Nez Perce Tribe

The Nez Perce Indians, also known as the Nimi'ipuu, have been known by other names, as well. Lewis and Clark called them the Chopuunish, and later writers called them the Sahaptin. At the time of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, they ranged from northeastern Oregon and  western Washington, across north-central Idaho and as far east as the headwaters of the Missouri River in Montana.

By a Treaty of 1855, the tribe was confined to a reservation in the Wallowa Valley in Oregon and a large area of central Idaho. When the federal government wanted to further confine the tribe to the Idaho portion of the reservation, Chief Joseph and his followers resisted in what became known as the Nez Perce War. As a result of their defeat in this resistance, Chief Joseph led his followers on a march to try to reach Canada, but was stopped short of his goal, surrounded by U.S. soldiers and sent to Indian Territory and later to the Colville Reservation in Washington.

The Nez Perce now reside mostly on the reservation near Lapwai, Idaho, with a few descendants of the tribe still residing on the Colville Reservation and with the Coeur d'Alene Indians in northern Idaho.

Frederick Webb Hodge, in his Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, gave a more complete history of the Nez Perce tribe, with estimations of the population of the tribe at various time periods.

History

Brief Timeline

1805 -- Contact between the Nez Perce and the Lewis and Clark expedition

1836 -- Henry Harmon and Eliza Spalding establish a Presbyterian mission among the Nez Perce

1855 -- Nez Perce Reservation established by treaty.

1861 -- Nez Perce Agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs was established.

1868 -- Father Joseph Cataldo's first Catholic missionary efforts among the Nez Perce

1874 -- St. Joseph's Catholic mission established

1877 -- The "Nez Perce War," led by Chief Joseph, occurred.  (Flight of the Nez Perce, 1,700 miles)

Battles: Clearwater Creek in Idaho, Big Hole Valley - Montana, Camas Creek- Idaho, Cayon Creek and Cow Island -Montana, Bear Paw - Montana, leading the U.S. forces was General Oliver Howard - (Formed Howard University - ed. African Americans he had one arm)

-- Tribe sent to Kansas

-- Tribe sent to Indian Territory - Oklahoma

-- Colville Reservation in Washington

1904 -- Chief Joseph died at Colville Reservation

Reservations

The principle reservation for the Nez Perce Indians is the Nez Perce Reservation in central Idaho. Small groups of Nez Perce also live on the Colville Reservation in northeastern Washington and on with the Coeur d'Alene Indians in northern Idaho.

Additional References to the History of the Tribe

Frederick Webb Hodge, in his Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, gave a more complete history of the Nez Perce tribe, with estimations of the population of the tribe at various time periods. Additional details are given in John Swanton's The Indian Tribes of North America.

Tribal Headquarters

Nez Perce Reservation
Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee
Charles H. Hayes, Chairperson
P.O. Box 305
Lapwai, ID 83540
Tel# (208) 843-2253, Fax# 843-7354

Records

Most of the original records created by agents of the Bureau of Indian Affairs remain in the Agency Office in Lapwai, Idaho. However, some have been transferred to the National Archives in Washington, DC or to the Regional Archives of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Seattle, Washington. These include census records, land records, school records, etc.  For a more complete description of the agency records pertaining to the Nez Perce Indians, see:

Nez Perce Agency, 1902-1933

Colville Agency, 1879-present (Chief Joseph's Band and their descendants)

Northern Idaho Agency, 1875-present

Ponca and Quapaw Agencies in Oklahoma, 1878-1879 (Chief Joseph's Band)

Fort Lapwai Agency

Two churches were particularly active among the Nez Perce. The earliest missionary effort among the tribe was established in 1836 by the Presbyterian Church by Henry Harmon Spalding and his wife, Eliza. Records of this effort are included in the holdings of the Presbyterian Historical Society in Philadelphia. A later effort was made by the Catholic Church by Father Joseph Cataldo and was known at the St. Joseph's or Slickpoo Mission. The St. Joseph's Mission records are a part of the holdings of Washington State University in Pullman and of the Pacific Northwest Tribes Mission Collection of the Oregon Province Archives of The Society of Jesus, 1853-1960, housed at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. Some of the registers are also on microfilm at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Many of the converts to Catholicism are buried in the Slickpoo Cemetery near St. Joseph's.

