Furnace Creek and Timbisha Homeland — Life Before the Park
Listen at the stop, then read the transcript and follow the sources behind the story.
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Transcript
Furnace Creek is often presented as the service centre of Death Valley, but it is also part of the homeland of the Timbisha Shoshone. Tribal elder Pauline Esteves described the valley as a place of life and spiritual power, not death. Springs made permanent and seasonal use possible in an environment outsiders often labelled uninhabitable. During the twentieth century, federal park management repeatedly conflicted with Timbisha residence and sovereignty. The Timbisha Shoshone Homeland Act of 2000 transferred lands into trust for the Tribe, including land at Furnace Creek. Beginning the guide here changes the entire landscape. Death Valley was not empty until miners and tourists arrived. The park was created inside a living Indigenous homeland.