Sacred Lands
MEMBERSHIP FORM
13
The Home of Chief Joseph
Of all the Indians evicted from their homelands, none fought harder and more tragically
for a country they loved than the Nez Perces of Chief Joseph, who occupied the beautiful
Wallowa region of northeastern Oregon.
“It is still our land... my father
sleeps there, and I love it as I
love my mother.” Chief Joseph
Indian
Sacred
Lands
Wallowa
Land Trust
A great American’s plea
for his homeland resonates
today, a century after his
death.
The Wallowa Land Trust’s
Indian Sacred Lands Program
works with descendants of
Chief Joseph and Nez Perce
people to secure sacred lands
in their beloved Wallowa
Valley.
Your support is crucial to
this effort.
Protected on all sides by lofty mountain ranges and deep chasms, including Hells Canyon,
the lush, sparkling meadows of Wallowa Valley, with its gem, the glacial Wallowa Lake
[above], provided delightful and easy living in the spring and summer. In cold weather the
Indians descended into canyons like the Imnaha [below], where they lived in comfort, with
abundant grass for their horses.
In the 1870’s white men found a pass into the valley and began infringing on Nez Perce
land. By a corrupt treaty, which Joseph’s people had not signed, the Indians were ordered
to leave the region. Joseph, a humane and statesmanlike leader, did all he could to avoid
conflict, but other Nez Perces resisted and war broke out, culminating in an epic 1300-mile
fighting retreat by the Indians across Idaho and Montana to within only thirty miles of the
Canadian border and safety.
There, heartbroken for his surrounded and suffering people, Joseph made his noble speech
of capitulation in 1877: “From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever.”
by Wallace Stegner, with Alvin M. Josephy, Jr., editor
The American Heritage Book of Natural Wonders, 1963
Indian Sacred Lands Program
The Wallowa: Indian Country
The Wallowa Land Trust is committed to the vision that
Indian people will always call the Wallowa Country home.
We need your financial support to transform that vision
into reality.
For over 12,000 years the Wallowa
Country was home to the Wallowa band
Nez Perce (the Walwaama). In 1855
Old Chief Joseph signed their first and
only treaty with the United States, which
reserved their Wallowa homeland as
part of the original Nez Perce Indian
Reservation.
Old Chief Joseph (Tuekakas),
drawn by Pvt. Gustavus Sohon,
Walla Walla Council, 1855
In 1863 the government began stealing
that land with a new “Thief” treaty which
the Wallowa band never signed, and
which eventually led to war in 1877.
The Trust’s Indian Sacred Lands Program helps secure
lands of special tribal importance. The Trust acquires
lands and conservation easements, and protects them in
perpetuity on behalf of Indian (and non-Indian) people; it
also facilitates tribal acquisition of specific lands.
Chief Ollokot, Wallowa
band war chief & brother
of Young Joseph
Chief Looking Glass, Wallowa band ally from the
Clearwater Country
Today: Coming Home
SALMON
ART B
Although the Nez Perce Tribe holds reserved treaty rights throughout the
Wallowa Country, few Indians have resided here in recent decades. Today,
Nez Perce people (Nimiipuu) are returning home. Some work for the Nez
Perce fisheries and wildlife departments to re-establish salmon runs and
protect wildlife within the region’s unique ecosystems.
These purchases are expensive. The Trust must raise
just over $25 million for priority properties currently
threatened by development. This is a lot of money, but
every dollar counts, as most larger gifts to the Trust are
based on public support expressed in many smaller
donations, which are effectively multiplied.
Please contribute to the Indian Sacred Lands Program
today. A tax-exempt organization, the Trust is funded
primarily by donations from individuals and families.
Gifts of all sizes are tax-deductible to the extent permitted
by law, and deeply appreciated.
Please visit our website: www.wallowalandtrust.org
“A few years more and
white men will be all
around you. They have
their eyes on this land.
My son, never forget
my dying words. This
country holds your
father’s body. Never sell
the bones of your father
and your mother.”
Old Chief Joseph gravesite
Joseph Canyon
Wallowa Lake Basin & Moraines
The tribe’s spiritual and historic affiliation with the Wallowa Lake Moraines and Upper Wallowa River Canyon is well established. Much of the Wallowa Land Trust’s work is focused on these critical areas, including lands near the ancient Indian
cemetery and gravesite of Old Chief Joseph, a centerpoint of cultural significance for Nez Perce people. Tribal concerns
extend to other cultural and religious sites throughout the mountains, valleys and canyons of the Wallowa Country, such as
traditional fishing areas, encampments, burials and other sacred places.
Old Joseph to his eldest son,
Young Joseph,1871
Archived Indian photos courtesy Nez Perce National Historical Park,
National Park Service • Tamkaliks & landscape photos copyrighted by
David Jensen • Sohon drawing of Old Joseph courtesy Washington State
Historical Society • Brochure design by SW Sprague
Tamkaliks, the annual Nez Perce gathering in the Wallowa
“I buried him
in that beautiful valley
of winding waters.
I love that land more
than all the rest
of the world.”
Chief Joseph
(Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekht,
Thunder Traveling
to Loftier
Mountain Heights)
1879