Editing Nez Perce (section)

==History==

===European contact===

In 1805 [[William Clark (explorer)|William Clark]] was the first known Euro-American to meet any of the tribe, excluding the aforementioned French Canadian traders. While he, [[Meriwether Lewis]] and their men were crossing the [[Bitterroot Mountains]], they ran low of food, and Clark took six hunters and hurried ahead to hunt. On September&nbsp;20, 1805, near the western end of the [[Lolo Trail]], he found a small camp at the edge of the camas-digging ground, which is now called [[Weippe Prairie]]. The explorers were favorably impressed by the Nez Perce whom they met. Preparing to make the remainder of their journey to the Pacific by boats on rivers, they entrusted the keeping of their horses until they returned to "2 brothers and one son of one of the Chiefs." One of these Indians was ''Walammottinin'' (meaning "Hair Bunched and tied," but more commonly known as Twisted Hair). He was the father of [[Hallalhotsoot|Chief Lawyer]], who by 1877 was a prominent member of the "Treaty" faction of the tribe. The Nez Perce were generally faithful to the trust; the party recovered their horses without serious difficulty when they returned.<ref name="josephy">{{cite book |last=Josephy |first=Alvin |title=The Nez Perce Indians and the Opening of the Northwest |publisher=Yale University Press |year=1971 |isbn=0-300-01494-5 }}</ref>

Recollecting the Nez Perce encounter with the Lewis and Clark party, in 1889 anthropologist Alice Fletcher wrote that "the Lewis and Clark explorers were the first white men that many of the people had ever seen and the women thought them beautiful." She wrote that the Nez Perce "were kind to the tired and hungry party. They furnished fresh horses and dried meat and fish with wild potatoes and other roots which were good to eat, and the refreshed white men went further on, westward, leaving their bony, wornout horses for the Indians to take care of and have fat and strong when Lewis and Clark should come back on their way home." On their return trip they arrived at the Nez Perce encampment the following spring, again hungry and exhausted. The tribe constructed a large tent for them and again fed them. Desiring fresh red meat, the party offered an exchange for a Nez Perce horse. Quoting from the Lewis and Clark diary, Fletcher writes, "The hospitality of the Chiefs was offended at the idea of an exchange. He observed that his people had an abundance of young horses and that if we were disposed to use that food, we might have as many as we wanted." The party stayed with the Nez Perce for a month before moving on.<ref>{{cite web|title=Selections from WITH THE NEZ PERCES Alice Fletcher in the Field, 1889–92 by E. Jane Gay|url=http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/eight/fletcher.htm|website=PBS|access-date=September 21, 2017}}</ref>

===Flight of the Nez Perce===
{{Further|Nez Perce War}}

[[File:Flight of the Nez Perce-1877-map.jpg|thumb|Map showing the flight of the Nez Perce and key battle sites]]
The Nez Perce were one of the tribal nations at the [[Walla Walla Council (1855)]] (along with the [[Cayuse people|Cayuse]], [[Umatilla people|Umatilla]], [[Walla Walla people|Walla Walla]], and [[Yakama]]), which signed the Treaty of Walla Walla.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Trafzer |first=Clifford E. |date=Fall 2005 |url=http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/ohq/106.3/trafzer.html |title=Legacy of the Walla Walla Council, 1955 |journal=Oregon Historical Quarterly |volume=106 |issue=3 |pages=398–411 |doi=10.1353/ohq.2005.0006 |s2cid=166019157 |issn=0030-4727 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070105201203/http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/ohq/106.3/trafzer.html |archive-date=January 5, 2007 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Under pressure from the [[European Americans]], in the late 19th&nbsp;century the Nez Perce split into two groups: one side accepted the coerced relocation to a reservation and the other refused to give up their fertile land in Washington and Oregon. Those willing to go to a reservation made a treaty in 1877. The flight of the non-treaty Nez Perce began on June&nbsp;15, 1877, with [[Chief Joseph]], [[Looking Glass (Native American leader)|Looking Glass]], [[White Bird (Native American leader)|White Bird]], [[Ollokot]], Lean Elk ([[Poker Joe]]) and [[Toohoolhoolzote]] leading 750 men, women and children in an attempt to reach a peaceful sanctuary. They intended to seek shelter with their allies the [[Crow people|Crow]] but, upon the Crow's refusal to offer help, the Nez Perce tried to reach the camp in Canada of [[Lakota people|Lakota]] Chief [[Sitting Bull]]. He had migrated there instead of surrendering after the Indian victory at the [[Battle of the Little Bighorn]].
[[File:Chief Joseph-3 weeks after surrender-Oct.1877.jpg|thumb|left|140px|[[Chief Joseph]], 1877]]

