Iwetemlaykin: Safe and Welcoming Home
Iwetemlaykin: Safe and Welcoming Home This is the location of the summer home of the Wallowa Nez Perce or Nimiipuu (nee-nee-poo) people. They moved between semi-permanent encampments or villages. Their fall home was by the Columbia River where they traded for dried salmon. Their winter home lay in the mild climes along the Imnaha River Canyon. Their summer hone was here, at the North end of Wallowa Lake, close to where Old Chief Joseph is buried. Old Chief Joseph is the father of Young Chief Joseph, who led his people on their legendary fighting retreat from pursuing US soldiers in 1877. The US government gave the Nimiipuu no choice but to leave their home and go to the reservation in Idaho. Some young Nimiipuu men, frustrated with the unfairness of the situation, attacked some white settlers. The US Army was ordered to pursue and subdue the Indians. The Nimiipuu amazed all with their stamina: 750 Indians including w...