The Indigenous oral narrative, Theft of Pine Nuts, as a proxy for reconstructing historical biogeography in the Great Basin, USA

Abstract

Our analysis of 61 versions of the Great Basin (GB) Indigenous oral-history narrative, Theft of Pine Nuts , provides valuable new paleoecological insights into late Pleistocene (LP) and Holocene biogeography of pinyon pine ( Pinus monophylla ). Pinyon homelands indicated by Indigenous sources were located not only within the current pinyon distribution but also north of the known range, in northern California and Nevada, southern Oregon and Idaho, and western Wyoming. These extramarginal pinyon locations corroborate and expand a Western science hypothesis that proposed LP or Early Holocene refugial populations for pinyon in northern GB that subsequently became extirpated. The narratives also provide new evidence for pre-contact distributions of native mammals in the GB. From analysis of the “ice-barrier” accounts in the Indigenous narratives, we propose parts of this oral-history narrative may have been transmitted since LP times. Whereas most prior efforts have assessed Indigenous oral histories that describe catastrophic geologic events, we document that important ecological dynamics are also embedded in these stories. Our analysis joins other studies in recognizing that oral-history narratives can contain reliable eyewitness observations that are useful for reconstructing paleoenvironmental events and conditions.

Citation

Millar, Constance I.; Thomas, David Hurst; Benner, Misty; Cossette, Donna; Fillmore, Herman; Teeman, Diane; Wewa, Wilson. 2026. The Indigenous oral narrative, Theft of Pine Nuts , as a proxy for reconstructing historical biogeography in the Great Basin, USA. Quaternary Research. 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1017/qua.2025.10039