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The Nez Perce, or Nimi’ipuu, are Native Americans who traditionally roamed across several US states. They learned to ride horses in the 1700s and had good relations with Europeans until the US government took their land, leading to the Nez Perce War in 1877.
The Nez Perce Indians call themselves Nimi’ipuu, or “the People.” Early French hunters called Nimi’ipuu “Nez Perce” for “pierced nose,” even though piercing was not part of the Nimi’ipuu tradition. In the past, these Native Americans roamed north-central Idaho, northeastern Oregon, southeastern Washington, western Montana, and Wyoming. Today, the Nez Perce Reservation is located in north-central Idaho.
One of the origin legends of the Nimi’ipuu tells the story of a giant monster that appears and eats all animals except the coyote. The coyote asked the monster to swallow it because the coyote missed his friends, the animals. After the coyote cuts out the monster’s heart, the coyote and all of his friends flee. To celebrate, the coyote cut the monster into small pieces and threw these pieces into the wind, creating humans. The Nez Perce Indians were created from drops of the monster’s blood that the coyote washed from his hands to commemorate the land where the coyote killed the monster.
The indigenous horses of North America went extinct approximately 8,0000 to 10,000 years ago. When the Spanish brought horses back to the New World, the Native American world changed. By the 1700s, the Nez Perce Indians had learned horses and riding. Because of the horses, the Nez Perce were able to travel farther to hunt. Also, horses were a sign of wealth among Native Americans.
The Nez Perce generally had good relations with Europeans and European-Americans. Indeed, Nimi’ipuu offered vital assistance to the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1805 and 1806. It was not until the US government began taking traditional Nez Perce lands that relations soured.
The Nez Perce Indians gave the US government nearly 13 million acres (about 5.3 million hectares) in 1855 to avoid being forced onto a “foreign” reservation, but they were able to keep some of their traditional lands. In 1860, a party led by Captain ED Pierce discovered gold on the Nez Perce Reservation. Rather than help keep the usurpers off the reservation, the U.S. government took about 90 percent of these Native Americans’ remaining land in 1863, dividing the Nez Perce Indians into two groups, those who favored the 1863 treaty and those that they didn’t.
The US government pressured the Nez Perce Indians who did not accept the 1863 treaty to move to the reservation. Conflicts between these Nimi’ipuu and the settlers escalated until the Nez Perce War broke out in 1877. It took the United States three and a half years to defeat the Nez Perce Indians under the command of Chief Joseph.
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