Tamkaliks: Respecting Nez Perce customs and culture.

Published 6:01 am Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Tamkaliks: Respecting Nez Perce customs and culture

Mic’yo·xo’sa ‘iyo·xo! Listen!

Some things for Tamkaliks’ visitors to keep in mind.

Tamkaliks is more than a pow-wow and Indian dancing. It is a reunion of Chief Joseph’s band of Nez Perce, known to themselves as the Walama, or Wallowa Band—families and friends who were ripped apart by the War of 1877 and its aftermath, and now are scattered between the Colville Indian Reservation in Washington, 6 hours away, the Lapwai Reservation near Lewiston, Idaho, the Umatilla Reservation near Pendleton, and other disparate locations including Canada and Yakima, Washington. So Tamkaliks is an occasion for both solemnity and joy.

Wallowa County, including the Tamkaliks grounds, is home for the Wallowa Band Nez Perce. Please respect and observe these important tribal ways and sacred customs, as you would when visiting anyone’s home.

• Do not take photographs of anything or anyone during prayers, songs, and remembrances. Please stand quietly, be respectful during these times and please remove your hats.

• Many drums—the group of men and women who are drumming at the large drum and may also be singing—prefer that you not take their photograph while they are singing. Photographs and recordings are prohibited when they are singing a sacred song. Please ask permission prior to taking photographs or recording.

• Please ask permission to take a photograph, especially of children, unless your subject is performing in a dance.

• You are welcome and, in fact, invited, to the Washat ceremony in the Longhouse at 9 a.m. on Sunday, July 23. Some things to keep in mind include:

1. Please do not walk on the large square of earth just inside the entryway. This earth has been carefully brought from all the places where the Wallowa Band was scattered, and this soil is considered sacred ground.

2. Please dress well, as you would for a church service or other special occasion.

3. Please do not take any photographs anywhere inside the longhouse.

4. Please do not photograph or record any part of the Washat Service.

5. Please do not talk during the Washat Service.

Yo x Ka lo! That’s all!