Nez Perce Tribe

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The Nez Perce a Native American tribe who live in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. A person says they descended from the Old Cordilleran Culture, which moved south from the Rocky Mountains and west into lands where the tribe th. The federally recognized Nez Perce Nation currently governs and lives within its reservation in Idaho. Their name for themselves is Nimíipuu part of the Sahaptin family. They speak the Nez Perce language or Niimiipuutímt, a Sahaptian language related to the several dialects of Sahaptin. The Sahaptian sub-family is one of the branches of the Plateau Penutian family. William Clark in his journals referred to the people as the Chopunnish. This term is a statement of the term the Nez Perce people which is formed from cú·pʼnit and people. When analyzed through the Nez Perce Language Dictionary, the term cúpnitpelu contains no reference to "Piercing with a pointed object, as described by D.E. Walker. The prefix cú- means "in single file. This prefix, combined with the verb -pini, "to come out. Finally, with the suffix of -pelú, meaning people or inhabitants of. Put all three parts of the Nez Perce word together now to get or "the People Walking Single File Out of the Forest. Nez Perce oral tradition indicates the name Cuupn 'itpel 'uu meant "we walked out of the woods or walked out of the mountains" and referred to the time before the Nez Perce had horses. …show more content…

Nez Percé is an exonym given by French Canadian fur traders who visited the area regularly in the late 18th century, meaning literally "pierced nose". Today the Nez Perce identify most often as Niimíipu in Sahaptin. The tribe also uses the term Nez Perce, as do the United States Government in its official dealings with them, and contemporary historians. Older historical ethnological works use the French spelling of Nez Percé with the