The introduction of the horse revolutionized Nez Perce culture. Equivalent to the invention of an affordably automobile for later society, many aspects of life changed for these Native people. “Before the Nez Percé acquired horses in the early 1700s, they spent most of their time fishing, hunting on foot, or gathering wild plants for food”, (UXL Dictionary, 2008). Life was a constant struggle and search to find enough food. The Nez Perce hunted small game before they depended on the horse. Hunters on foot could track a buffalo only so far. Hunting involved many in the community and took days of planning. There was little time for anything else, (American Indian, n.d.). With the horse hunters could go further and hunt the large bison. The ability to travel further and hunt larger animals more easier created more time for leisure.
Economy was directly impacted by the horse. The Nez Perce began trading to tribes further than their immediate neighbors. The Nez Perce traveled far south through the Great Plains. They became renown for their horses. The Nez Perce had the largest horse herds of any Naive group. Besides thier horse, the Pez Perce traded berris, cakes and “hunting tools for which they were famous”, (UXL Encyclopedia, 2008). Many times the Nez Perce would call for piece with there enemies for trading oppertunities.
“After the end of the Nez Perce War in the 1870s, many of the horses belonging to the Nez Perce were confiscated by the U.S. Army and sold off or killed”, (Appaloosa Meusem, n.d.). When the Nez Perce where forced onto reservations and began a lifestyle of sustenance farming they also began to interbreed there horses with working quarter hoses. This almost created a lose in the Nez Perce horse breed. In 1994, the Nez Perce officially started a breeding program to restore there iconic breed. The program uses a similar Asian horse breed to strengthen what is left of the Nez Perce Horse line. The breed is described as long and slender which lends itself well to running. The horses have a wide back and narrow chest. The horses have molted fur with a white saddle or white spots, coming in a variety of colors.
Works Cited
Impact of the Horse. A Song for the Horse Nation, Retrieved from https://americanindian.si.edu/exhibitions/horsenation/hunting.html.
Nez Percé. (2008). In UXL Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes (2nd ed., Vol. 3). Detroit, MI: UXL. Retrieved from https://link-gale-com.ezproxy.spscc.edu/apps/doc/CX3048800073/GVRL?u=olym74496&sid=GVRL&xid=db405073
The Nez Perce Horse. Retrieved from http://www.appaloosamuseum.org/the-nez-perce-horse/.
Matthew Gates 