National Parks 2021: Nez Perce National Historic Park

It’s time for the annual National Parks Club/KAL!

Every month from May-August, we’ll be releasing 4 new parks colorways. We have exhausted all of the traditional US National Parks, save one, so this year, we’ll be showcasing other National Parks areas, such as National Recreation Areas, Heritage sites, etc. Most will fall under one of 4 categories:

National History – Eastern USA
National History – Western USA
Indigenous Culture
Human Rights Leaders/notable people

Check out our Socks and Hats on Vacay/Staycay summertime KAL with our friend Shannon Squire, too: https://shannonsquire.com/socks-hats-on-vacay-staycay-2021/

Thanks for exploring parks and making socks with us once again this summer! To get your yarn, check out our list of LYS’s offering National Parks (Parks yarn will ONLY be available at our LYS partners through the summer): https://knittedwit.com/parks-2021/

Where is it located?

The Nez Perce National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park comprising 38 sites located throughout the states of Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington, which included traditional aboriginal lands of the Nez Perce people.

Whose land does it reside upon?

Since time immemorial, the valleys, prairies, mountains, and plateaus of the inland northwest have been home to the Nimiipuu (Nez Perce) people. Extremely resilient, they survived the settling of the United States and adapted to a changed world. Nez Perce National Historical Park consists of 38 places important to the history and culture of the Nimiipuu.

When was it established?

May 15, 1965

Why is it amazing?

The homelands of the Nimiipuu (Nez Perce) have seen continual human use for at least the last 11,000 years. Nez Perce National Historic Park is a kind of living museum to the Nez Perce tribe, which was almost completely decimated/driven out of their ancestral lands by white colonizers in the 1800s. The lands that encompass the Nez Perce National Historic Park are still partly taken care of/administered by people from the Nez Perce tribe, in concert with the United States Government and other Tribal groups.

The Nez Perce homeland is filled with unique and special places that since the beginning of time have defined who they are. Three of these story sites are: Ant and Yellowjacket (https://www.nps.gov/nepe/learn/historyculture/ant-and-yellowjacket-history.htm), Coyote’s Fishnet (https://www.nps.gov/nepe/learn/historyculture/coyotes-fishnet-history.htm), and the Heart of the Monster (https://www.nps.gov/nepe/learn/historyculture/heart-of-the-monster-history.htm). Each of these sites involves the trickster god Coyote and other spiritual entities.