by Chief Joseph

Bom in Oregon in 1840, Chief Joseph belonged to a Nez Perce band-the white man's name for an Indian tribe that preferred to call itself Numipu (meaning "We People"). Joseph grew up in their home territory of the Northwest, becoming a chief when his father passed away in 1871. By then the tribe had split into two factions, its bands differing over their willingness to engage in treaty-making with the whites. Chief Joseph rose to leadership of the renegade bands, who traveled 1,500 miles to escape the dictates of the whites and nearly succeeded. Defeated on the last leg of flight, Joseph issued a surrender statement that conveyed his people's resignation and despair.

Events in History at the Time of the Statement

Territory. The traditional territory of the Nez Perce fell between the forty-fifth and forty-seventh latitude parallels...