Nez Perce Stories and Beliefs

Quick Access to Further Links:

http://lc-triballegacy.org/video.php?vid=429&query=I
Telling of the “Coyote and the Monster Story” by J.R. Spencer. This is the first part of three.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWY6MfSmI_E
A girl of the Nez Perce performing a contemporary dance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dLezVURx88
An example of Nez Perce music, composed by Tommy Lee.

https://www.nps.gov/museum/exhibits/nepe/index.html
This is a site for Nez Perce museum collections. It has information on their history, and many photos of artifacts.

Transcript

1. N E Z P E R C E Original Beliefs and Stories “They were brothers to the animals and trees, to the grasses seared by the sun, to the insects on the rocks, the brooks running through snowbanks in winter, and the rain dropping from the leaves of bushes. Everything about them, the inanimate objects as well as the creatures that lived, was bound like themselves to the earth and possessed a spiritual being that was joined through a great unseen world of powers to the spirit within an individual Indian.” -Alvin M. Josephy
2. The Nez Perce, or Niimíipu, spoke Niimiipuutímt, and were part of the Sahaptian language group, with oral storytelling traditions. Their territory contained 13 -17 million acres from the Bitterroot (pictured below) to the Blue Mountain Ranges. They were closely connected to the natural world in their beliefs.
3. Coyote - It’se-ye-ye Coyote, or It’se-ye-ye, is a powerful figure that appears in many Nez Perce, or Niimíipu, stories, and can have many different personalities. Before humans existed, it was said that the animals of the world had human characteristics, and Coyote later changed them into their animal form. Coyote was viewed as the chief of the animals, and the creator of La-te-tel- wit, or people. He dug the Columbia River, and brought fire to humans.
4. The creation story of the Nez Perce begins at this site in Kamiah Valley, Idaho, by the Clearwater River, where Coyote cut away the heart of a large monster, Iltswewitsix, who had swallowed many animals, setting them all free. Coyote spread Iltswewitsix’s pieces in all directions, and created the different tribes of the area, such as the Couer d’Alene, the Blackfeet, and the Cayuse. The Niimíipu were the last, made at the heart, from only a little of Iltswewitsix’s blood. This claim of being born at the heart was also made by other tribes. “You may be little people, but you will be powerful.” -Coyote to Nez Perce Heart of the Monster
5. While the details vary on the teller, it is clear Coyote is both a trickster and a hero. He decieves the monster into opening its mouth, and then races inside, and lights a fire in the monster’s belly using his flint or his pitch. He uses all five of his stone knives, a historically sacred number among the Nez Perce, to cut the heart, saving animals and creating people. In another story, Coyote turns Ant and Yellow Jacket to stone, after they keep arguing over dried salmon and refuse to listen, showing the other side of his role, as a teacher of a lesson. The image is of a basalt arch where the Nez Perce believe Ant and Yellow Jacket still stand frozen in the middle of their fight.
6. Weyekin The Nez Perce connected spirituality with prosperity, and believed in a world that was filled with unique spirits. The Weyekin, Wey-ya-kin, or Wyakin, acted as a guardian through life and a tie to the invisible spirit world, and represented a person’s strengths or weaknesses. It could be an animal, like an eagle, or a natural force, like the wind. There is even a story of a boy who had the Weyekin of a hazelnut, and was good at escaping his enemies. Women and men could hold equally powerful Weyekin. They also believed in ipetes, objects connected to their Weyekin, used when in need or during ceremonies. “Many Wounds, a modern day Nez Perce, explained it to his Christian friend, the chronicler of Nez Perce history Lucullus McWhorter: “It is this way. You have faith, and ask maybe some saint to help with something where you probably are stalled. It is the same way climbing a mountain. You ask Wyakin to help you.””- From “The Nez Perce Indians and the Opening of the Northwest” by Alvin M. Josephy.
7. Finding Weyekin From the ages of around nine to fifteen, boys and girls would venture out from their villages to seek their Weyekin. They would bring no food or supplies, and travel to a quiet, remote place, often in the mountains. Once there, the child would construct a pile of stones, and wait beside it, trying to focus only on finding their Weyekin. It could take days for a child to find their Weyekin, and for some the struggle with loneliness and patience was too great, and they were unsuccessful. This tradition was highly valued and sacred, and it was known that a child should never lie about finding a Weyekin. Blue Mountain Range
8. Discovering their guardian could be a real event, such as the appearance of an animal or thunder, or it could be a vison brought on by lack of sleep and food. Often children were trained in the years before by an experienced medicine person, or tewat. Children never mentioned their Weyekin directly at first, but would often hint at them during the Guardian Spirit Dance the next winter, and afterwards they may have gained a new name related to their guardian spirit, along with their old name and nicknames. This head dress may have represented the owner’s weyekin.
9. Sweat lodges, pictured on the right, were in every village, always opening towards a river. They were seen as a way to purify the body and the spirit. The lodge had a guardian spirit, called a “sh-wats”, and the person in charge of the lodge would also have that spirit. Wild roses were also seen as purifying and protective. Spirituality in Village Life Whenever a member of a village passed away, tule mats were used for burials, which were mostly in volcanic ash, rockslides, or other rock formations, and often decorated with staffs or stones. Five days of singing, dancing, and ceremonies were performed in the person’s memory.
10. Further Links 1) http://lc-triballegacy.org/video.php?vid=429&query=I Telling of the “Coyote and the Monster Story” by J.R. Spencer. This is the first part of three. 2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWY6MfSmI_E A girl of the Nez Perce performing a contemporary dance. 3) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dLezVURx88 An example of Nez Perce music, composed by Tommy Lee. 4) https://www.nps.gov/museum/exhibits/nepe/index.html This is a site for Nez Perce museum collections. It has information on their history, and many photos of artifacts.
11. Text Sources 1) Josephy, Alvin M. The Nez Perce Indians and the opening of the Northwest. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1997. 2) Spinden, Herbert J. “Myths of the Nez Perce Indians.” The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 21, No. 80 (Jan. - Mar., 1908), pp. 13-23, jstor.org/ stable/534523. 3) “Nez Perce Tribe Story of Creation: 1500-1700.” Wilderness, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, wilderness.nps.gov/idea11.cfm. 4) “Legend Times.” Nez Perce Museum Collections, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, nps.gov/museum/exhibits/nepe/ legend_times.html 5) “Nez Perce.” New World Encyclopedia, 26 May 2014, newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Nez_Perce. 6) Bohan, Heidi. The People of Cascadia: Pacific Northwest Native American History. 2009. 7) West, Elliott. The Last Indian War. Oxford University Press, 2009.
12. Sources for Photos: 1) https://www.nps.gov/museum/exhibits/nepe/exb/contact_change/1877War/ NEPE33604_Painting.html For painting by Nakia Williamson Cloud, 16 years old. 2) https://www.gohunt.com/read/california-bans-coyote-hunting-contests-with-prizes For photo of coyote. 3) http://ywamfirstnations.org/indigenous-peoples/the-nez-perce/ For the photo of “Heart of the Monster” in Kamiah Valley. 4) http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM25D7_Ant_Yellowjacket For the photo of “Ant and Yellow Jacket”. 5) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Glorious-blue-mountain-range.jpg For photo of Blue Mountain Range
13. Sources for Photos Continued 6) http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/File:Sweat_lodge_nez.jpg For photo of Nez Perce sweat lodge. 7) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/BitterrootMtnsMT.jpg For photo of Bitterroot Mountain Range. 8) https://www.nps.gov/museum/exhibits/nepe/exb/dailylife/SpirtualWorld/ NEPE1133_Bonnet.html For photo of Nez Perce head dress.