by Rich Wandschneider | Dec 31, 2025 | Manifest Destiny, Marcus Whitman, Native Americans, Nespelem, Nex Perce history, Nez Perce
President Trump’s recent outbursts about Somali-Americans and their homeland being “garbage” have been the most xenophobic rants since those a year ago about Haitians eating pets in Illinois. There have been milder explosions about Venezuelans and South Africans and...
by Rich Wandschneider | Oct 13, 2025 | C.E.S. Wood, Chief Joseph, Erskine Wood, Mardi Wood, Nespelem, Nez Perce, O.O. Howard, Thunder in the Mountains
And what a crowd! Many the descendants of the legendary C.E.S. Wood. Readers of Nez Perce history might remember that C.E.S. was aide-de-camp to General O.O. Howard in the Nez Perce War of 1877, and is credited with taking down Chief Joseph’s speech at war’s end at...
by Rich Wandschneider | Jul 4, 2025 | 4th of July, Albert Andrews, Code of Indian Offenses, Colville Reservation, Indian assimilation, Indian boarding schools, Indian Offenses, Nespelem, Nex Perce history, Nez Perce, Nez Perce Homeland, Nez Perce Wallowa Homeland, Nez Perce War, Nezpercians
Years ago, Albert Red Star Andrews of the Joseph Band of Nez Perce on the Colville Reseravtion in north central Washington, told me about a unique Fourth of July event on his reservation. It was called Pasapalloynin, meaning “to make them rejoice, to make them happy!”...
by Rich Wandschneider | Jan 15, 2023 | Hamalainen, Jamelle Bouie, martin luther king, Nespelem, Nez Perce
Tomorrow, Monday, is Martin Luther King Day, and I’ve just begun reading Pekka Hamalainen’s new book, Indigenous Continent. It strikes me already that King’s dreams and the Indigenous philosophy as described by Hamalainen share underlying themes: unity, harmony,...
by Rich Wandschneider | Dec 26, 2022 | Minam, Nespelem, Nez Perce, Nez Perce Homeland, Nez Perce National Park, Uncategorized
How could my 80th year have been so good when the world went reeling with craziness and self-destruction? Do I need to list the events? The famines, droughts, floods, fires– volcanoes! And then, in the words of that old Kingston Trio song from the 50s, the...
by Rich Wandschneider | Jul 27, 2022 | Nespelem, Nez Perce, Tamkaliks
I’m old enough to start measuring time in decades—Tamkaliks, the annual powwow and celebration on the Nez Perce Homeland grounds out of the town of Wallowa, just completed its third. It was, in a word, stunning. There were over 150 dancers, and their regalia seemed...
