The two Nez Perce campsites, also known as Nespelem Camps, have been identified as the last homesites of Chief Joseph the Younger on the Colville Reservation. The "last summer campsite" occupies 10 acres of a gently sloping field bordered on the east by Nespelem Creek, approximately 15 miles north of the town of Coulee Dam, Washington, just west of Washington Highway 155. The "last winter campsite" consists of a small flat (about 5 acres) approximately 5 miles northwest of Nespelem, along the east bank of the Columbia River along a dirt road near the mouth of Nespelem Creek. It is thought that the Joseph Band may have instead moved around within the reservation frequently, depending on the forage needs of their livestock. There is no interpretive media at either of the campsite locations, and neither location is identified.

The cultural landscape in the Nespelem area is full of historic and more current structures that portray the continuing culture of the Joseph Band's stay on the Colville Reservation. Nearly all developments in the area are significant cultural landmarks of some type or another. The old Joseph Band Longhouse near Nespelem Creek and slightly down stream from the cemetery may be more illustrative than the two campsites are. Modem developments such as the bank, the community center, the current long house, the pow-wow grounds, and current Joseph Band homes, which sit on the grounds of the old encampment, illustrate the cultural continuum through the present.

Land in these sites is privately owned or owned by the tribe and by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

MANAGEMENT ISSUES

• The landscape of the winter camp site has lost much of its integrity because the Columbia River has been impounded by the Chief Joseph Dam, so that the campsite is now along or under a lake rather than beside a free-flowing river.

• There is nothing that visually ties Chief Joseph's band to these areas.

• The location of the sites is ambiguous, and probably much that was used by the Joseph Band is under water.

ACTION PLAN

• Ownership will be identified.

• Artifact removal and other research that was done before the area was flooded will be reevaluated.

• The Park Service will offer interpretation at an alternative site.

• The Joseph Band will work with Coulee Dam and Nespelem city officials to implement tribal desires for the area, especially regarding tourism.

• The Park Service will participate in developing an interpretive facility in the Nespelem area and will work with tribal partners on operations and maintenance.