Amy Quigg, DAV Productions Researcher & Writer, Terri McBride **Featured at the 33rd annual American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco **Currently on file at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington DC The Great Basin of the Western US has been the home to Native Americans for millennia. They moved in family groups over the landscape with an acute sense of timing to utilize natural foods like devah (Shoshone for Pine Nut). Their paths were linked by trips to spiritual places to maintain their perspective in nature and the universe. The family groups used the plants and elements of astronomy as indicators to know when to meet in the mountains each fall to collect, share, and store protein-rich pine nuts. Families looked forward to this harvest not only to gather food but to socialize and perpetuate sacred traditions to the youth through stories and songs. In 1941, Congress set aside land in Nevada for military pilot training. The Nevada Test and Training Range is the premier aerial combat training range in the nation. Access to the area was restricted for security and safety reasons. The harvests that had occurred on mountains in this zone ceased. In 1996, Nellis Air Force Base …