Stacia Morfin and Harry Slickpoo Jr.

Guides of Jet Boat Tour of Hells Canyon by Nez Perce Tourism

Lewiston, ID, through Snake River until the border of ID, WA and OR

September 8, 2024

From a port in Lewiston, Idaho, Westies boarded a jet boat to tour important sites to the Nimiipuu Nation (also known as Nez Perce) up along the Snake River. The winds blew on our faces, lifting up our hair, filling our nostrils with the smell of wet rock as we zipped through Hells Canyon while mesmerized by the landscape of the beautiful mountains and river.

We were invited by Stacia Morfin and Harry Slickpoo, both proud members of the Nimiipuu Nation who helped us connect with the landscape through beautiful oral stories. Stacia’s family comes from the Place of the Red-tailed Hawk, a village site we toured. She looked at her ancient land while she showed us her 220-year old bighorn sheep skin dress, a beaded bag made from Italian glass beads, and many other items, including otter furs and eagle tail. We also unboarded at The Place the Light Touches the Earth, also known as Buffalo Eddy Nez Perce National Historic Park Site, the place where 8000-year-old Nimiipuu Nation petroglyphs live. 

One of the landscapes we stopped at was a mountain of a kilometer of basalt made by a slowed cooling of lava, which the Nimippuu Nation expressed as claw marks of Beaver and Coyote arguing about beaver dam. Harry showed how the land gives information through stories which is why it is important to the Native people. They emphasized how the original homeland is important in preserving the stories by being able to look at where the story was made.

The place names scattered around the area showed a deep meaningful relationship with the land and the Nimiipuu people. 

by Ayano Yoshikawa