American Indians of the Pacific Northwest

Several essays in the Special Presentation discuss the cultures of specific tribal groups. Among other things, they describe the cycles of migration and subsistence activities that coincided with the seasons. Create a map that depicts the yearly round of a particular tribal group. The collection's Maps of the Region, may be helpful.

• Many Native American cultures embrace a cyclical rather than a linear concept of time. Why do you think this might be?


• How did Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest think about and record history? How are these records different from western historical records?


• How might a cyclical concept of time have contributed to the way Native Americans felt about and dealt with the appearance of Euro-American people and culture?


• How might different concepts of time have contributed to misunderstandings between Euro Americans and Native Americans?

At the time that westerners arrived in the Pacific Northwest, the Nez Perce language was fast becoming the official language of business in the region. Deward Walker and Peter Jones provide insight into the history and culture of this powerful tribe in their essay in the Special Presentation. Subject Index headings beginning with Nez Perce provide images that also illuminate Nez Perce culture, while "Lawyer of the Nez Perces" and "The Spokane Indian Mission at Tshimakain, 1838-1848" describe the tribe's early interactions with Euro Americans.

• Where were the homelands of the Nez Perces?
• What were some of the major characteristics of Nez Perce culture?
• What tribes were the rivals and allies of the Nez Perces?
• What made the Nez Perces so powerful?
• How would you characterize early interactions between Nez Perces and Euro Americans?
• What was the impact of Euro-American culture upon the Nez Perces?

While other tribes engaged in conflicts with settlers, the Nez Perces remained peaceful and amenable to signing treaties with the U.S. government. The first treaty was signed in 1855 and is available in this collection along with articles describing the event, such as "The Indian Council at Walla Walla" and "Lawyer of the Nez Perces."

• According to J.F. Santee, how and why did the Nez Perces refrain from joining in conflicts related to the murder of Elijah Hedding and the Whitman massacre? Which tribes were involved in these conflicts?
• How did the Nez Perces feel about signing the treaty of 1855?
• Why might the Nez Perces have provided escorts for Governor Stevens during the Yakima war?

The U.S. government sought subsequent treaties with the Nez Perces that would require them to give up their lands in the Wallowa Valley and relocate to Lapwai, Idaho. A contingent of Nez Perces, known as non-treaty Indians, refused to comply and in 1877 the U.S. led a campaign to force these Nez Perces onto the Lapwai reservation. The Subject Index heading, Nez Perce Indians – Treaties, provides primary sources. The heading, Nez Perce Indians – War, 1877, provides primary and secondary sources such as "The Nez Perce and Their War," "The Last Stand of the Nez Perces," and "Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce Warriors." (The latter includes a helpful map.)

• Why did the U.S. government seek further treaties with the Nez Perces?
• Why did Chief Joseph oppose leaving the Wallowa Valley in Oregon?
• Why did he change his mind and agree to join other Nez Perces on their reservation near Fort Lapwai in western Idaho?
• Why did Chief Joseph, Looking Glass, and other chiefs end up fighting?
• According to Merle Wells, what is the proper way to think of the Nez Perces' actions and objectives during the 1877 military campaign?
• When and where were the major military engagements of the campaign?
• What casualties did the Nez Perces and U.S. military each sustain?
• What happened to the Nez Perces who were engaged in this campaign?
• How would you assess Chief Joseph's role in the Nez Perce War?

Chief Joseph surrendered at Bear Paw with the understanding that he and his band would be allowed to join the other Nez Perces at the Lapwai reservation. Instead, however, they were sent to Oklahoma. During this time, Chief Joseph lobbied for the return of his people to the Idaho reservation. In 1885, one portion of the band was finally allowed to return to Lapwai while Chief Joseph and others were sent to Colville, Washington.

"The Nez Perces in Exile" describes this period following the war of 1877. A search on Nez Perce reservation provides photographs and documents that reflect reservation life for the Nez Perces. Chief Joseph's own view of the Nez Perce history is represented in the article, "An Indian View of Indian Affairs," originally printed in the North American Review in 1879 and available in the American Memory collection, The Nineteenth Century in Print: Periodicals.

• How many times was Chief Joseph's band relocated after their surrender in 1877?
• On what grounds did the U.S. government refuse to return Chief Joseph's band to the Lapwai reservation? Why did they eventually change their minds?
• What problems and hardships did this band of Nez Perces endure in the period between their surrender in 1877 and their return to the Northwest in 1885?
• What were the causes and effects of these hardships?
• How did Chief Joseph continue to lead his people after their surrender in 1877? What did he accomplish?
• Why wasn't Chief Joseph allowed to return to Lapwai?
• How do Chief Joseph's recollections compare to other histories of the Nez Perces?
• What points does Chief Joseph make in the North American Review to argue for the return of the Nez Perces to Lapwai? How do you think the public might have responded to this article?
• Why do you think that the Nez Perce War and Chief Joseph have each become so famous?

