Edward Sheriff Curtis, Joseph —Nez Perce, 1903/1911
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This is a portrait of Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce people.
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2020-12-03T08:41:32-08:00
This is a portrait of Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce people. Joseph the Younger became Chief Joseph after his father, Joseph the Elder, died in 1871. As chief of the Wallowa band in northeastern Oregon, Joseph led his people through the Nez Perce War. The war took place after violence broke out when several young Nez Perce men sought revenge for one of their father’s deaths and killed four white men. Tensions had been high between the native people and the white prospectors who had been encroaching on their land and abusing their people. The United States Army pursued approximately 750 Nez Perce as they fled to seek asylum in Canada after they were turned away by the Crow Nation in Montana.
After a five-day siege, facing harsh conditions and no supplies, Chief Joseph had to surrender to protect his people. Despite being promised the safe return of his people, they were taken as prisoners of war and forced to live in terrible conditions. They were eventually transported to a reservation in Oklahoma where many of them died from highly contagious diseases. They were continuously moved around until 1885 when they were permitted to return to the Pacific Northwest. However, Chief Joseph and a few others were taken away from the rest of their people to Washington. In 1903, Chief Joseph visited Seattle where he met Edward Sheriff Curtis, who took some of his most famous portraits. Curtis also photographed many other Native American peoples in his series, The North American Indian.
Chief Joseph died in 1904, just a year after being photographed by Curtis. His doctor reported that his cause of death was “a broken heart” from being separated from his people. His family ensured his successful burial on Indian land. To this day, this land is still owned by the Nez Perce.
