Sounds of ceremonial singing and rhythmic drumbeats hung through the air Saturday morning as members of the Nez Perce tribe dedicated the moment to their ancestors.
The observance marked the day when Chief Redheart and his band of 33 Nez Perce members were released from their unjust imprisonment in 1878 at Fort Vancouver. Despite the event’s somber undertones, tribal members highlighted the profoundness of their heritage, culture and history. At the same time, sun rays pierced through the clouds and illuminated the gathering in the grassy field.
“We come here to honor our ancestors and to recognize the other people that were associated with our ancestors years ago,” said Wilfred “Scotty” Scott, Nez Perce tribal elder.
In the summer of 1877, Chief Redheart and his 33 cohorts were held in captivity by the U.S. Army despite committing no crimes.
The men, women, children and elders were captured in Idaho, sent down the Columbia River and held in a cramped stockade in Vancouver for eight months, park superintendent Tracy Fortmann said. A majority of the members survived after enduring a frigid and wet winter, but tribe member Little Bear’s young son died while in confinement. He was buried in an unmarked grave at the barracks.
Gen. Oliver Otis Howard spearheaded the campaign to imprison notable Nez Perce leaders, such as Chief Redheart, to set an example of tribal members who refused to follow the 1863 land treaty, she said. The proposed deal — also referred to as the “Thief Treaty” — reduced the Nez Perce’s sovereignty of nearly 7 million acres of land to 1 million acres.
“We all have a responsibility to look at our history and, with a thoughtful eye, move forward,” Fortmann said.
Gifts for healing
The Cowlitz Tribe joined Chief Redheart’s descendants to address this history but to also contribute to the healing process. They provided gifts such as salmon, beaded jewelry and wool blankets, and they performed “The Warrior’s Yell.” Attendees also recognized military veterans.
Jessica Redheart, a direct descendant of Chief Redheart, said her attendance was painful because she recently lost her daughter. But she had to be there for Scotty, whose wife died in January 2021.
“He needs us here,” she said through tears. “Since Scotty can be that tough, I can be that tough, too.”
Mary Wood of Eugene, Ore., the great-granddaughter of an aide to Howard, recalled her attendance at the first Chief Redheart ceremony in 1998. At that time, Wood and her 6-week-old son received a blanket to signify the memory of the infant boy who died at the location more than 130 years before.
It was a move to reconcile the past.
The mother returned the gesture to the Nez Perce by gifting a blanket that would be given to an infant boy in the tribe. She said every Chief Redheart memorial impresses the value of reconciling the past upon its attendees.
“Every time we come here, we learn a lesson …,” Wood said. “We vow to never let this story die.”
Vancouver Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle read from a proclamation during the ceremony to mark the significance of observing the memorial. Other city council members were present, as well as Vancouver’s mayor from 1996 to 2010, Royce Pollard, who played a role in establishing the annual event.
“The Nez Perce lived in harmony with nature and were a peaceful nation inhabiting Southeast Washington, Northeast Oregon and Northern Idaho, and the Nez Perce coexisted with new settlers for many decades until the treaty rights and human rights of the Nez Perce were violated,” McEnerny-Ogle read.
The Fort Vancouver National Historic Site was one of many stops for Nez Perce tribal members traveling from Lapwai, Idaho, to perform memorial ceremonies.
Although the Saturday ceremony was sizeable considering the COVID-19 pandemic, members acknowledged empty seats and the absence of the traditional riderless horse ceremony. A vehicular accident in Lapwai a week prior killed two young people and injured several others, causing some in the community to stay behind.
“Our community is in sorrow right now,” Scotty said.