The Nez Perce were pursued by over 2,000 soldiers of the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] on an epic flight to freedom of more than {{convert|1170|mi|km|-1}} across four states and multiple mountain ranges. The 250 Nez Perce warriors defeated or held off the pursuing troops in 18 battles, skirmishes, and engagements. More than 100 US soldiers and 100 Nez Perce (including women and children) were killed in these conflicts.<ref>Josephy, Jr., Alvin M. ''The Nez Perce and the Opening of the Northwest.'' New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965, pp. 632–633.</ref>

A majority of the surviving Nez Perce were finally forced to surrender on October&nbsp;5, 1877, after the [[Battle of Bear Paw|Battle of the Bear Paw Mountains]] in Montana, {{convert|40|mi}} from the Canada–US border. [[Chief Joseph]] surrendered to General [[Oliver O. Howard]] of the [[United States Cavalry|U.S. Cavalry]].<ref>{{cite web|publisher=U.S. Forest Service|title=Letters and Quotations of the Nez Perce Flight |url=http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/npnht/learningcenter/?cid=fsbdev3_055704|access-date=April 14, 2012}}</ref> During the surrender negotiations, Chief Joseph sent a message, usually described as a speech, to the US soldiers. It has become renowned as one of the greatest American speeches: "...Hear me, my chiefs, I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever."<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Great Speeches|title=Chief Joseph Surrenders |url=http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/joseph.htm|access-date=April 14, 2012}}</ref>

Chief Joseph went to Washington, D.C., in January 1879 to meet with the President and Congress, after which his account was published in the ''[[North American Review]]''.<ref>Joseph, Young, and William H. Hare. “An Indian's Views of Indian Affairs.” The North American Review, vol. 128, no. 269, 1879, pp. 412–433. JSTOR,  www.jstor.org/stable/25100745. Accessed August 19, 2020.</ref>

The route of the Nez Perce flight is preserved by the [[Nez Perce National Historic Trail]].<ref>{{cite web|publisher=U.S. Forest Service|title=Maps of the Nez Perce National Historic Trail|url=http://www.fs.usda.gov/main/npnht/maps-pubs|access-date=April 14, 2012}}</ref> The annual Cypress Hills ride in June commemorates the Nez Perce people's attempt to escape to Canada.<ref>{{Cite web|url= http://www.horsesall.com/equine-horse-history/nez-perce-ride-to-freedom-713.html |title= Nez Perce Ride to Freedom | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080517105118/http://www.horsesall.com/equine-horse-history/nez-perce-ride-to-freedom-713.html |archive-date= May 17, 2008 |first1= Gail |last1= Praharenka |first2= Bernice |last2= Niemeyer}}</ref>

===Horse breeding program ===
[[File:Nez Perce warrior on horse.jpg|thumb|120px|Nez Perce warrior<br />on horse, 1910]]

In 1994 the Nez Perce tribe began a breeding program, based on crossbreeding the [[Appaloosa]] and a Central Asian breed called [[Akhal-Teke]], to produce what they called the [[Nez Perce Horse]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Nez Perce horse culture resurrected through new breed|url=http://www.buffalogirlsproductions.com/idahonatives/nez/horse.html|publisher=Idaho Natives|access-date=May 22, 2013}}</ref> They wanted to restore part of their traditional horse culture, where they had conducted selective breeding of their horses, long considered a marker of wealth and status, and trained their members in a high quality of horsemanship. Social disruption due to reservation life and assimilationist pressures by Americans and the government resulted in the destruction of their horse culture in the 19th&nbsp;century. The 20th-century breeding program was financed by the [[United States Department of Health and Human Services]], the Nez Perce tribe, and the nonprofit called the [[First Nations Development Institute]]. It has promoted businesses in Native American country that reflect values and traditions of the peoples. The Nez Perce Horse breed is noted for its speed.