Nez Perces

Nez Perces, a Franco-Canadian term applied to a large North American nation of the Columbia basin who appear to have no collective national name, but who are now commonly known as Sahaptins, or Shahaptins, from a Salish (Flathead) word of unknown significance. They occupied a wide domain along the Columbia and its affluents as far west as the Cascade Mountains, east to the Bitter Boot Mountains, north to about 46°, and south to lat. 44° N. Chief tribal divisions: Chopunrrish, Klikitat, Paloos, Tenaino, Tyigh, Umatilla, and Walla Walla; total population (1890) about 3,000, all now distributed amongst the Nez Perce, Yakama, Warm Springs, and Umatilla Reservations of Idaho, Washington, and Oregon respectively.