Chief Joseph and the Nez Percé.
"Nez Percé" is French for "pierced nose", although this custom does not seem to have been widespread among them.
Call themselves Nimi'ipuu, which means the "real people" or "we the people".
Lived in Idaho for thousands of years before the coming of the Europeans .
Also lived on the Oregon side of the canyon, in a valley in the shadow of the Wallowa Mountains.
Were the largest ethnic group in the Columbia Plateau.
Scattered villages in the Plains west of the Rocky Mountains.
About 4,000 in number.
Fishing for salmon and gathering roots and berries, later hunting buffalos.
Got horses in the mid 1700's and quickly became known for excellent horsemanship.
Bred a special colourful horse which is today called Appaloosa (got their name from the Palouse Valley in Oregon).
Owned the largest horse herd on the continent.
1803 President Jefferson decided to buy t he Louisiana Territory from France.
He asked to explore this vast territory and the Corps of Discovery lead by Captain Meriwether Lewis and Captain William Clark started their famous exploration of the Pacific Northwest.
In 1805 Lewis and Clark visited the Nez Percé and were welcomed with great hospitality, in their journals they recorded how peaceful and helpful the Nez Percé people were.
The Treaty of 1855 ordered the Nez Percé to give up their original territory and move to Oregon's Umatilla Reservation with other tribes.
All the tribes fought against this plan so the Nez Percé were allowed to stay in their own territory, on the condition that they leave nearly 13 million acres to the U.S. government.
1871 Chief Joseph the Elder dies and his son Young Joseph becomes chief and refuses to go to the reservation as well.
Chief Joseph always believed that the Indian and the white man could live in harmony together in the same land, but with each push by the U.S. Army to wipe the Indian tribes off of the land, it became more and more evident to him that living together peacefully with the white people would be impossible.
Chief Joseph, from the Nez Percé tribe of Washington State, gave a speech in which he told about his tribe's experiences: suffering, wounds, even deaths caused by their relocation to new, unknown environments (Chief Joseph, pg.87). ...