Clifford E. Trafzer

Richard D. Scheuerman

Denied a place on their ancestral lands, the original Snake River-Palouse people were forced to scatter, and maintaining their cultural identity became increasingly difficult. Still, elders passed down oral histories to their descendants, insisting youngsters listen with rapt attention. Beginning in the 1970s and continuing over three decades, Naxiyamtáma elders¿in particular Mary Jim, Andrew George, Gordon Fisher, and Emily Peone¿chose to share their stories with a research team. The four had ties to the Plateau people¿s leadership families and had lived in the traditional way¿gathering, hunting, and fishing. They hoped to teach American Indian history in a traditional manner and refute inaccuracies. Multiple themes emerged¿a pervasive spirituality tied to the Creator and environment; a covenant relationship and sacred trust to protect and preserve their traditional lands; storytelling as a revered art form that reveals life lessons, and finally, belief in cyclical time and blood memory.

Naxiyamtáma (Snake River-Palouse) Oral Traditions from Mary Jim, Andrew George, Gordon Fisher, and Emily Peone

River Song

"This story deals with one of the largest migrations by a single ethnic group to the Pacific Northwest. It is the saga of the Volga Germans who settled in this region and has a scenario stretching from Germany and Russia. It explores their European origins in the eighteenth century and investigates the remarkable program of colonization in augurated in the 1760s under the Russian empress, Catherine II."--Preface, page 5.

Richard D. Scheuerman

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