The Nez Perce Reservation in Idaho covers 1,195.1 square miles and is home to around 3,250 Nez Perce Indians. The land includes canyons, plateaus, forests, and rivers, and supports a variety of wildlife. Water supply is a concern, and the climate varies greatly. The reservation was once much larger but was reduced due to US settlement policies.
The Nez Perce Reservation is located in the northern part of the US state of Idaho and includes 1,195.1 square miles (3,095.3 km2) of land. It comprises a small portion of the Aboriginal land of the Nez Perce tribe. The landforms of the reserve include canyons, plateaus, grasslands, forests, mountains and rivers.
The tribal population living on the Nez Perce Reservation was approximately 3,250 people in 2010. The town of Lapwai hosts the tribal headquarters of the reservation, and just over 80% of its citizenry are Nez Perce Indians. Orofino, on the other hand, is the largest city in the reserve.
The Nez Perce Indians living on the reservation engage in a variety of occupations. Some of these include work in agriculture, fishing and forestry. Other members of the tribe often work in hospitality and other jobs created by the advent of tribe-owned casinos.
The natural habitat of the Nez Perce Reserve is home to many forms of wildlife. Animals such as the gray wolf, Chinook salmon and grouse live in the region. Some important plants native to the area are Indian rice plants and camas, which traditionally provided food for the Nez Perce tribe.
Water supply is a concern for the people of the Nez Perce reserve. As there is quite a lot of upland land, the recharge rates of the aquifer and available groundwater need to be closely monitored. Distributing water for agricultural irrigation and other purposes requires careful planning to ensure that enough water gets to where it’s needed.
Climatic conditions in the Nez Perce Reserve vary greatly because land elevation and topography are so varied. The terrain in some areas is arid to semi-arid. Depending on location, rainfall ranges from about 13 inches (33 cm) to up to 50 inches (127 cm) per year. Summers tend to be dry and hot, while winters are quite cold.
In 1855, the area of the reservation was approximately 7.5 million acres (30,351 km2). This included much of the Nez Perce ancestral lands in what is now Idaho, Oregon, and Washington state. In 1860 gold was discovered in the region and the Nez Perce land holdings were reduced to 757,000 acres (3,063 km2). By the 1890s, the Nez Perce Reservation was reduced to its present size, mainly due to US settlement policies as settlers moved west. Nez Perce Indians also currently live in Canada and on the Colville Reservation in Washington state.
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