These photos were taken on a trip through the lands of the Nimiipuu (Nez Perce) people in June 2013. The Nimiipuu occupied land stretching through what is now NE Oregon, SW Washington and eastern Idaho. The US used contested treaties to take land from the ancestors of the current Nimiipuu people, who now reside on two reservations (Nez Perce and Colville) and in many other places in the world. In recent years the Nez Perce have purchased land in the beautiful Wallow Valley, the homeland of the Joseph band prior to 1877, and have established a cultural center there. Along with many other Indigenous nations in the US and Canada, they continue to contest attempts to subvert treaty rights and sovereignty over the lands they retain.

© Susan B. Nolen, 2025.