A Day Spent with the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes on the Duck Valley Reservation

On April 1st, a team of 13 dedicated volunteers and 4 BBP staff members drove to the Duck Valley Reservation in Owyhee, NV. Nestled in a remote landscape, Duck Valley Reservation stands as one of the most secluded communities in the United States, making access to resources like bikes and repair a challenge. However, our joint efforts with the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes aimed to bridge this gap, bringing joy and bikes to the youth of the community.

Driving 2 1/2 hours from Boise, our team was greeted by families and children eagerly anticipating our arrival. The celebration took place at the Community Center, where we were graciously welcomed by school teachers, staff members, and event organizers.

After arriving we swiftly set up our repair stands and a traffic garden to get bikes ready to ride and create a safe learning environment for kids to practice riding their new bikes! The bikes we distributed in partnership with the reservation were bikes donated to BBP during the Holiday Kids Bike Giveaway. With the smell of hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill, we spent the day helping to distribute 110 bikes to kids, teens, and a handful of adults and repairing 65 bikes that were brought to the event. 

Among the many great moments of the day, two stories stand out.

Tate (seen walking his new blue Paw-Patrol bike) didn’t ride his bike at all yesterday. In fact, he walked it around the Traffic Garden for over 2 hours making sure to stop at every sign and corner! Despite the offers from staff and volunteers to help him ride, Tate contentedly enjoyed the day produdly walking his new bike around amongst the other kids.

LJ picked a cool Firestorm bike, but wasn’t sure how to ride it. Eagerly determined, he insisted that our volunteers push him around the Traffic Garden while he attempted to pedal. We took turns pushing LJ around until he finally got the hang of it! He and his friends took off through the surrounding neighborhoods, stopping only for lunch and to ask our mechanics questions about the inner workings of his bike.

Thanks to the generous donations of the Boise community, we were able to distribute 358 bikes in partnership with the Fort Hall & Duck Valley Reservations in 2023, and even more in 2024. The Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of Duck Valley Reservation have been actively combating public health disparities, and after more than five decades, they will be getting a new school for the youth that we worked with yesterday. This new school, and the bikes that were distributed, will positively impact the youth that live in this rural area. Boise Bicycle Project is located on Shoshone-Bannock land, and we acknowledge our indigenous communities through our services and recognize the indigenous homelands on which we sit and operate. We would like to continue expanding our programming with both the Fort Hall and Duck Valley Reservations, and the Boise community’s support has made this partnership possible.