Nez+Perce'

Introduction - (OSL-Gaven)[[image:http://www.culturequest.us/munoz/nezperce_files/nezperce.jpg width="159" height="128" caption=" Nez Perce Flag"]]
The Nez Perce tribe lived in the present day statesof Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, and the regions of the Northwest coast, and the Plateau. The Nez Perce tribe spoke defected language to learn and to spike. Some of the words they spoke are manaa wees:how are you. Good afternoon is :ta’c halaxp.Nez Perce means piercednose, because thy had nose rings.

Habitat/Homes - (OSL-Gaven)
Many families could live in a longhouse that can range up to 150 feet long; they were very big. A round house can only hold one family. Tipis were easy to put up and tare down and they were used for buffalo hunting. Tipis were built out of buffalo skin and wood. A longhouse is made of wheat and wood and it took a long time to build and to get ready to live in. A earth house was built out of the ground and had a wood frame and then coverd with earth, that is why it is called an earth house. The two different earth house are a longhouse and a round house.

Nez Perce Indians were found in the States of Washington States, Oregon, and Idaho. Now a days they can be found in Idaho. They even hunted buffalo, elk, and deer for food, tools and for clothing (to keep warm.) The vegetation around them were grasses, trees, shrubs, and wildflowers. The summers were hot and dry and the winter was moderately cold. Precipitation ranged from 13 inches to more than 50 inches.

Dress - (SLL-EmilyE)
One most magnificent Nez Perce dress has pony beads on deer hide. Also there's a dress full of colorful beads like black, and orange.

Food - (SLL-EmilyE)
Did you know what they ate? Nez Perce mostly ate salmon, roots, and berries. They also gathered lot of bulbs and other vegetable. During the summer Nez Perce tribe would gather a wide variety of plants like wild onions and huckle berries. Each journey they ether walk to gather food or ride a wooden boat called canoe. Some Nez Perce used ice caves for storage. They spent most of their time on hunting, fishing, and gathering wild plants. The women’s were in charge of their house. Also they cook and do the cleaning. But the men were hunting and warrior work, there are in charge of food. Important food they ate was rabbits also mountain sheep.

Customs - (SLL-BrendanM)
**__Men's Roles __** Here are some of the mens roles.They were the warriors, they were the hunters, they had to defend their families and feed them. Only the men could become chiefs.

__**Women's Roles**__ The women’s had to make the tools, were in charge of the house, cook their meals. They also had to clean the house, and help clean the animals that the men shot.

**__Children's Roles__** The children had to, besides going to school, help around the house, they helped there dads hunt and fish. They also played with each other. The game that was probably most played pinecone game in which they try to see who can get the pinecone into a hoop, which was 12 to 24 inches in diameter, would win. They played different types of this game. They could have played you would win by getting the pinecone most accurate, highest, lowest, knock out, underhand, and farthest. The children also had to go to school. They had fifty times the amount of chores we have today. Today we don’t have many chores. Back then they barley had time to play, but they still found time to play with there many toys and dolls.

**__Both__** The men and women had to sometimes work together. Here are some cases. They were both storytellers, the both made artwork, made music, and made medicine. **__Legends__** Here is a legend. There was a chief who had tender feet. The other chiefs laughed at him because of his feet. Then the chief summoned the medicine man. He told the medicine man to find a way that when the chief walked, he wouldn’t hurt his feet. The medicine man thought and thought, but he couldn’t find a way. The chief told him if he didn’t find a way before the next full moon, he would punish him. Two nights before the full moon he thought, what if I put mats of reed on the ground; the ground would be soft and not hurt the chief’s feet. So he went out and had the women sew reeds together. When the full moon came, the chief walked out and said, “ My feet do not hurt!” One day while he was walking through the woods, on his mats, he saw a girl. He started to run after her. While he was running, he stepped on a bunch of needle sharp thorns. When the village people heard him scream they thought he was eaten by wildcats. When he came back, he gave an imposable task to the medicine man, cover the whole earth with these leather mats! During the night, the medicine man went to the top of a hill for advise from a spirit. The spirit said to him, “ Why don’t you make him leather shoes?” The medicine man thought that was brilliant! So he went and mad the chief the leather shoes. When the chief walked he thought, my feet don’t hurt, my feet don’t hurt! The chief thanked the medicine man with goods. This is were moccasins came from.

__**Another Legend** __ There once was a beast who terrorized the Indian villages. Whenever he was hungry he head out side and ate the people. A brave man came along, one day. He thought, I will have this beast eat me then I will cut his heart apart. Once the beast ate him, he cut his heart open and killed it. Then he cut the heart into many pieces and spread the pieces put. These pieces became the heart of many villages. He named the pieces as he spread them out. He named one Nez Perce. That’s were they got the name, Nez Perce. **__Festivals__** The Nez Perce had many potlatch festivals. A pot latch festival is when the guests, not the owner of the party, the get gifts. It is unown if they had any ceremonies or other festivals.



Tool and Weapons - (SLL-BrendanM)
The weapons and tools the Nez Perce used were nets for catching fish, spears for spearing fish and for wars, bows and arrows for deer and other animals. They used knives for cleaning animals and for weapons. Sharp rocks were used for sharpening there knives. During war leather shields were used to protect themselves. To travel the Nez Perce used horses, canoes, and travois which are sleds pulled by dogs or horses. To make canoes they dug out the insides of a log. First they find a log, then they cut out the inside wood. They also had pipes, rifles, and transportation gear, which contained of animal horns, string, and other handy gear. The knives that were used to sharpen the other knives were sharp on one side smooth. It is unknown if the Nez Perce took there tools or made them. It is also unknown what the Nez Perce made their tools out of.

Miscellaneous Facts - (all group members)
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 * The Nez Perce' Indians had about 17 million people [[image:http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/LivingWith/Historical/LewisClark/NewOldPhotos/nez_perce_camp_nr_spalding_ca1898_UW.jpg width="213" height="139" align="center"]]
 * Here are some simple words from the Nez Perce’ vocabulary.
 * __ English __ || __ Nez Perce'  __
 * One_ || Náqc ||
 * Two_ || Lepít ||
 * Three _ || Mitát ||
 * Four || Pílep ||
 * Five_ || Páxat ||
 * Man || Háma ||
 * Woman || 'Áyat ||
 * Sun_ || Hísemtuks ||
 * Moon_ || Hísemtuks ||
 * Water_ || Kús ||
 * In 1805 the Nez Perce were visited by Louis and Clark.
 * Do you know were stroller that lets you carry a baby on your back came from? Do you know who made it? The Nez Perce did.