Agency Records

Correspondence and Census

Tribe	Agency	Location of Original Records	Pre-1880 Correspondence M234 RG 75 Rolls 962 Roll Number	FHL Film Number	Post-1885 M595 RG 75 Rolls 693 Roll Number	FHL Film Number
Nez Perce	Ponca and Quapaw Agencies, Oklahoma, 1878-79	-	695-77, 707-13	-	Roll 301	-
Nez Perce	Northern Idaho Agency, 1875-1952	Seattle	-	-	Rolls 11,45,49-56	579,712
Nez Perce	Fort Lapwai, 1902-33	Washington D.C.	-	-	Rolls 145-48	576834-837
Nez Perce	Winnebago Agency, 1869-1947	Kansas City	-	-	-	-
Nez Perce, Joseph's Band	Colville Agency, 1865-1952	Seattle	-	-	-	Colville Agency Census 574208-215

Treaties

•  1855 with the Blackfeet 
•  1855
•  1863
•  1868

Vital Records

• Colville Agency, M595, births and deaths 1920-1938, FHL Film: 574215
• Winnebago Agency, M595, births and deaths 1924-1931, FHL Film: 583126  1925-1932, FHL Film: 583127
• Quapaw Agency, M595, births and deaths 1924-1932, FHL Film: 581408

Important Web Sites

• Darlene Gadley's Nez Perce Genealogy Page
• Idaho County, Idaho -- Indian Misc. records
• Nez Perce Tribal Web Site
• 1999 Revised Constitution and Bylaws of the Nez Perce Tribe
• Nez Perce Wikipedia

References

Bibliography

• Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives; Record Group 75, Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
• Hodge, Frederick Webb. Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1906 Available online.
• Klein, Barry T., ed. Reference Encyclopedia of the American Indian. Nyack, New York: Todd Publications, 2009. 10th ed. WorldCat 317923332; FHL book 970.1 R259e.
• Malinowski, Sharon and Sheets, Anna, eds. The Gale Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes. Detroit: Gale Publishing, 1998. 4 volumes. Includes: Lists of Federally Recognized Tribes for U.S., Alaska, and Canada – pp. 513-529 Alphabetical Listing of Tribes, with reference to volume and page in this series Map of “Historic Locations of U.S. Native Groups” Map of “Historic Locations of Canadian Native Groups” Map of “Historic Locations of Mexican, Hawaiian and Caribbean Native Groups” Maps of “State and Federally Recognized U.S. Indian Reservations. WorldCat 37475188; FHL book 970.1 G131g.

Vol. 1 -- Northeast, Southeast, Caribbean

Vol. 2 -- Great Basin, Southwest, Middle America

Vol. 3 -- Arctic, Subarctic, Great Plains, Plateau

Vol. 4 -- California, Pacific Northwest, Pacific Islands

• Sturtevant, William C. Handbook of North American Indians. 20 vols., some not yet published. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1978– .
  

Volume 1 -- Not yet published

Volume 2 -- Indians in Contemporary Society (pub. 2008) -- WorldCat 234303751

Volume 3 -- Environment, Origins, and Population (pub. 2006) -- WorldCat 255572371

Volume 4 -- History of Indian-White Relations (pub. 1988) -- WorldCat 19331914; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.4.

Volume 5 -- Arctic (pub. 1984) -- WorldCat 299653808; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.5.

Volume 6 -- Subarctic (pub. 1981) -- WorldCat 247493742; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.6.

Volume 7 -- Northwest Coast (pub. 1990) -- WorldCat 247493311

Volume 8 -- California (pub. 1978) -- WorldCat 13240086; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.8.

Volume 9 -- Southwest (pub. 1979) -- WorldCat 26140053; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.9.

Volume 10 -- Southwest (pub. 1983) -- WorldCat 301504096; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.10.

Volume 11 -- Great Basin (pub. 1986) -- WorldCat 256516416; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.11.

Volume 12 -- Plateau (pub. 1998) -- WorldCat 39401371; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.12.

Volume 13 -- Plains, 2 vols. (pub. 2001) -- WorldCat 48209643

Volume 14 -- Southeast (pub. 2004) -- WorldCat 254277176

Volume 15 -- Northwest (pub. 1978) -- WorldCat 356517503; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.15.

Volume 16 -- Not yet published

Volume 17 -- Languages (pub. 1996) -- WorldCat 43957746

Volume 18 -- Not yet published

Volume 19 -- Not yet published

Volume 20 -- Not yet published

• Swanton John R. The Indian Tribes of North America. Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin #145 Available online.
• Waldman, Carl. Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes. New York, New York: Facts on File, 2006. 3rd ed. WorldCat 14718193; FHL book 970.1 W146e 2006.

National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C.

Family History Library (FHL); now called, FamilySearch Library (FSL)