The Legend of Shin Au Avi

[lostbook]

According to History Daily, a local tribe known as the Paiute has been repeating legends of an underground city in Death Valley "for centuries." The city is called Shin-Au-Av, or something approximating "Ghost Land" in English, and supposedly it's a portal to the underworld. Further, the tribe even has an origin story for how the city was founded.

Legend is one thing, reality is another, and at various points in the 20th century, if secondhand accounts of various settlers and explorers are to be believed, more than one person found evidence of tunnels and other human activity underneath Death Valley. For example, according to History Daily, in 1931 Dr. F. Bruce Russell and his friend, Dr. Daniel S. Bovee, found underground catacombs while trying to dig a mine shaft. The men purportedly found the mummified remains of 8-foot-tall men wearing leather not from any known animal, as well as strange carvings on the rocks.

Has anyone heard of Shin Au Avi; a supposed underground city in Death Valley according to Paiute Indian Tribes?  There haven't been any attempts to find it since some initial findings/ discoveries back in the 1930's.  For now this city remains a Paiute legend about a place which leads to the Land of the Dead.  I would like to see if this place really exists.

The Truth About Shin-Au-Av, The Legendary Underground City In Death Valley (grunge.com)

[Nugget]

This is the first I've heard of it! It's interesting how the Hopi also have a legend of living underground with 'Ant People' to survive the last cataclysm.

There are ancient underground tunnels all over the world, with very little knowledge of them-or archeological study. I've often wondered about legends of great cataclysisms in relation to them, or perhaps connected with th Indian 'wars in the heavens' that sound much like nuclear war.

I've often wondered about all world governments have underground bunkers for their elite and rumors of underground, rapid transit tunnels spanning the US just add to the intrigue.

[lostbook]

This is the first I've heard of it! It's interesting how the Hopi also have a legend of living underground with 'Ant People' to survive the last cataclysm.

There are ancient underground tunnels all over the world, with very little knowledge of them-or archeological study. I've often wondered about legends of great cataclysisms in relation to them, or perhaps connected with th Indian 'wars in the heavens' that sound much like nuclear war.

I've often wondered about all world governments have underground bunkers for their elite and rumors of underground, rapid transit tunnels spanning the US just add to the intrigue.

Yes, it’s very interesting indeed. Similar to the Egyptian discovery also in the Grand Canyon.