NCJ Number
65653
Journal
INDIAN HISTORIAN Volume: 11 Issue: 3 Dated: (SUMMER 1978) Pages: 15-24,57
Date Published
1978
Length
11 pages
Annotation
THE IMPACT OF LAW ON THE NEZ PERCE INDIANS IS DESCRIBED IN A HISTORICAL ARTICLE THAT RELATES HOW INTRATRIBAL RELATIONSHIPS CONCEPTS WERE REPLACED BY THE MORE SOPHISTICATED IDEA OF PUNISHMENT OF THE WRONGDOER.
Abstract
SOCIAL DISAPPROVAL AND OF THE TRIBAL STRUCTURE HELD AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN NEZ PERCE SOCIETY WHERE CUSTOM, RATHER THAN LAW, SERVED AS A CONTROL. THE NEZ PERCE ADOPTED SUPERFICIALLY IMPOSED WHITE LAWS IN 1842 BECAUSE THEY SOUGHT CERTAIN ADVANTAGES ASSOCIATED BOTH WITH THESE LAWS AND WITH CHRISTIANITY. (AN EDITED VERSION OF THESE LAWS IS PROVIDED AS THEY APPEARED IN THREE ENGLISH SOURCES, WITH FOOTNOTES INDICATING SOURCE DIFFERENCES.) THE NEZ PERCE LAWS WERE INTENDED TO BE OBEYED ONLY BY INDIANS, THE WHITES CONSIDERING THE NEZ PERCE TO BE AN INFERIOR PEOPLE. HOWEVER, THE NEZ PERCE MAY HAVE LOOKED UPON THE LAWS AS A SOURCE OF STRENGTH, SINCE THEY ADDED AN 11TH LAW, OR 'DOG LAW' TO THE ORIGINAL 10 LAWS. THE LAWS, WHICH COVERED MURDER, ARSON, THEFT, MISAPPROPRIATION OF DAMAGE TO PROPERTY, AND ASSAULT, WERE DISADVANTAGEOUS TO THE NEZ PERCE. THE PUNISHMENTS OF IMPRISONMENT AND WHIPPING WERE NOT NATIVE TO THE NEZ PERCE; ONLY THE 'DOG LAW,' WHICH RENDERS JUSTICE WITHOUT EXCESSIVE PUNISHMENT, MANIFESTS ITSELF AS A PURELY NEZ PERCE LAW. THE ULTIMATE PURPOSE OF THE PROMULGATION AND ADOPTION OF THE NEZ PERCE LAWS WAS DIRECTLY CONNECTED TO THE OPENING OF THE OREGON TERRITORY. AN APPENDIX PROVIDES TWO VERSIONS OF THE NEZ PERCE LAWS. NOTES AND REFERENCES ARE GIVEN. (AOP)