KAMIAH, IDAHO

"Nez Perce legend tells of two mutually friendly colonies of ants and yellowjackets which inhabited the rocky hillside that rises abruptly on the north side of the river here. The headman of each colony jealously protected his own territory from encroachment by the other. One day, when the head ant approached the head yellowjacket sitting on a favorite rock, a dispute arose...."

Clearwater Country, by Borg Hendrickson and Linwood Laughy, 1999 Mountain Meadow Press

Background and Impacts

Kamiah and its sister community Kooskia sit in the Clearwater Valley, on the banks of the Clearwater River, where the prairie and woods of central Idaho join the Bitterroot mountains. Kamiah is home to 1,150 residents, Kooskia 650.

In the Clearwater Valley, directly across the river from current-day Kamiah, lies the "Heart of the Monster", the legendary birthplace of the Nez Perce tribe. This valley, cherished by the Nez Perce, was for centuries host to Nez Perce villages and intertribal gatherings.

The Clearwater Valley is a crossroads of Nez Perce and pioneer history. The Lewis and Clark expedition party, the first whites to visit the Valley, settled in at their Long Camp on May 10, 1806, during the homeward eastbound journey. Long Camp, on the flats across the Clearwater from what is present-day Kamiah, occasioned the expedition's third-longest stay as the travelers prepared to cross the Bitterroot Mountains after snow melt. The sojourn deepened the group's growing friendship with the Nez Perce through games and feasts, horse trading, and stockpiling of food supplies.

By the mid-1800s, however, economics intervened between Indians and whites as gold was discovered in the Clearwater River region. This land, given to the Nez Perce in the treaty of 1855, was invaded in the 1860s by herds of gold miners, whose temporary camps soon launched more permanent white towns on Nez Perce land.

The Clearwater Valley is fissured with another white-Nez Perce memory. In 1877, Chief Joseph and his band of 700 "non-treaty" Nez Perce retreated through Kamiah Valley after the Battle of the Clearwater, the second major battle of the Nez Perce War (the final of the Indian Wars of the late 19th century). By this time, the Nez Perce were fiercely divided ­ with bands of white-friendly "treaty" Nez Perce settled on the shores of the Clearwater under Agency protection. To this day, descendants of treaty and non-treaty Nez Perce live in Kamiah.

Present-day Kamiah sits surrounded by reservation land. The Kamiah site was originally rented from the Nez Perce tribe in the 1870s, and purchased in 1905. While most of the residents are non-Native Americans, a significant tribal population still inhabits the Kamiah Valley. Approximately 15% of area K-12 students are Native Americans.

In the past 20 years, Idaho has experienced a range of disturbing socio-political issues related to the white supremacy movement. Since the mid-90s, in the outskirts of Kamiah, an increasing number of other anti-government citizens have formed politically active groups.

One of the hottest issues has been Nez Perce sovereignty over tribal lands. The present-day battles are being fought in courtrooms, focused on current ordinance (TERO, Tribal Employment Rights Ordinance) requiring a percentage of employment or costs for any building project built on tribal land to go to tribal members. The North Central Idaho Jurisdictional Alliance, an association of over 20 city and county governments and school districts, formed in 1997 to challenge this law with coordinated lawsuits across the state. Kamiah has been a testing ground for much of this volatile political and legal fight.

Upper Clearwater Arts, Inc., a non-profit local arts agency, has stimulated a range of community cultural activities, and is the sponsor agency for the Spirit of the Northwest project. Annually, the community hosts the Mat'a Lyma Indian Root Celebration, the Clearwater Valley Rodeo, the Clearwater River Festival, the UC Arts Night Club, the Kamiah Free Barbeque, the Christmas Tree Lighting Festival and Parade, and the Looking Glass Pow Wow. The primary social network begins in Kamiah's 17 churches of different denominations.

The deteriorating economy of Kamiah has long been based in natural resources: mining, timber and agriculture. Currently, over 70% of Kamiah's students qualify for free or reduced lunches in the schools.

The upcoming Lewis and Clark Bicentennial observance has focused an intense amount of economic planning and development, as local residents and leaders strive to maximize the potential of this heritage tourism.

"Sometimes it's hard to make a living in Kamiah. We're a pretty low income community."

Project Team and Partners

Upper Clearwater Arts, Inc., a 501(C)(3) local arts agency dedicated to enriching the community's life through artistic experiences and celebrations, was the sponsor organization.

Led by the agency's Executive Director who first envisioned Kamiah as a Spirit community, a three-person team coordinated the effort focused on creating a large historical mural. With the spring 1999 resignation of this Executive Director and a variety of inflammatory political roadblocks to siting of the mural, the project nearly stalled in fall-winter 1999.

Preliminary partnerships were formed with the Chamber of Commerce, City of Kamiah, Bicentennial Committee, Historical Society, and Nez Perce Tribal Elders. These partnerships did not include formal, written commitments at the outset of the partnership, and built to various levels of strength as the project unfolded.

