[native language] My name is Nakia Williamson. Today we stand here on the ancient trail system known
by generations of Nimiipuu as Kasuhnu iskit. Behind me are the ancient rock cairns which
have existed here for untold generations. For thousands of years the Nimiipuu, or Nez
Perce, have utilized these very trail systems to access the plains for a variety of purposes.
Their spirits are still here, on Sacred Ground. [native language] Walking on Sacred Ground
[music]
Our ancestors who walked this sacred ground passed down many stories about the trail. To keep the
stories of our shared past alive for future generations, it is vital to all who visit
here to protect this sacred land and the sites this ancient trail holds within. Axtell: "It's such
an important connection to the east. When we sing our songs, we always face to the east.
And that trail goes directly east from where we are, and that's where they went to gather
and also to get this buffalo, and buffalo hides and then trading for bitterroot. Our
people would take other kinds of goods over there, and other kinds of foods, like camas
and kous or something that they don't have." Lawyer: "The Lolo Trail is very important, I think,
because it is the oldest, it's the oldest highway. That's the way the Nez Perces come.
That's the way the Flatheads come down into Kamiah, because they traded, and they were
more or less related." McFarland: "Most of the sites here date back at least 10,000 years. There's
evidence of them going across the trail prior to the acquisition of the horse, which was
right around 1730 AD. At that time they were walking up into the mountains and onto the
trail, and they were also using pack dogs to pack some of their items. Of course when
the horse came around it was much more easier then for them to transport a number of items
across the trail, and it really opened up a whole new era in this trade network that
was taking place between the Pacific Ocean and into the plains, as well as down into
California. The Nez Perce at that time became known as the tradesmen of the Plateau because
they were moving so many trade items back and forth across this trail." This ancient
travel and trade corridor is a direct link to our shared past and is essential to our future.
Halfmoon: "That trail, Kasahnu iskit, was life. It was commerce, it was power which made the
Nez Perce people very influential. It made the Nez Perce people one of the strongest
tribes here in the plateau area, and other tribes knew that." McFarland: "The Nez Perce were know
to go as far as the Pacific Ocean and they were trading for items they didn't have in
their immediate vicinity such as sea shells. They were trading for a variety of different
ornamental shells they were using for decorations on their traditional outfits. So they were
trading for abalone shells, cowry shells, dentatlia, and they would move all those kinds
of items, including pemmican, to the east, along with huckleberries, dried salmon, some
of the things Nez Perce were well-known for, like corn husk fez hats, their wallets, also
their sheep horn bowls, as well as sheep horn ladles, spoons and drinking horns, and so
all the items that wasn't common on the plains, as well as exchanging cultural ideas. When
Lewis and Clark came across the Bitterroots and the Lolo Trail system in 1805, they were
on the Nez Perce Trail. So what they saw was an established trail that led them across
these mountains into the Weippe Prairie. Of course it's the same trail they used on their
eastward journey in 1806. And the trail also is really a landscape of history, because
there's a number of threads that weave through this colorful fabric. We've just touched on
a few of those with the use of the trail by the Nez Perce, the early explorers Lewis and
Clark. But there have been many more people who have gone over the trail. It's been typically
a highway for people, for miners, early trappers, missionaries, railroad route surveys. There's
just so much history up there. The Lolo Trail Corridor system is a landscape of history
with a complex trail network. This includes the ancient Nimiipuu trail, or Lolo Trail,
the Lewis and Clark Trail, the Nez Perce (Nee-Me-Poo) National Historic Trail, the Lolo Motorway
(Forest Road 500), and the Lewis and Clark Highway 12. This ancient trail is a special
place to the Nimiipuu; the spirit of our ancestors can be felt here. Fisher: "Well it's had a lot of
meaning for our people for a long period of time. Not only to travel eastward over the
mountains, but as a means of friendship with other tribes on the other side of the mountains.
Yearout: “The mountains seem to not only, you know, keep you in touch not only the land, but it
seems to be the place where we don't have fences, or houses, or televisions, or newspapers,
it just seems to help to bring you back to that time, when things were probably a lot
less complicated.” Lawyer: “It makes you glad you're Nez Perce when you look at that stuff. That's
the way I always felt, that, gee, this is really like it's sacred ground because you
look at all that beautiful scenery and the tribe has always lived there and they've had
the opportunity to live and enjoy that land.” Narrator: Smoking Place and Indian Post Office are
still sacred to the Nimiipuu. It is our shared responsibility to leave the resources here intact.
