The Nez Perce Tribe

Oklahoma and most settled on the Colville reservation in North Central Washington. Chief Joseph, White Bird and Looking glass were all exiled for 8 years, All the way up until 1885 when they were finally allowed to return home to the Pacific Northwest. The general allotment act of 1887 split the Nez Perce last remaining 780,000 acres even further. Each tribal member was assigned an allotted a small portion of the remnants of their ancient land, But once again in 1893 more land was taken, All land within the reservation that had not been assigned was to be sold to non-Indians. After it was all said and done the Nez Perce were left with 90,000 acres. Non-Indian ownership within reservation boundaries resulted in a checkerboard pattern of the
The Nez Perce horse is a crossbreed of the Appaloosa and the Asian breed Akhal-Teke. The horse was selectively bred to develop a premium horse that allowed the hunting, gathering and fishing to be much more efficient. The time people had to spend gathering food had been cut down significantly, Instead of spending most of their day, it only had to take a few hours. Horses also expanded the range of the tribe, They were now able to hunt buffalo annually throughout the planes. More food meant that the tribe could support more people, The population began to rise as the tribe expanded to cover more land. The horse allowed the tribes to access places never before possible to whom they traded with which had exposed the Nez Perce to many new cultures, They became more sophisticated by learning from local tribes. The Pacific Northwest provided for a perfect place to raise herds of horses because the abundance of rich grass lands made for an almost unlimited supply of food, The Nez Perce took full advantage of their situation and their skilled horse breeders by selectively breeding for top of the line horses producing enormous herds of the spotted Appaloosas. The Nez Perce have been noted as one of the first tribes to breed this horse. The use of horses revolutionized the Nez Perce way of
In the winters they occasionally wore gloves and a feathered bonnet. Women wore long dresses made of buckskin, cornhusk hats, and moccasins. The dresses were often decorated with elk teeth, beads, and dyes. The homes of the Nez Perce varied between seasons. In the summers they lived in tee-pee like structures called “Longhouses”, It consisted of wooden poles tied together to form a supportive wall which was covered with a woven mats made of plant fibers. The mats were pieced together to completely cover the structure. In the winters they lived in pits dug into the ground to avoid the frigid winter temperatures, These trench like structures were covered with wooden poles, cedar bark, sagebrush, grass, dirt and woven mats similar to those used in the summers. These underground structures could house several families comfortably, Winter villages often had 6-12 of these pit houses. The winters were obviously colder so they had to prepare with animal fur to insulate their bodies to survive the cold