BOISE — The City of Boise is working with State officials in an effort to rename Quarry View Park (at 2150 Old Penitentiary Road) and Castle Rock Reserve (at 451 N Quarry View Place) to commemorate the tribal significance of both locations and to honor the Boise Valley Indigenous People.

City staff from the Arts and History and Parks and Recreation Departments are recommending that Castle Rock Reserve be renamed Chief Eagle Eye Reserve (Ige Dai Teviwa, Eagle Eye Homeland in the Bannock language) and Quarry View Park be renamed Eagle Rock Park (Pava Kweena Teppi in the Bannock language).

The original Boise Valley inhabitants are of the Burns Paiute Tribe of Oregon; Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs in Oregon; the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribes of Nevada; and the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of Idaho and Nevada, along with the Shoshone-Bannock Tribe of Idaho.

Officials say the tribes call the balancing rock above Quarry View Park “Eagle Rock” -- and that it has great significance to their people. For the past nine years, the Return of the Boise Valley People has been hosted in this location each June to pray for their ancestors, as many are buried in the surrounding hills.

Chief Eagle Eye was the leader of a peaceful band of seventy Weiser Shoshone. In 1878, they refused to relocate to reservations -- and instead lived quietly in the mountains of Idaho for two decades. Chief Eagle Eye died in 1896 and is buried at the top of Timber Butte, overlooking his homeland. “It is the wish of the descendants of the Boise Valley people to name Castle Rock Reserve after this peaceful leader to commemorate their history and connection to this land,” said Boise spokesman Mike Journee in a news release.

“This is an important step in preserving the historical significance of an area that carries deep meaning for the Shoshone-Bannock and Paiute Tribes,” said Boise Mayor Dave Bieter. “It’s deeply important that we remember and honor all who have a history and connection with this great place we live.”

The first step in the renaming process is a presentation and public hearing before the Boise Parks and Recreation Commission on April 18. The meeting is scheduled to take place at 4 p.m. in the Maryanne Jordan Council Chambers on the third floor of City Hall.

Should commission members decide to approve both name changes, they will then be considered by the Boise City Council for adoption, pending state approval of the renaming of the park.

(photo courtesy: City of Boise)

