Chief Joseph, 1840-1904: A Great Nez Perce Indian Chief

07 April 2012

SHEP O’NEAL: People in America -- a program in Special English by the Voice of America. Every week at this time, we tell the story of a man or a woman who played an important part in the history of the United States. Today, Larry West and Warren Scheer begin the story of Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce Indians. He is remembered as a hero of all American Indian people.

LARRY WEST: Chief Joseph loved peace. But he was forced to lead his people in war. He loved freedom and his land. But he lost both. Chief Joseph’s story begins with his people and his land.

WARREN SCHEER: An old man looks out at a green valley. Tall dark mountains stand above it. Snow covers the mountain tops. In the clear water of a lake dance the dark shapes of the mountains.

The old man's name is Tuekakas. White men call him old Joseph. The Wallowa Valley is the old man's home -- and the home of the Nez Perce people -- for as long as anyone can remember. It lies in the northwestern part of the United States. Today, the land is part of the states of Idaho, Oregon and Washington.

No one knows exactly when the Nez Perce first came to the valley. From earliest times, the people hunted and raised cattle there. They kept horses, the kind called Appaloosas.

LARRY WEST: The Nez Perce did not own the land. They had not bought it from anyone else. They possessed no documents of ownership. But they believed the land was theirs, simply because that was where they lived.