Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce
Chief Joseph Washington State Library continues to celebrate Native American Heritage month by focusing on the history of Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce. The Nimi’ipuu (meaning “The Real People”) founded their villages in a 17 million acre swath of land that extended from the Bitteroot to the Blue mountains, especially along the banks of the Clearwater, Salmon, and Snake River drainages. Their language is a part of the Sahaptian sub division of the Penutian linguistic family found in the…