Rez Living

Tammy Spoonhunter scoring two points
for Bishop High Varsity Basketball team.

By Tammy Spoonhunter

Living on the reservation has been good to me and my family. I can say that it is a very different experience living off the reservation then on. Living off the reservation can be challenging at times.

For me growing up on the reservation has instilled family values because of the family unity that develops,  living off the reservation is not as easy. When you are old enough to apply for land (which are family allotments), you will have immediate family that lives all around you which doesn’t exist off the reservation. Of course families have their ups and downs but that’s just a part of life, and for the majority of the time, who wouldn’t want family around? As a child I remember the good times that my family and I shared with my aunt (my mom’s sister) and her family who, by the way, lived right next door. They would have late night card games and us kids would play hide and seek which sometimes the parents would join in or we would watch movies. The best part was that we didn’t have to pile into a car to go home; we just had to walk next door.   

Hanging with friends on the weekend and playing sports were a big thing as I was younger. Playing and swimming in the Bishop Creek as it flows right through the reservation and lying on the road to dry off was almost an everyday thing in the summer. Able to walk the rez to a friend’s house or to the store was always on the agenda; we always came up with something to do. Sports are a big thing throughout the reservation. It actually saved me from getting into other things that would have been bad for me. Having the opportunity to play with traveling teams for basketball and softball, which a parent volunteered to do, was a great experience. These experiences helped me to improve my skills for high school sports and because of that I was asked to play for Susanville Community College when I graduated. I want to thank all the parents back then and now, who volunteer to take time to coach and travel with the kids, which gives them the opportunity to develop their skills in whatever sport they participate in. With that said, giving back to the community in any way possible is always appreciated and I was able to have the opportunity to do just that by coaching the Bishop High School JV girls’ basketball team. Teaching the girls with all different skill levels was a good experience.  

As I said earlier regarding family unity on the reservation, there’s usually a pretty big circumference of extended family members from aunts to uncles to cousins all around. I remember I loved to go with my mom to visit her family or friends. If they were cooking, we were always invited to join them, but the visit in itself was the part I liked. They always had the best stories talking about when they were younger and how the reservation was and how things were back then. I find myself starting to do that now, when I am able to see my friends and catch up and with my daughter when she was younger and liked to sit and listen to us talk. There are always people there to lend a helping hand when needed. In the city, you don’t have that big support system all around; you’re lucky if you even know your neighbors. Life on the reservation is very tight knit because you do pretty much know most of the families, which is a big plus because everyone keeps on eye on each other for the most part. Whether kids were making good choices or not, our parents would always seem to find out. Even my daughter would say “How did you find out” and I would tell her “Hello! They know who you are and who you belong to!”

Community gatherings are nice to participate in, whether they are happy or sad times: a sport event, a powwow, a certain celebration, a holiday, a funeral, etc. These are the times when the community really shows their support by helping out whether it is bringing food, setting up or breaking down, serving food or whatever is needed at the time. I appreciated the community coming together to help my family and I when my mom passed away in 2007, my sisters death in 2011 and again when my dad passed away in 2012.

Life on the reservation is very comfortable, you can be at ease with raising your kids here and I have to say that there is a lot of love and support that comes from living on this reservation. It is a good foundation for kids to have before they decide to go and have adventures off the reservation. If we are lucky, they return one day to share their knowledge and experiences to make the reservation even a better place. 

Hello, my name is Tammy S. Spoonhunter. I am a tribal member with the Bishop Paiute Tribe and I presently reside on the Bishop Paiute Reservation in Bishop, CA. I have lived on the reservation for approximately 35 years and 8 years off the reservation.