Current Exhibit Location
Blue Mountain Community College
Past Locations: Josephy Center for Arts & Culture
Wallowa Memorial Hospital
Wallowa History Center
Eastern Oregon Universiity
The Josephy Center received a grant from the Oregon State Capitol Foundation to build an exhibit around this important and tragic history, and encouraging return.
The Nez Perce today are descendants of tribal peoples living in the intermountain west for millenia. Recent archeological findings at Coopers Ferry on the Salmon River put human habitations back to 16,000 years ago. The Nez Perce, Lewis and Clark, then had their lands taken by treaty and by homesteader encroachment–and finally by war. The people–nimiipuu–were then subjected to boarding schools, allotment, and other assimilationist efforts. But the People are resilient, and expanding their presence in Oregon and the Wallowas today,
The physical exhibit, which must fit in a 10 ft x 10 ft space, will be at the Oregon Capitol in 2025. It is currently on display at Eastern Oregon University in the city of La Grande, and can be viewed online below.