Nez Pierce

Plateau

Nez Perce“Nez Perce Indian Fact Sheet” –http://www.bigorrin.org/nez_kids.htm

Textbook page 47

The Nez Perce Indians lived in scattered villages in the Plains west of the Rocky Mountains. About 4,000 in number, they were excellent horsemen and owned the largest horse herd on the continent. They fished for salmon along the Clearwater and Snake rivers, and harvested camas plants in mountain meadows.

the horse culture of the Nez Perce, a proud tradition of selective breeding and

horsemanship

The Nez Perce's name for themselves is Nimíipuu (pronounced [nimiːpuː]), meaning, "The People.“

The Nez Perce, as many western Native American tribes, were migratory and would travel in seasonal rounds, according to where the abundant food was to be found at a

given time of year. This migration followed a predictable pattern from permanent winter villages through several temporary camps, nearly always returning to the same

locations year after year.

Nez Perce is is pronounced "nezz purse" in English. It comes from the French name for the tribe, Nez Percé (pronounced nay per-say.) Nobody knows why the French called them this. It means "pierced nose," but the Nez Perce people say that unlike some neighboring tribes, they have never had a tribal tradition of pierced noses.

Originally, the Nez Perce lived in settled villages of earth houses. They made these homes by digging an underground room, then building a wooden frame over it and covering the frame with earth, cedar bark, and tule mats.

only one family lived in a round house.

Dozens of families lived together in a longhouse

Nez Perce first built earth houses. They made these homes by digging an underground room, then building a wooden frame over it and covering the

frame with earth, cedar bark, and tule mats.

Once the Nez Perce began hunting the buffalo, they began to use tipis like the Plains tribes.

http://www.fs.usda.gov/main/npnht/maps-pubs

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