Household and family groups were the heart of Nimiipuu, or Nez Perce society.
Families lived and worked together, forming social alliances with others.
Each Nez Perce - man, woman, child - uniquely contributed to the common good.
Village Life
The Nimiipuu were both independent and interdependent.
A village was governed by a council that chose and advised a headman.
Local villages formed a band whose council represented each village, and which elected a band headman.
Similarly adjoining bands were organized into composite bands that shared common background, blood and marital ties.
While unity was important, each village and band retained autonomy.
The Role of Nez Perce Men
Men were responsible for the welfare of their families: making tools, training youth, and providing sustenance by hunting and fishing.
Salmon and other fish were central to Nimiipuu culture and diet.
Fishing consumed men's time in the Columbia River basin - once one of the world's richest migratory salmon habitats.
The Role of Nez Perce Women
Women managed households, prepared and preserved food, and cared for children, whose chores prepared them for adult roles.
Vast botanical knowledge enabled women to gather and use edible and medicinal plants: roots and
berries comprised over a quarter of the daily diet.
Transport and Trade
The Nimiipuu were savvy participants in a complex trade network stretching far beyond their homeland.
More than an exchange of commodities, trade was a sharing of resources, marriage, alliances and new ideas from other cultures.
As trade networks aligned along river systems, dugout canoes transported goods and people safely and quickly.
Celilo Falls on the Columbia River - near The Dalles, Oregon - became a primary trading center for Plateau Tribes.
Preserving Our Way of Life
Tradition, Education, and Self-Sufficiency
The Nez Perce Tribe's future is its children.
Tradition empowers tribal families to educate and instill cultural identity by formally celebrating the achievements of their young.
Often extended family - aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews - help a child develop particular skills: hunting, gathering, and fishing.
At special times, families celebrate name giving, first kill, and first root digging ceremonies, thus blending historic Nimiipuu culture with a contemporary world in which their young must also thrive.
Long before the 1855 and 1863 treaties, elders understood the importance of education, whose value transcends generations.
Self-sufficiency and empowerment are part of
a circle of learning that combines culture and science, ancient and new.
Comments 0 comments