Boise parks renamed to honor indigenous past

BOISE, Idaho – Two Boise city parks are being renamed to honor Native Americans from the local past.

The Boise City Council voted unanimously on the name changes Tuesday. With that vote, Quarry View Park will be renamed Eagle Rock Park and Castle Rock Reserve will be renamed Chief Eagle Eye Reserve.

The council also voted unanimously on a resolution that reasserts the city’s directives to honor contributions to the area by indigenous people.

Eagle Rock is the traditional name of a balancing rock above Quarry View Park, and significant site for tribes in what is now Treasure Valley. Eagle Eye was chief of a band of 70 Weiser Shoshone who moved to the mountains of Idaho secretly in 1878 instead of relocating to a reservation.

More than a dozen members of various tribes were in the audience when the City Council voted on the name changes.

Lori Edmo, a member of the Shoshone-Bannock tribe, thanked the city.

“It’s important to honor our ancestors, our tribal elders and our people and let them know that we will never forget them, because this is our homeland,” she said.

Boise Mayor Dave Bieter said the name changes are a big step in honoring the history of Idaho’s indigenous people.

“We know this is late in coming, but we also recognize that it is an important thing to do,” Bieter said. “I hope you don’t see this as a culmination of things but another step along the road of a closer and warmer and more fulfilling relationship for all of us.“