Lewis and Clark Among the Nez Perce: Strangers in the Land of the Nimiipuu - Hardcover

"More than two centuries after Lewis and Clark entered the world of western native peoples, we at last have a full account of that encounter from an Indian perspective. The view is from the Nez Perces, the people who saved the Corps of Discovery, who became the republic's firm allies and who, seven decades later, were ravaged in the nation's final, and most shameful, Indian war. From the tiniest details to the widest understanding of events, this book tells the familiar story with a freshness and authenticity that sets it apart from the scores of others before it."-- Dr. Elliott West, Professor, University of Arkansas

"This is the way that history should be written; rich in prose, exquisitely researched, and based on Nez Perce ethnohistory that adds a wealth of information to the almost tireless records of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. American Indian voices, cultures, societies, and responses to Lewis and Clark have almost been overwhelmed by non-Native histories. Now they are not; Nez Perce history brings American history alive again. As the authors say, 'In movement, life was found, ' and in this case, 'In movement, history was found.'" -- J. Diane Pearson, Author The Nez Perces in the Indian Territory: Nimiipuu Survival

"This book enjoys the unbeatable twin advantages of, first, a subject involving America's most famous early explorers and the Indian tribe that rescued their expedition, and, second, one author who is a respected elder tribal statesman and an authority on Nez Perce culture, and the other a professional historian who specializes on the overall subject. The result may well be the long-sought authoritative account on Lewis and Clark's encounter with the Nez Perce." -- David H. Stratton, Professor Emeritus of History Washington State University

This extraordinary new look at Lewis and Clark among the Nez Perce represents a breakthrough in Lewis and Clark studies. Lewis and Clark Among the Nez Perce is the first richly detailed exploration of the relationship between Mr. Jefferson’s Corps of Discovery and a single tribe.

James Ronda’s groundbreaking Lewis and Clark Among the Indians (1984) reversed the lens for the first time, to look broadly at the Lewis and Clark expedition through the Native American point of view.

Nearly three decades later, Nez Perce historians Allen V. Pinkham and Steven Ross Evans have examined the journals of Lewis and Clark with painstaking care to tease out new insights from what Lewis and Clark wrote about their Nez Perce hosts. Pinkham and Evans evaluate both what Lewis and Clark understood and what they misunderstood in the Nez Perce (Nimiipuu) lifeway and political structure. More particularly they have re-examined the journals for clues about how the Nez Perce reacted to the bearded strangers. They have also gathered together and put into print for the first time the stands of a surprisingly rich Nez Perce oral tradition.

Lewis and Clark Among the Nez Perce is a generous and careful re-evaluation of what we all thought we knew about Lewis and Clark west of the Bitterroot Mountains. It is also a template for a series of tribal histories of the Lewis and Clark expedition that will be inspired by this book. Incidents we thought we knew backward and forward suddenly take on a new light when the historical lens is reversed.