Duwamish and Suquamish man named Chief Seattle

Skitswish men James Nicodemus & Nickolas Campbell

Marr defines five types of photographs taken in this period. The first is the studio portrait. Marr explains that Chief Seattle had to be coerced into having his portrait made. Once he had it, the photographer made 100 copies to sell to curious easterners. Notwithstanding many Native Americans' reluctance to have their picture taken, it's possible that some sat willingly for their portraits and kept them for private use. Numerous photographs are available by searching on studio portrait.

• Is it possible to tell how much a photograph was influenced by the photographer or by the subject?
• Can you determine if it was taken for private use or commercial purposes? How does this change the meaning of the picture?
• If subjects sat willingly, what does the choice of clothes, pose, expression, props, and backdrop suggest about how the subjects wanted to be perceived?
• If these choices were made by the photographer, what does it suggest about how he wanted to portray Native Americans?

Yakama woman named Mrs. Thomas Pearne and her children Lester and Ida

Nez Perce men in ceremonial dress

• According to Marr, what symbolic value did photographs of Native Americans acquire and why?
• How have Native Americans been portrayed over the twentieth century?
• Where have these images been found? Who made them? How were they used? What was the symbolic meaning of these images?
• Why do you think that the image of Native Americans has remained a powerful symbol in popular U.S. culture?
• What aspects of Native American cultures might be particularly appealing to some people in the U.S. and why?
• Why do you think that some people are particularly fascinated by the history of Native Americans? What parts of this history seem to intrigue people most and why?
• Why have certain Indians, such as Chiefs Joseph and Seattle, become symbols while others have not? (For more information see David M. Buerge's essay.

Catholic services, "Ceremony of Tears" commemorating loss of salmon habitat to building of Grand Coulee Dam

The article, "Rights of the Puget Sound Indians to Game and Fish" examines the rights of one Washington tribal group. The treaty of Point Elliot guaranteed the Puget Sound Indians "'The right of taking fish at usual and accustomed grounds and stations. . . in common with all citizens of the Territory.'"

• Is Native Americans' equal right to fish denied if commercial fishing depletes this natural resource? Should fishing by non-Native Americans be controlled so as to insure that Native Americans may fish successfully?


• According to the author, how was the requirement to obtain a fishing license discriminatory against Native Americans? Does this interfere with their right to fish "in common with all citizens"?


• Should Native Americans' right to fish be regarded differently because they depend upon fishing for their sustenance or because of the special significance of fish to some native cultures?


• Do treaties give Native Americans a greater right to fish than other people?


• Should citizens be required to allow Native Americans to hunt and fish on their land because it was a "usual and accustomed" fishing ground for Native Americans at the time a treaty was signed, even if it is fifty or sixty miles from a reservation? Does this interfere with property rights? Which is more important?

The article, "Washington State and Tribal Sovereignty: A 1979 Debate on Indian Law" explores the scope of the power, or sovereignty, of a reservation government. For example, do reservation laws apply to non-Native American inhabitants of reservations? If a Native American breaks a law when off of reservation lands, is he or she under the jurisdiction of reservation, state, or federal laws?

The article records an extended argument made by the then Washington state attorney general, Slade Gorton. He argues that the sovereignty of a reservation government is, like city or county governments, subordinate in some ways to state and national governments. He argues that the sovereignty of reservation governments is not inherent, but for all intents and purposes granted by the United States. He compares treaties with Native Americans to the peace treaty made with Japan after World War II, in which the Allied forces that had occupied Japan after its defeat recognized the sovereignty of the Japanese people over Japan:

"The assertion of sovereignty by the United States effectively eliminated all tribal powers. By treaty, some were restored, just as Japan's sovereignty was effectively restored by its peace treaty."

(Page 101, "Washington State and Tribal Sovereignty: A 1979 Debate on Indian Law")

• Do you think that Gorton's comparison is sound? When Native-American tribes signed treaties, were they admitting defeat by a sovereign power and looking to have their sovereignty restored?
• Do you think that this is how the U.S. government viewed the situation? Do you think that this is how Native-American tribes viewed the situation?
• Do you think that the government officials who created treaties thought that Native Americans would practice self-government on reservations? Do you think that Native Americans had this expectation?
• Does the subjection of tribal sovereignty to state or federal sovereignty interfere with Native Americans' right to self-government, which was established in 1934?

Multiple essays in the Special Presentation explain the potlatch ceremony and discuss its importance to Native American cultures of the Pacific Northwest. A search on potlatch provides materials that support research into this tradition, including scholarly articles and images that testify to the persistence and eventual revival of the ceremony.

Though the U.S. military fought numerous Native-American tribes in many wars during the second half of the 19th century, the ordeal most often associated with this time period is the Civil War. Researchers may use this collection to explore the similarities and differences between these conflicts and how they may have affected each other. The Subject Index heading, Indians of North America--Wars, provides many materials. Questions to consider include the following:

• What were the motives, goals, strategies, and resources of the U.S. government in each conflict?
• How did newspapers cover wars with Native Americans and the Civil War? What may account for any differences?
• What was the public opinion of each kind of conflict? What may account for very different attitudes towards these arenas of violence?
• What is the significance of the difference in location of these campaigns? How did the location contribute to the nature, newspaper coverage, and popular opinion of these campaigns?
• How might these conflicts have affected each other?