East Kamiah/Heart of the Monster: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Nez Perce National Historical Park, National Park Service

Owens, Erica; Dolan, Susan; Hankinson, Mike; Tolan, Marsha

East Kamiah, also known as “Heart of the Monster,” is one of 38 sites that compose the Nez Perce National Historical Park. It is situated on 53 acres near Kamiah, Idaho and is bounded by the Clearwater River on the west and by privately owned properties along all other boundaries. Before white settlers arrived in the area, the Nez Perce managed the Kamiah valley for hunting, resource gathering, and horse grazing needs. As a result, the valley was composed of predominantly meadowland and stands of ponderosa pine. After the allotment era in the late 1800s, Nez Perce property owners brought the site into agricultural production. Today, the site is composed of flat open grassland, interspersed with stands of native and non‑native trees. Important features of the site are two basalt mounds referred to as the heart and liver of the monster that rise from the flat meadow. These two features have strong ties to Nez Perce tradition and the legend, “Coyote and Monster,” which describes East Kamiah as the place of origin for the Nez Perce people. East Kamiah has made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history, including the War of 1877, the Allotment Era, early homesteading in the American West, and early cultural and spiritual beliefs of the Nez Perce. In addition, East Kamiah has potential to reveal prehistoric and historic information through archeological excavation. The events and conditions that have led to the significance of East Kamiah fall within three periods of significance: 8,800 BC to 1805 AD, 1806 AD to 1877 AD, and 1887 AD to 1950 AD. The beginning date of the first period of significance is based on archeological evidence that ancestors of the Nez Perce inhabited the Clearwater valley as early as 8,800 BC. The period ends just before first contact with Anglo‑Americans. The Nez Perce are known to have over‑wintered in the Kamiah area as early as 600 BC, leaving potential to discover prehistoric information at East Kamiah through archeological excavation. The Nez Perce developed an oral tradition during this prehistoric era that incorporated educational, practical, and cultural information into stories. These stories were passed from the elders to the children carrying the stories through many generations to the present day. The story titled “Coyote and Monster” explained the origin of the Nez Perce in the Kamiah valley and of the landforms known as the heart and liver of the monster located within East Kamiah. The second period begins in 1806 with the Lewis and Clark Expedition that camped within the Kamiah valley and ends with the War of 1877. During this period, the Nez Perce crossed the Clearwater River during the War of 1877. Journals kept by military troops marching under General O.O. Howard and oral accounts by Nez Perce tribal members indicate that the warring Nez Perce bands crossed at East Kamiah. The beginning of the third period of significance is marked by the General Allotment Act of 1887 and ends in 1950 with the completion of Hwy 12, which currently bisects East Kamiah. The General Allotment Act dramatically changed ways of life on the Nez Perce Reservation by requiring that each Native American living on the reservation be given a legally defined parcel of land. Any surplus land would become available for sale. This effort had numerous ramifications for the Nez Perce and development of the American West. The Nez Perce could no longer live in traditional camps and graze their horses on communally owned property. They adopted European standards of living with each family residing on their own private property. The Nez Perce lifestyle shifted from a predominantly subsistence‑style living to small commercial agricultural practices. Much of the development at East Kamiah from this period has since been removed leaving the potential to reveal information about this historic period through archeological excavation.

East Kamiah/Heart of the Monster: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Nez Perce National Historical Park, National Park Service

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