Chief Joseph Sought Peace With The U.S. Government Through Diplomacy - But They Wouldn’t Listen

Chief Joseph was determined not to abandon his ancestral lands and to stand his ground without violence. But the U.S. government had other ideas.

Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce tribe in the Pacific Northwest was a warrior and a humanitarian who made it his life’s work to ensure the survival of his people’s land and heritage during the westward expansion of the United States. Throughout his life, he did just that, even coming to blows with the U.S. government over it.

But neither the government nor the threat of incarceration could break the resolve of Chief Joseph, who would go down in history for his bravery, perseverance, and love for his people.

A Legend Is Born

Chief Joseph, whose native name was Hinmatóowyalahtq̓it, was born in 1840 when his father Tuekakas, known as Old Joseph or Elder Joseph, was the leader of the Wal-lam-wat-kain (or Wallowa) tribe of Nez Perce Indians. The Wallowa tribe resided in the Pacific Northwest in an extensive plot of land in the Wallowa Valley in northeastern Oregon.

Old Joseph had a history of trying to maintain cordial relations with white settlers and even converted to Christianity in 1838 and was baptized - when he received the name “Joseph.”

Around 1850, when Chief Joseph the younger was a boy, the Wallowa Valley began playing host to newcomers, a group of white settlers who had begun to move in from the north and the east, settling in the valley’s fruitful lands. Old Joseph was characteristically welcoming to the white settlers at first.

But before long, the settlers began to encroach ever further on the tribe’s land and demanded more space. When denied by Old Joseph, the settlers took it by force anyway and built farms and pastures for their livestock. As the settlers continued to move into native lands, tensions began to build. In an effort to make peace and create land boundaries, Isaac Stevens, governor of the Washington Territory, organized a council.

Under Stevens’ council, the 1855 Treaty of Walla Walla was drawn up. Signed by Old Joseph as well as the chiefs of the surrounding tribes, the treaty created a reservation encompassing more than 7 million acres of land for the various tribes – including the Wallowa Valley where the Wallowa tribe resided.

For the next eight years, the treaty seemed to have succeeded in maintaining a peaceful cohabitation between the Native American tribes and the white settlers. However, in 1863, a gold rush brought more settlers than the land could handle.

A second council was organized and a new treaty proposed, though this one was much more in favor of the white settlers. The treaty downgraded their previous 7-million-acre homeland to just over 700,000 acres. Worse yet was the fact that it excluded the Wallowa Valley entirely, and moved all of the tribes to western Idaho.

Several of the Nez Perce tribes agreed to the treaty and moved quickly. Old Joseph and a few others, however, declined to sign and stood their ground. Old Joseph broke ties literally and figuratively with the United States at that point: He threw away his Bible and burned his American flag.

Then, Old Joseph marked the Wallowa Valley with poles to outline their land and he declared: “Inside this boundary, all our people were born. It circles the graves of our fathers, and we will never give up these graves to any man.”

His words served as the fire that fueled his tribe and his son in the tumultuous decades to come.

Chief Joseph’s Non-Violent Stand

In 1871, before Old Joseph died, he counseled and prepared his son for the role of leader. In one recorded speech, he explained to his son the importance of the land, and his orders never to concede it to the settlers.

“When I am gone, think of your country… My son, never forget my dying words. This country holds your father’s body. Never sell the bones of your father and your mother.”