The Nez Perce Indians are best known in American history for the 1877 Nez Perce War. In 1876, there were several events which would lay the foundation for this war.

As with many American Indian tribes, the name by which they are commonly known today—Nez Perce—was not what they called themselves. They called themselves Nimipu meaning “The People.” French fur traders called them Nez Perce, meaning “pierce noses.” In his 1882 book Report on an Examination of the Upper Columbia River and the Territory in its Vicinity in September and October 1881, Thomas Symons writes: “No writer had ever accused them of piercing their noses, and it is certain that they never did so except in very isolated cases, if at all. They have been described by a number of early explorers, but this custom has never been mentioned.”

The Nez Perce homeland was in what is now central Idaho, southeastern Washington, and northeastern Oregon. There was no single politically unified Nez Perce tribe: there were several politically autonomous Nez Perce bands unified by a common language and culture.

In 1855 and in 1863, several Nez Perce bands, but not all, had signed treaties with the United States. The United States considered the Nez Perce to be a single tribe and sought to place them on a small reservation in Idaho so that the traditional Nez Perce lands could be opened for non-Indian settlement. In the treaty, the Nez Perce gave up nearly 7 million acres and retained only 785,000 acres for themselves. While 51 men signed the treaty to give it the appearance of having the support from all of the Nez Perce bands, the signatures of those who lived outside of the reservation were not obtained.

In 1876, Major Henry Clay Wood studied Nez Perce treaties and concluded: “…the non-treaty Nez Perces cannot in law be regarded as bound by the treaty of 1863; and in so far as it attempts to deprive them of a right to occupancy of any land its provisions are null and void. The extinguishment of their title of occupancy contemplated by this treaty is imperfect and incomplete.”

In Oregon, some American settlers murdered a Nez Perceman, Blowing Wind. He was known as a quiet, peaceful man and his killers had a reputation as troublemakers. The Nez Perce responded to this murder with a call for justice, not war. However, after several months, the American government failed to arrest the murderers and bring them to trial. Finally, the Nez Perce under the leadership of Chief Joseph issued an ultimatum: If the men were not arrested the Nez Perce warriors would burn down all American homes in the Wallowa Valley.

In response to the Nez Perce threat, many Americans left the area and the army sent in a small force of soldiers to meet with Chief Joseph. The murderers were arrested, tried, and set free. Since there were no Indian witnesses who were willing to swear an oath to the Christian God, the men were able to plead self-defense.

In another incident in Oregon’s Wallowa valley, an American killed Wilhautyah, a member of Joseph’s Nez Perceband. Joseph spoke with the Indian agent and agreed to let the civil authorities deal with the matter. The agent informed the army that the killing was willful and deliberate murder. After considerable delay, the two Americans turned themselves in and were set free after the judge ruled that the shooting was in self-defense.

In Lapwai, Idaho, a five-member American commission met with Joseph and other non-treaty Nez Perce leaders to discuss the sale of the Wallowa Valley. The Nez Perce leaders were told that the Nez Perce had sold the Wallowa Valley to the United States in 1863 and that it now belonged to the State of Oregon. They were also told that the federal government would not protect them from the American settlers and that the valley was too cold for the Indians in spite of the fact that they had been living in the valley for millennia. 

Joseph, acutely aware that Indians on reservations were wards of the government rather than citizens and that they have no rights, including the freedom of religion, told the council that he could not accept a reservation. General O.O. Howard, America’s Christian General, would write of this refusal: “Indian Joseph and his malcontents denied the jurisdiction of the United States over them. They were offered everything they wanted, if they would simply submit to the authority and government of the United States agents.”

The commission recommended that the non-treaty bands be ordered to move to the Idaho reservation within a reasonable time, after which force should be used to move them. The commission also reported that Joseph’s band was under the influence of Smohalla’s Dreamers and that the leaders of this religious movement should be exiled to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). In The Battle of the Big Hole: The Story of the Landmark Battle of the 1877 Nez Perce War, Aubrey Haines reports on their recommendation: “If the non-treaty Nez Perces did not suppress the Dreamer religion and peacefully settle on the reservation within a reasonable time, military force would be used.”

In Oregon, the government called for Joseph’s band of Nez Perce to resettle in a Presbyterian controlled reservation in Idaho. While General O.O. Howard acknowledged that the American settlers and the Nez Perce were unable to live together peacefully in the Wallowa Valley, the obvious solution was for the Nez Perce to leave their homeland and settle with the Christian, farming Nez Perce in Idaho. The Nez Perce Reservation at this time was a Christian theocracy which did not tolerate traditional Native practices nor Catholicism.

In Kamiah, Idaho, the Nez Perce leader Lawyer died at the age of 82. He had been the leader of the pro-treaty Nez Perce and was recognized by the United States as the principal chief of the nation. Historian Alvin Josephy, in his book The Nez Perce Indians and the Opening of the Northwest, notes: “…he had presided over the destruction of the cultural pride, dignity, and heritage of large numbers of Nez Perces, and had robbed them of their self-respect as humans.” Lawyer is buried in the cemetery of the Presbyterian Church of which he was an elder.

Indians 101: The 1863 Nez Perce treaty

Indians 101: America’s Christian General confronts the Nez Perce

Indians 101: Imposing Laws on the Nez Perce

Indians 101: Heathens on the Nez Perce Reservation

Indians 101: Gold and the Nez Perce

Indians 201: Looking Glass, Nez Perce chief

Indians 201: Old Joseph, Nez Perce Chief