The Nez Perce (Nimiippu) Tribe

Images of Chief Joseph and of the Celilo Falls before the era of dam construction.

http://www.nezperce.org//

This is the official site of the Nez Perce tribe with many links to the different departments that deal with all aspects of tribal life. The link to the Lewis and Clark Lifelong Learning Project is particularly interesting with its further link to narratives from the expedition.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/WWjoseph.htm

This site gives a full account of the life and achievements of Chief Joseph. He seemed to be a proud man and also a man who wanted to avoid bloodshed, but when circumstances required, he fought valiantly in 1877. The long march the tribe made into Canada ended in capture and hostage exchange. The tribe were eventually moved to a reservation in Oklahoma.

Celilo Falls
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celilo_Falls

Celili Falls retains great cultural significance for native peoples. In 2007, three thousand people gathered to commemorate the 50 year anniversary of the inundation of the falls, over which the native peoples were deemed to have perpetual fishing rights. The construction of the Dalles Dam in 1957 flooded the area, consuming the Falls.

Conflicts of interest over the dam illustrate the problems native peoples have in many parts of the country when up against the might of Government interests and the different cultural 'takes' on justice and land rights.

Jill Glazier