A Boise park and part of the city’s foothills will officially be renamed in honor of the region’s original inhabitants.
The decisions came down from the Boise City Council on Tuesday. The city will rename Quarry View Park as Eagle Rock Park. Eagle Rock is the name the indigenous Boise Valley Tribes called the balancing rock above the park.
The city will also rename Castle Rock Reserve in the Boise Foothills. That will become Chief Eagle Eye Reserve. It honors the leader of a peaceful band of 70 Weiser Shoshone. In 1878, he went to live in the Idaho mountains instead of relocating to a reservation. Chief Eagle Eye died almost 20 years later and is buried at the top of Timber Butte.
The decision to rename both areas came after testimony from members of the Shoshone Bannock Fort Hall Tribes, and the Duck Valley Shoshone Paiute Tribes. Lori Edmo from the Fort Hall Reservation said the name changes would honor her ancestors.
“Because their bones are throughout this valley, our people were buried throughout this valley and we remember them and their remains are still here and we’re always going to honor them when we come back here,” says Edmo.
In a third resolution, the council said the city is committed to valuing the importance of the Indigenous Boise Valley Tribes both now and historically.
The renaming dedication will be in June.
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