The Nez Perce Tribe Turner Clark, Brandan Cassidy, Nick Orioli, Corey Payne, and Bryan Peck

Location They lived in the small Plateau region. The Plateau consisted of Canada and some U.S. states including Montana and Idaho.

Food Due to their location, they had a ready and varied supply of food They lived near many fresh water rivers that they often fished in They also gathered some vegetables for food During hunting season, they often left behind their villages in order to follow and hunt the buffalo

Homes The Nez Perce Indians originally lived in earthen houses that were permanent homes However, they later lived in tipis (often called teepees) They lived in these tipis because they started to hunt buffalo and needed to be more mobile

Language Their language was a Sahaptian language Sahaptian languages were part of the greater Plateau Penutian language family This language family was common in their area allowing some communication with nearby tribes but not with distant tribes The language family was central to the Plateau region and is part of the distinction of the region

White Removal of the Indians They were ordered to South-Eastern Montana Then to Bismarck North Dakota where food would be cheaper All horses were taken away with all saddles Many people died due to lack of clean water They were moved to new climates making living hard for them They had to grow things to which they were unaccustomed

Chief Joseph Chief Joseph was born March 3, 1840 on and was the leader of the Wallowa band of the Nez Perce from 1871-1904 He is best remembered for his retreat to the Canadian border to avoid repercussions from the U.S. military after a group of White settlers were killed by another band of the Nez Perce They were forced to fight many battles along the way against the U.S. military. After 4 months, along a 1,400 mile journey to the Canadian border, Chief Joseph and his people finally surrendered, because they were too beaten and starving to fight anymore They were relocated to Kansas at first, but in 1885 they were allowed to go back to the Pacific-Northwest. This still didn’t make up for the fact that most of their people had been killed and they were still miles away from Wallowa Valley In 1904 Chief Joseph died and was buried in Colville Indian Cemetery in Washington