Who Are the Palouse?
The Palouse (Palus) were a Sahaptin-speaking people whose homeland along the Palouse River in southeastern Washington and northern Idaho gave the region its name. They spoke a dialect of Sahaptin closely related to Nez Perce. Today, Palouse descendants are enrolled in various federally recognized tribes—primarily the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Nez Perce Tribe, and Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation—as the Palouse never received their own reservation. They are famous for developing the Appaloosa horse breed, which takes its name from the Palouse River.
The Appaloosa Horse
The Palouse developed the distinctive spotted horse breed now known as the Appaloosa—a corruption of "a Palouse horse." Through selective breeding, they created horses prized for endurance, intelligence, and striking spotted coats. Their horse herds were among the finest in the Pacific Northwest. The U.S. Army's 1877 campaign against Chief Joseph's Nez Perce intentionally targeted and destroyed horse herds, including Appaloosa stock, to prevent indigenous mobility. The breed nearly disappeared before preservation efforts began in the 1930s. Today the Appaloosa is Idaho's state horse.
Dispersal Without Reservation
The Palouse never signed a treaty establishing their own reservation. Some joined the Nez Perce on their reservation; others were assigned to Yakama, Umatilla, or Colville reservations. This dispersal fragmented Palouse identity across multiple tribal jurisdictions. Without formal federal recognition as a distinct tribe, the Palouse lack the governmental structure that reservations provide. Descendants maintain Palouse identity within their enrolled tribes, but collective political organization remains limited. The Palouse represent indigenous peoples "lost" in the reservation system—absorbed into other nations without distinct federal recognition.
Contemporary Palouse
Modern Palouse identity persists despite the lack of a dedicated reservation or federal recognition. Descendants identify as Palouse within their enrolled tribes—particularly Colville, Nez Perce, and Umatilla. The Appaloosa horse breed remains a powerful symbol of Palouse heritage; the Appaloosa Horse Club in Moscow, Idaho, maintains breed standards. The Palouse Hills agricultural region—some of America's most productive wheat land—bears their name, though Palouse people were removed from these rolling grasslands. Cultural preservation efforts focus on maintaining identity across multiple tribal affiliations. How Palouse identity survives without federal recognition or a distinct land base remains an ongoing challenge.
References
- Ray, V. F. (1936). "The Kolaskin Cult: A Prophet Movement of 1870 in Northeastern Washington"
- Haines, F. (1963). Appaloosa: The Spotted Horse in Art and History
- Walker, D. E. (1998). "Plateau" (Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 12)