The idea of a centralized space to preserve and celebrate Eastern Shoshone culture has been in motion for generations. As early as the 1950s, internal Tribal documents reference the need for a museum and cultural center—an enduring vision grounded in cultural sovereignty, historical stewardship, and intergenerational learning.

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Over the decades, this vision remained alive in the hearts and minds of community members, elders, and cultural leaders. Yet it wasn’t until 2023 that the project gained critical momentum, thanks to a groundbreaking opportunity from the National Endowment for the Arts' Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design (CIRD).

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The Eastern Shoshone Tribe was one of only seven communities nationwide selected to participate in the NEA’s 2023–2024 CIRD cohort, a prestigious program designed to support rural and Tribal communities in tackling design challenges through community-driven solutions. For the Eastern Shoshone, this came at exactly the right time.

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Through the CIRD program, the Tribe received extensive support from a national team of technical experts in architecture, preservation, planning, and storytelling. Together with Tribal leaders and community members, they co-developed a compelling concept plan for the Eastern Shoshone Cultural Hub—a facility that would serve as a public museum, archive, and central home for Tribal cultural departments.

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The resulting conceptual design reflects both deep cultural values and future-facing functionality. It incorporates key program areas such as the Tribal Archives, Cultural Education & Arts, the Tribal Historic Preservation Office, and the Enrollment Office, while offering public-facing components like exhibit space, a teaching kitchen for Indigenous foods, a mini-powwow arena, and gathering space to support repatriation work under NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act).

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Thanks to the vision and groundwork laid through the CIRD process, the Eastern Shoshone Tribe now moves forward with a clear and powerful roadmap. What began as a long-held dream is now taking shape—with the Cultural Hub emerging as a lasting symbol of Eastern Shoshone strength, knowledge, and cultural resurgence.