• NEWS AND ARTICLES:BEAR PAW BATTLEFIELD TRANSFER: The National Park Service will build a visitor center and park ranger office near the Bear Paw Battlefield south of Chinook, and NPS Ranger Robert West said negotiations to transfer ownership of the 160-acre battlefield from the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks to the NPS could be completed this month. The Havre Daily News reported that the visitor center will provide information about the battlefield and a tour starting point. The building also will enable the ranger to work fulltime at the site instead of from Chinook. After the visitor center was built at Big Hole Battlefield, annual visitors increased from 15,000 to 30,000, and Big Hole now hosts about 60,000 visitors a year. The center is planned for a 20-acre site adjacent to the battlefield, and the NPS is negotiating with a private landowner to purchase the land.FORT LEAVENWORTH: The Nez Perce Trail Foundation, in conjunction with Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, has had the Fort Leavenworth site officially certified as part of the Nez Perce (Nee-Me-Poo) National Historic Trail. The ceremonies took place at Fort Leavenworth on November 19 and a reception was held at St. Mary's University in Leavenworth. A symposium followed on November 20 at the university. There's a map online [HERE] and a map with driving directions [HERE] in a 235K WORD document. For additional information about this event, contact Crystal White, Foundation Vice President at: vicepresident@nezpercetrail.netJUDGE RULES IN FAVOR OF NEZ PERCE ELK HUNTING: Two Nez Perce tribal hunters who killed elk on private timberland cannot be charged with hunting out of season. "There is no such thing as a closed season for hunting by these Nez Perce members," wrote Judge Phillip Mendiguren on October 8 in Wallowa County, Oregon. Irvin Watters Sr., 77, and his son, Irvin Watters Jr., 38, shot two elk on Smith Mountain for a friendship feast in Wallowa in July 2003. The elder Watters was charged with hunting out of season, and his son was charged with aiding in a fish and game violation. Watters has provided game for the feast for 14 years. The men had argued they were exercising rights guaranteed in the treaty of 1855 and reaffirmed in the treaty of 1863 and their attorney Ron Schenck had filed a motion to dismiss the charges. The Lewiston Morning Tribune reported that during the hearing, a witness asked what happened to the elk, and the response was that the white people at the celebration had eaten all the evidence. Irvin Watters Sr. is the great-grandson of Ollikot, a brother of Chief Joseph.NATIONAL TRAILS SYMPOSIUM: Austin, Texas, will host the National Trails Symposium October 21-24 and participants can choose from over 80 sessions on the economic, social, and environmental benefits of trails, along with sessions on partnerships, funding, marketing, planning, and design projects. Forty poster sessions will highlight trail projects, programs, and issues from around the country and abroad, including a special photo gallery of "creative crossings." The symposium will be held in Austin's 44,000 sq. ft. Exhibit Hall and will include more than 20 mobile workshops. For more info, email Symposium@americantrails.org or check the website at americantrails.org
MEMORIAL AT YELLOWSTONE: Members of the Nez Perce Tribe held a memorial ceremony near Nez Perce Creek in August to commemorate their ancestors who passed through Yellowstone in 1877. The memorial included songs, a pipe ceremony, and Nez Perce in traditional regalia. This was the first time in Yellowstone's history that the Nez Perce memorial occurred in the park. The NPS has
books and audio files online.
HONORING THE FALLEN: On September 12 about 60 people turned out for the annual pipe ceremony to commemorate the battle at Canyon Creek. Veterans gathered in a circle to share the pipe and honor soldiers who had died. "These are the things we do for those who came before us," said Scott Winfred, a Nez Perce member from Lapwai who led the ceremony. The
Billings Gazette WALLOWA LAKE SUBDIVISION ISSUE REMANDED BACK TO COUNTY: The Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) decided it does not have enough information on the proposed subdivision near Wallowa Lake and has remanded the decision back to the Wallowa County Board of Commissioners. The
Wallowa County Chieftain ABOUT OUR NEW LOGO: After several years of using a modified version of the Nez Perce National Historic Trail logo that marks the federally designated trail, the Nez Perce Trail Foundation has created their own unique logo. Designed by Nez Perce tribal artist Sarah Penney, the logo uses traditional symbolic images used in Nez Perce baskets, beadwork, and other traditional and contemporary art forms. Borrowing the image of the Nez Perce people on horseback from the official trail logo, the new Foundation logo also incorporates geometric shapes to represent important aspects of the Nez Perce Outbreak and War of 1877. The riders represent the hundreds of Nez Perce men, women, and children, along with their livestock, who traveled over 1,170 miles across present-day Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming in search of a new place to call home after they were forcefully removed from their traditional homelands. The two mountains represent the Bitterroot Range and the larger Rocky Mountains that the Nez Perce traversed during their four-month journey of hardship, victories, and defeat by the U.S. Army. The seven vertical black/red bars along the bottom represent the seven significant battles and skirmishes of the Nez Perce War: the White Bird Canyon Battle, the Clearwater Battle, the Big Hole Battle, the Camas Meadows Battle, the Canyon Creek Battle, the Cow Island Crossing Skirmish and the Bear Paw Battle. The seven bars also represent the seven generations and seven drums -- very important in Nez Perce culture. The six triangles represent eagle feathers to honor the six bands that were pursued by the U.S. Army, until Chief Joseph's final stand near the Bear Paw Mountains on October 5, 1877. These six bands were the Joseph (or Wallowa) Band, the Lean Elk Band, the Looking Glass Band, the Palouse Band, the Toohoolhoolzote Band, and the White Bird Band.
ANNUAL MEETING: The Nez Perce Trail Foundation held its annual meeting on July 15-16, 2004 in Wallowa, Oregon. For updates on the meeting check our
meeting page TAMKALIKS CELEBRATION: The 14th annual Tamkaliks Celebration was held July 16-18 on traditional grounds near Wallowa, Oregon. Hosted each year by the Tamkaliks Committee and the
Wallowa Band Nez Perce Trail Interpretive Center NEZ PERCE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK FEATURED ON ABC NEWS: The 38 sites of the Nez Perce National Historical Park, which are located in Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Montana, pay tribute to the legends and history of the Nez Perce people. The travel section of
ABC News SEPTEMBER 21: The
Grand Opening
NEZ PERCE ELDERS BLESS SCHOOL'S PAINTING
TRIBE AND AGENCIES AGREE TO HELP SALMON
FORT ASSINNIBOINE 125th ANNIVERSARY
REFLECTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE CHIEF JOSEPH BAND OF NEZ PERCE
THE NEZ PERCE IN BAXTER SPRINGS KS
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