From Where the Sun Now Stands

Today marks the 106th year since Chief Joseph's death. The good Chief died in 1904 at Nespelem, while exiled from his Oregon home. His was a sad story, forced by circumstances into a battle with the U.S. Army that he didn't want to be a part of and then forced on to a land that he did not know. Chief is remembered as a champion of peace. His surrender speech is one of the greatest in Native American lore.

I've visited Nespelem three times in my life, first visit is still the most vivid, a rainy summer day driving from Omak to the Grand Coulee. I was probably 12 years old, I was with my grandparents and it probably was the first time I'd ever been on a reservation. I remember the poverty to be absolute, it didn't seem there is an open business on the Reservation. I also remember driving to the Catholic cemetery in Nespelem and getting out walking to the grave. I remember being struck once again by the poverty. I took the trip again with my mom some dozen years later. A very interesting day. A story for another entry. But tonight's photo comes from the third trip to Nespelem, one I took shortly after my mom died.