Lewis and Clark among the Nez Perce: Strangers in the Land of the Nimiipuu by Allen V. Pinkham and Steven R. Evans Frederick E. Hoxie

Abstract

OHQ vol. 116, no. 1  Puget Sound Indians by offering the Nisqually a sense of justice. In Framing Chief Leschi: Narratives and the Politics of Historical Justice, historian Lisa Blee examines the 2004 Historical Court in order to gain insight “into the way in which different cultures and political interests construct history, build a relationship between the past, present, and future, and put memories to work” (p. 11). As the title of her book suggests, Blee is interested in the different ways Indians and non-Indians have framed Leschi’s story over time, a project she takes on thematically rather than chronologically. The first chapter explores the ways settler colonialism — aided by liberal ideology — enabled Americans to justify the dispossession of Indian lands and the disappearance of Native peoples in the south Puget Sound region. Chapter two examines the malleability of law, specifically how the 1857 and 2004 courts sought to balance their legitimacy with their need to answer salient political and legal questions, including how to treat enemy combatants. In the next two chapters, Blee focuses on how Nisqually peoples have viewed and memorialized Leschi. In chapter three,she analyzes the changing way Native storytellers have presented Leschi’s life and accomplishments over time. The following chapter tackles Native storytelling from a different angle, focusing on how the Nisqually have looked to Leschi as an important symbol during moments of tribal crisis. The last two chapters discuss the format of the Historical Court; chapter five addresses the significance of judicial performance, namely how and why the retrial took place, while the final chapter considers the problems that the Historical Court did not or could not address, including the unsolved and unpunished murder of Quiemuth — Leschi’s brother. Framing Chief Leschi does not set out to provide readers with a single account of Leschi’s life, trial, and exoneration; instead, it seeks to untangle and contextualize a multitude of stories about the Nisqually leader and the people — past and present — affected by him. Drawing on textual sources as well as oral histories and interviews,Blee provides a nuanced look at historical memory and the search for historical justice. The Historical Court, she concludes, offered an important forum for validating alterative accounts of the past,allowing Natives to navigate within existing colonial structures to achieve a sense of justice.But,Blee warns,the trial’s form and testimony also reveal the tensions and contradictions of historical justice, and how Natives are continually affected by the legacies of colonialism. Readers interested in the study of historical memory,oral traditions, colonialism,justice,law,andAmerican Indians will find the book a valuable case study. Wendi Lindquist Seattle, Washington LEWIS AND CLARK AMONG THE NEZ PERCE: STRANGERS IN THE LAND OF THE NIMIIPUU by Allen V. Pinkham and Steven R. Evans foreword by Frederick E. Hoxie University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 2013. Illustrations, maps, notes, bibliography, index. 332 pages. $29.95 cloth. In his article “Oral Tradition and History,” published American Anthropologist in 1915, the famous anthropologist Robert Lowie wrote,“I cannot attach to oral traditions any historical value under any circumstances whatsoever” (p. 598). Fortunately, many scholars would not say that anymore. JanVansina’s book Oral Tradition as History (first published in the late 1950s,then re-written in 1985) played a key role in the upward valuation of oral tradition as a historical source. Vansina tried to elucidate a “text” within contemporary performances of past events and argued that to ignore the historical value of such sources is as reductionist as their uncritical acceptance. In oral Reviews  tradition,he sees an authentic dialogue of past and present. The acceptance of oral tradition especially among underrepresented voices has been long overdue, and Lewis and Clark Among the Nez Perce: Strangers in the Land of the Nimiipuu is vital to readers’understanding of history — its contacts, cadences, and rhythms. Much has been written about the Nimiipuu people and their encounters with Lewis and Clark and other European influences. For the first time in an academic press setting is the opportunity for readers to share,in equal parts, traditional forms of historical reporting and a companion with reference and reverence to traditions, accounts, and customs. Pinkham...