Tuekakas, (also ''tiwi-teqis'', meaning "senior warrior") commonly known as Old Chief Joseph or Joseph the Elder (c. 1785–1871), was a Native American leader of the Wallowa Band of the

Nez Perce The Nez Perce (; autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning 'we, the people') are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who still live on a fraction of the lands on the southeastern Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest. This region h ...

. Old Joseph was one of the first Nez Percé converts to Christianity and a vigorous advocate of the tribe's early peace with whites. In 1855 he aided Washington's territorial governor and set up a Nez Percé reservation that expanded from Oregon into Idaho. The Nez Perce agreed to give up a section of their tribal lands in return for an assurance whites would not intrude upon the sacred

Wallowa Valley Wallowa may refer to: Places *Wallowa, Oregon *Wallowa County, Oregon *Wallowa Lake *Wallowa Lake State Park *Wallowa Mountains *Wallowa River Other *''Acacia calamifolia'', a shrub or tree *''Acacia euthycarpa'', a shrub or tree * ''The Wallo ...

. Nevertheless, in 1863, following a gold rush in Nez Percé territory, the federal

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

took back approximately of this land. That confined the Nez Percé to a reservation in Idaho, which was only one tenth its previous size. Old Joseph argued that this second treaty was never approved by his people. Feeling deceived, Old Joseph condemned the United States, slashed his American flag, shredded his Bible, and declined to move his band from the Wallowa Valley or to sign the treaty that would make the new reservation boundaries legitimate. He died in 1871, though his gravestone got it wrong and said he died in 1872. He was the father of hinmahtoo-yahlatkekht, also known as "Young Joseph" or

Chief Joseph ''Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt'' (or ''hinmatóowyalahtq̓it'' in Americanist orthography; March 3, 1840 – September 21, 1904), popularly known as Chief Joseph, Young Joseph, or Joseph the Younger, was a leader of the wal-lam-wat-kain (Wallowa) ...

References

External links

* http://www.indigenouspeople.net/joseph.htm * http://www.myhero.com/myhero/hero.asp?hero=c_joseph
pbs.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Joseph, Old Chief 1780s births 1871 deaths 18th-century Native American people 19th-century Native American leaders Converts to Christianity from pagan religions Native American history of Oregon Nez Perce people Native American people from Oregon

See also

References

External links