American Indian Culture and Research Journal

In the early winter of 1980, an elderly medicine man of mixed Palouse and NezPerce blood shared many stories. He was a small, thin man with long, white hair pulled back into a ponytail. He spoke of many things and told of his own unique powers. "You come from that university where you have men and women who spend their lives studying plants and animals." The medicine man continued, saying that the scientists could see only a part of the world of living things. "I see things that they have never seen, heard things they have never heard." The medicine man was in deep earnest. He had talked to plants and animals and heard their stories and songs. Through his oral presentation about the plants and animals, he offered insights into the history and worldview of Indians living on the Great Columbia Plateau of present-day Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. The discussion of plants and animals, mountains, and rivers is an integral part of American Indian history, but often these are elements of the past that are little understood by historians. As part of the legacy of the Columbian invasion of America, Europeans have debased native beliefs in the sanctity of the natural world and have downplayed the significance of cultural forces within Native American communities as important factors influencing the course of history. The result has been historical writings based on uncritical evaluations of biased documents by scholars who have little understanding of Native American cultures.