Key Learnings

"Our disappointment is the reality that Kamiah is lower than ever in spirit; the racial tension between the whites and the..Nez Perce tribe has escalated in the past year...Where the opinions and factionalism were once "behind closed door topics", the tension has surfaced and can be heard in discussion at a variety of community meetings...we hope the project will have a positive influence on Kamiah's future. We realize that this is only a baby step in moving towards healthier community identity."

Upper Clearwater Arts, Final Report, Spirit of the Northwest, July, 2000

• The installation location should have been contractually assured before the project began.
  
  
• Building the partnerships upfront would have expanded the potential for this project earlier. The goal should have been to identify community opinion leaders, take small steps to narrow the gap of our differences, and discover ideas the various factions could agree upon.
  
  
• The project began with very high ideals. The depth of the issues involved created challenge after challenge.
  
  
• This project needed a paid Project Leader. Extending the job description of the part-time arts agency Executive Director was not effective.
  
  
• When the Executive Director left, the project should have been reassigned to a volunteer leader (if possible).
  
  
• Our commitment to the highest artistic standards served the project well; has kept it alive through the turmoil and challenges.

  "The artist's work tells the story better than talking about it."

Purpose

Create opportunity for cultural exchange and display local history in a 10 x 60 foot outdoor mural depicting Lewis and Clark's Long Camp and friendly relationship with the Nez Perce tribe. The mural will be installed in Riverfront Park, as part of park redevelopment (site yet to be determined). Through this arts and heritage project, the plan is to build explicit educational/historical and partnership exchange to assure mural authenticity.

"We believe this project can help ease the tension between the Indian and non-Indian residents of the community."

Project Outputs (to date)

• Leveraged $14,524 in-kind services, including half the artist's fee, and $5,000 in donated storefront studio space.
  
  
• Artist completed mural designs illustrating the first meeting between Lewis and Clark and the resident Nez Perce tribe.
  
  
• The Nez Perce tribal elders, artist Don Eggen, Spirit project leaders and city leaders met regularly to assure historical accuracy of tribal customs depicted on the mural.
  
  
• Kamiah City Council, the Chamber of Commerce, the Gun Club (organization that leases land adjacent to Riverfront Park), and Upper Clearwater Arts continue to work in partnership to secure a site in Riverfront Park redevelopment for the mural display.
  
  
• The partners have also committed to raise the additional funds to commission and mount a second mural by a Nez Perce artist, depicting the same event. This output developed as community consciousness expanded during the course of the project.
  
  
• Ron Wells, a Kamiah businessperson, donated a Main Street storefront as an open-to-the-public artist studio. As a range of political challenges impacted the project timeline, keeping the art in public view became a significant goal for project leaders. Designs for the mural are currently on display.

Project Process

• Upper Clearwater Arts proposed Kamiah as a Spirit site; accepted.
  
  
• Two public forums convened, led by Idaho Commission on the Arts Community Development Director.
  
  
• Flying M retreat led to formal request for tribal council involvement.
  
  
• Leadership committee formed; community brainstorming meeting convened.
  
  
• Mural proposed: group adopted the "stalled" Chamber of Commerce mural project.
  
  
• Artist commissioned.
  
  
• City committed to partnership; elders approved tribal involvement, meetings between elders and artist begin.
  
  
• Community application generated by local arts agency, Upper Clearwater Arts, Inc.
  
  
• Design work intensified.
  
  
• Gun Club lease renewed, new location for mural mandatory (was to be located adjacent to Club).
  
  
• Resignation of project leader, director of Upper Clearwater Arts, Inc.
  
  
• Local tensions accelerated; regional tensions heat up (Jurisdictional Alliance).
  
  
• New Upper Clearwater Arts director hired.
  
  
• Jurisdictional Alliance invited Kamiah Chamber to join ranks.
  
  
• Park renovation design submitted.
  
  
• Intervention from Idaho Commission on the Arts and project documenter encouraged local project leaders to continue project.
  
  
• Commitment to secure Main Street artist studio to keep project visible.
  
  
• Identified need for Nez Perce artist to present Nez Perce depiction of mural events.
  
  
• Community partners joined to achieve commitments (regarding installation and funding) within park renovation design.

  "North Central Idaho has grown. People from all parts of the country have come. With them came new ideas, new reputations. Most brought good changes, but we also obtained new neighbors who brought hatred and prejudice."

  Mary L. Tall Bull, December, 1997

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The Spirit of the Northwest is a regional partnership project of the Idaho Commission on the Arts, the Oregon Arts Commission and the Washington State Arts Commission, funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal Agency. It is made available on the Web as a courtesy by the Community Arts Network. Questions or comments regarding this project can be addressed to Bitsy Bidwell, Community Arts Development Manager, Washington State Arts Commission, P.O. Box 42675, Olympia, WA, 98504-2675, (360) 586-2421 or email bitsyb@arts.wa.gov.