The place called the Indian Post Office, that, that's an important spot. A place where the
people used to go and they'd leave something that, they knew that, like I would leave like
something like this here. That was the signal or um, message that, that I'm already ahead
of you. So most the time, they, they tell like what ever you left there that you was
already up and in front of them. They used it as a marker to be sure that they're on
the right trail. And most, most of the time, every time they, a group, band went through
they put rocks there and then somebody else would come and put more rocks there, 'til
finally they got that up quite high. And I seen people to go there and, and pray,
they take off their hat and, and stand there and pray. You can go up there, you can
feel the strength and power, you can feel the generosity of the Creator. You can hear
the birds in the trees; you can, you see the animals moving to and fro. When you see a
lightning storm, the Kasahnu 'iskit rain, the, the thunder, it just sounds so loud.
It sounds so beautiful. You can feel that power. Lewis and Clark, on the return journey,
in 1806, were guided by the Nez Perce across the Bitterroot Mountains. Lewis and Clark,
according to the, the journals, was quite amazed about the Nez Perce knowing the way.
They came up there to Smoking Place and the men want to stop, Lewis wanted to continue.
The Nez Perce would not go any further. They all stopped right there. They said, 'Nope,
we're gonna stay here. We must smoke." They pulled out their pipes and they smoked at
that location there. And once that was done they moved on. Visitors to this area think
that taking one rock will not affect this site. But it is this manner of thinking that
has changed the cairns over the years. We are afraid of some of the things that happened
already. Like at Smoking Place, some of the destruction that took place there. Of the,
the rock cairns have been destroyed. That was a tragedy upon itself. What can we do?
This is something that I think all of us must really must consider. This callous act of
the rock cairn vandalism forever damaged an important Nimiipuu spiritual site noted and
shared by Lewis and Clark in 1806. Sites and artifacts on public lands are protected by
federal, state, and local law. If you discover such remains, leave them as they were. If
you observe people collecting artifacts, removing cairn rocks, or damaging resources, contact
your nearest Forest Service ranger. Allow the next traveler this same experience of
discovery. Fragile meadows on the trail, such as Musselshell where the Nimiipuu met Lewis
and Clark and Weitas where both the Nimiipuu and General Howard camped during the 1877
war, have significant history tied to them. We must protect these cultural sights that
tell our American story. With the coming of the white man, the Kasahnu 'iskit became a
main road for travel and commerce for trappers, miners, and settlers. Along with these incursions
came the treaties that divided our land and our people. This resulted in the Nimiipuu
flight to freedom in 1877. This was a village on a move. You're looking at 700 plus people,
maybe 2,000 head of horses just trying to get away from the soldiers. Trying to go find
freedom, to find peace. When they decided to escape the army, they decided to go over
into Montana and took usual routes, the Lolo trail, over into buffalo country
and as the, as the events progressed their journey, they thought they were getting
away from the army, leaving General Howard behind in Idaho country and of course
we had some skirmishes here in, in Idaho. A battle the beginning in June 17 at Whitebird,
and then the Clearwater, and then, yeah. And then things, they seem to think everything
was left behind when they went into Montana. And then we had a big, tragic
event when Colonel Gibbons forces attack the camp when the Nez Perce people were camped
at Big Hole. And from there they realized that they didn't leave the army behind. So
all of this, the events, just in their trek and trying to get away from the army,
created what we know now as the Nimiipuu Trail, the Nez Perce Trail. The 1,170-mile
flight of the Nimiipuu ended with the flag of truce at Bear Paw, Montana, on October 5,
1877. Several Nimiipuu escaped to Canada, and the 418 Nimiipuu who expected to return
to Idaho, were exiled in Oklahoma for seven and a half years, where 150 Nimiipuu died.
Memorials are held each year at the major battle sights of the Nez Perce War of 1877.
Just making the connection we want to, we come united, that's our way to do it.
I think we've done pretty good because them circles are getting bigger every year.
Many Nimiipuu still use this ancient trail, carrying on the traditions that our ancestors taught
us and fought for us to have. Tribal members are still using the trail as they did for
thousands of years and generations. People still are going up there to hunt, they're
going to fish. People are still going up there to pick huckleberries, to gather medicines,
to dig roots. All of the things that they did years ago in what's considered Nature's
Supermarket is still what's being practiced by Nez Perce people today. Course we welcome
anybody that comes into the region, but at the same time, it is a pristine area and it
should remain that way. Fragile meadow and high mountain environments along the Lolo
Trail are easily damaged by people, animals, and vehicles. Keep all motorized vehicles
and bicycles off of National Historic Trails where only non-motorized trail use is allowed.
Avoid building new rock rings to contain campfires. Toilets are few and far between. Dispose of
human waste properly and away from any water source. Leave no trace of your visit, and
take no mementos. Instead, only take photographs and your memories with you. Respect what you
discover as you walk on this land and together we will preserve these important areas for
future generations. It's like walking on sacred ground.
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