History Project Essay

The Nez Perce Indians lived in many different kinds of houses. Some lived in circular pithouses with flat roofs; others lived in lodges made of wooden poles covered with woven cattail mats or buffalo skins; some lived in tipi-shaped lodges and others preferred longhouses.

While hunting, the men were armed with double-curved or a flat type bow and arrows; they also used spears, harpoons, clubs, bolts, and slings. The bow and arrow constituted the primary weapon for hunting and war, until Europeans introduced guns

Arrowheads, knives, and scrapers were made from obsidian, bone, and antlers. The Plateau Indians had a variety of useful knives. One knife was the utility knife. These people also had stone knives that were used for many different purposes.

The Nez Percé felt a deep spiritual connection with the earth and sought to live in harmony with nature. They believed all living things and all features of the natural environment were closely related to each other and to people. Every member of the Nez Percé tribe had a personal link with nature in the form of a guardian spirit, orwyakin, that protected him or her from harm and provided assistance during his or her life. For example, a person might pray to his or her wyakin for success in war or for help in crossing a dangerous river. A small medicine bundle containing materials that represented one's wyakin was often carried.

Around the onset of puberty, a young Nez Percé would leave the village in hopes of acquiring a wyakin through a sacred experience. The youth traveled alone to an isolated place, often at a high mountain or along a river, without food or weapons, and sat upon a pile of stones and waited for the wyakin to reveal itself. The wyakinmight appear as something material, such as an elk illuminated in a flash of lightning, or as a hallucination or dream. After returning to the village, the young person did not tell others of the experience but interpreted the power of the wyakin privately. From that point on, there were certain rules to follow in order to avoid bad fortune, but one could also appeal to the

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Family History Project