Palus (tribe)

ethnic group
group=Palus


poptime=
popplace=flagcountry|United States (Washington) (Oregon) (Idaho)
rels=
langs=English, Salishan, Sahaptin
related=Colville, Sanpoil, Nespelem, Sinixt, Wenatchi, Entiat, Methow, Southern Okanagan, Sinkiuse-Columbia, and the Nez Perce of Chief Joseph's Band peoples

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thumb|230px|Palouse-Colville Family (1905)">
University of Washington Digital Collections:"For the district in India, see Palus."The Palus (IPAEng|pəˈluːs) are recognized in the Treaty of 1855 with the Yakamas (negotiated at the Walla Walla Council (1855)). A variant spelling is Palouse, which was the source of the name for the fertile prairie of Washington and Idaho.

Ethnography

The people are one of the Sahaptin speaking groups of Native Americans living on the Columbia Plateau in eastern Washington, northeastern Oregon, and North Central Idaho.

The people of the region lived in three main groups, the Upper, Middle, and Lower bands. Traditional lands included areas around waterways such as the Columbia, Snake and Palouse Rivers.

The ancestral people were nomadic, following food sources during the seasons. The Palus people gathered with other native peoples for activities such as food gathering, hunting, fishing, feasting, trading, and celebrations that included dancing, sports and gambling. They lived near other groups including the Nez Perce, Wanapum, Walla Walla, and Yakama peoples.

In October 1805, Lewis and Clark met with the tribe, although most were away from the area for fall food gathering and hunting. While there, they presented one of the silver peace medals to Chief Kepowhan. The Diaries of the Corps of Discovery show the people as a separate and distinct group from the Nez Perce.

The people were expert horsemen and the term Appaloosa is probably a derivation of the term Palouse horse. Hundreds of tribal horses were slaughtered to cripple the tribe during the Indian Wars in the mid to late nineteenth century.

thumb|230px|Sahaptin Tribal delegates">
Washington D.C. 1899
University of Washington Digital Collections

Bibliography

cite book
last = Chalfant
first = Stuart A.
authorlink = Stuart A. Chalfant
title = Ethnohistorical reports on aboriginal land use and occupancy: Spokan Indians, Palus Indians, Columbia Salish, Wenatchi Salish
publisher = Garland Publishing
date = 1974
id = ISBN 0824007824
*Note: S. A. Chalfant's report was presented before the United States Indian Claims Commission as docket no. 161, 222, 224.

cite book
last = Manring
first = Benjamin Franklin
authorlink = Benjamin Franklin Manring
title = The conquest of the Coeur d'Alenes, Spokanes and Palouses: the expeditions of Colonels E.J. Steptoe and George Wright against the "northern Indians" in 1858
publisher = Inland Printing Company
date = 1912

cite book
last = Sprague
first = Roderick
authorlink = Roderick Sprague
title = Handbook of North American Indians. Volume 12. Plateau
publisher = Smithsonian Institution
date = 1998
pages = 352-359
id = ISBN 0-14-049514-8

cite book
last = Trafzer
first = Clifford E., and Richard D. Scheuerman.
authorlink = Clifford E. Trafzer
title = Renegade Tribe: The Palouse Indians and the Invasion of the Inland Pacific Northwest
publisher = Washington State University Press
date = 1986
id = ISBN 0874220289

cite book
last = Wright
first = G., Col.
authorlink = George Wright (general)
title = Great battle of the Spokane plains, Washington Territory
publisher = Philadelphia Press
date = 1858
*Note: One and a half columns of text published in the September 23, 1858 issue of The Press, Philadelphia. The newspaper story quotes dispatches sent by Col. G. Wright regarding an "expedition against Northern Indians, camp on the Spokane River, (W.T.), one and a half miles below the Falls, September 6, 1858."

See also

*Spokane-Coeur d'Alene-Paloos War
*Yakima War
*Cayuse War
*Okanagan Trail

External links

* [http://www.colvilletribes.com/ Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation]
* [http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lewisandclark/record_tribes_067_13_26.html National Geographic article]