FROM PAGE ONE
Wallowa.com
Wednesday, August 4, 2021
A15
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Shannon Wheeler, vice chairman of the Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee, right, speaks
Thursday, July 29, 2021, during the Return to Am’saáxpa ceremonies to bless the land recently
reacquired by the tribe. NPTEC Treasurer Casey Mitchell listens at left.
Veterans plant the national and tribal colors Thursday, July 29, 2021, during the Return to
Am’saáxpa ceremonies just west of Joseph. The approximately 148-acre property was blessed
as it was returned to tribal ownership.
Blessing:
Continued from Page A1
But in October 1877, fol-
lowing the Battle of Bear’s
Paw in Montana, Joseph was
forced to surrender more
than 400 tribal members to
Brigadier Gen. Oliver O.
Howard. That led to exile in
Oklahoma and eventually to
the Colville Indian Reserva-
tion in Washington, where
Joseph died in 1904.
Before he died, he made
trips to Washington, D.C., to
plead the case of his people,
with no success. According
to historylink.org, in 1900,
Chief Joseph received per-
mission to return to Wal-
lowa and make his case
before the valley’s white set-
tlers. He told a large crowd
that he had never sold his
land and that he now wished
to reclaim some of the prime
land near his father’s burial
place, as well as some areas
near Wallowa Lake and
parts of the Imnaha Val-
ley. He was met with jeers.
They considered Joseph sen-
timental and delusional and
expressed no willingness to
sell him — much less give
him — any land at all. A
government inspector who
accompanied Joseph recom-
mended that he was better
off staying on the Colville
Reservation.
With his hopes dashed
forever, he remained on the
Colville with his small band,
living in a teepee instead of
the house that had been pro-
vided him.
Tears of joy
Wheeler
said
that
although many of their
ancestors — living and dead
— were unable to be there
Thursday, their presence
was felt.
“You may not be able to
see them, but you can feel
them, their tears and their
smiles that they’re sharing
with us today,” he said. “I
think of my mother, she was
unable to make the journey
because of her age, but our
family’s from here … she
cried when I left and I told
her I was coming. She said,
‘I will be there with you.’
That’s how all of us carry
all of our family who aren’t
able to be here and all of
our ancestors. She’s carry-
ing that blood with her and
that’s the same blood I have.
That’s what we’re carrying
here and that’s what I felt
when we were riding in.”
The joy looks toward the
future.
“We’re glad we have the
opportunity to do this, not
only for our ancestors who
had to leave and live all
the years of exile and hav-
ing all of our belongings
taken from us and our land
taken from us … to be able
to get to this point, it’s hard
to describe how I feel inside
right now,” Wheeler said.
“I’ll know more later on
when our future generations
are able to come here and
live here and enjoy this land
for what it is and bring back
what is intended. We’re just
thankful to be here today.”
He also told of a dream
he had about 20 years ago
that envisioned the day.
“I had a dream of our
people walking out of the
woods and walking into this
valley,” he said. “I didn’t
understand it at the time …
but as we got closer to this
date, I understood more that
it was a vision of coming
home and our people needed
to be here as the land was
calling.”
One people
Tribal
elder
Allen
Pinkham spoke of how the
land must be valued by
all people — Indian and
non-Indian alike.
“I am descended from
Chief
Joseph’s
sister,
Sarah,” he said. “We became
the Black Eagles and then
Pinkhams. I am related to
this people who lived here.
I am glad to be home. I
fi rst came here in 1947 as a
young boy.”
Pinkham described a
oneness that is key to being
good stewards of the land
and its resources.
“As a people, Joseph
spoke of one thing that we
need to be — one people,”
he said. “We started saying
that in 1855. What this ‘one
people’ means is we will not
steal from each other; we
will not take from each other
and call it our own; and, we
will not kill one another.
…When we become one
people, what we can do is
unlimited. As Nakia said,
we want to be interested in
the environmental condi-
tions because we are of the
Earth. So one day, maybe
there can be common under-
standing between two kinds
of people about what to do
about the ecosystems that
have disappeared.”
Hopes for the future
With all the reacquisi-
tions of tribal lands the Nez
Perce have made in recent
years, there is even hopes
such lands could be incor-
porated into the Idaho-based
reservation.
“There is a mechanism to
do that, and we will be pur-
suing that,” Wheeler said.
Penney went into fur-
ther detail. He noted that in
addition to parcels in Wal-
lowa County, the tribe has
acquired lands elsewhere,
such as about 15,000 acres
near Clarkston, Washington.
“The land is still within
the Treaty of 1855,” he said.
“There’s a process where
you take land into trust. …
Through the Department
of the Interior, Bureau of
Indian Aff airs, there’s a pro-
cess to handle acquisitions.”
Much of the hopes for
the future deal with steward-
ship of the land and the peo-
ple on it.
“What we tell everybody
is that just like our elders in
times past told us is that the
land and us are the same,”
Penney said. “What you call
resources is a part of our life.
So when we advocate for
these resources, we not only
advocate for our life but
for all of humanity — that
means all of you. … Com-
ing back home is a big testa-
ment to that time.”
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