A Spiritual Relationship with the Land

ANYTHING THAT GROWS OR LIVES, LIKE PLANTS OR ANIMALS, IS PART OF OUR RELIGION.

The most important element we have in our religion is water. At all of the Nez Perce ceremonial feasts the people drink water before and after they eat. The water is a purification of our bodies before we accept the gifts from the Creator. After the feast we drink water to purify all the food we have consumed. — Horace Axtell, Nez Perce

Levi Carson fishes the Imnaha (Photo by Joe Whittle) — **Levi Carson fishes the Imnaha** *(Photo by Joe Whittle)*

  Belief in the Creator has been a pillar of Nez Perce life for thousands of years. Christianity seemed compatible with tamá·lwit and what is now known as the Seven Drums or Longhouse religion. Yet, prophecies in the 1800s warned of negative change brought by the white man, and followers of the Dreamer faith came together to reaffirm their spiritual relationship with the land. 

Today, as they did then, many wal’wá·ma descendants gather to worship hanyaw’á·t during Longhouse services on Sundays and other occasions. The Wallowa Longhouse provides a space for these ceremonies which are central to the connection of people and homeland.

  The wal’wá·ma were separated from their Nez Perce relatives upon return to the northwest from Oklahoma in 1885. As explained by Nez Perce War veteran Yellow Wolf: “Religion had to do with where they placed us. ... [When the train carrying exiles west stopped at Wallula] the interpreter asked us, ‘Where you want to go? Lapwai and be Christian, or Colville and just be yourself?’”
  

As seen time and again, Nez Perce were open to new technologies and theologies, and willingly adopted them as a way to meet their needs. Accepting new ideas had never required giving up old ones.

Many European items were embraced by the Nez Perce if they benefitted their way of life.

European influence advanced in the 1800’s, and METAL HAND BELLS began to be used along with HAND DRUMS, song and dance inside the longhouse. Soon after, Christian missionaries arrived in the northwest. In 1871, the Gospel According to Matthew and later the BOOK OF JOHN were published in a Nez Perce Language translation.

<— Previous: Our Creation Story

Next: Traveling a Vast Country —>

A Spiritual Relationship with the Land

ANYTHING THAT GROWS OR LIVES, LIKE PLANTS OR ANIMALS, IS PART OF OUR RELIGION.

As seen time and again, Nez Perce were open to new technologies and theologies, and willingly adopted them as a way to meet their needs. Accepting new ideas had never required giving up old ones.

<— Previous: Our Creation Story

Next: Traveling a Vast Country —>

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