Yellow Wolf (Nez Perce)

This article is about the Nez Perce warrior. For the Cheyenne warrior, see Yellow Wolf (Cheyenne).
Yellow Wolf[1]
Himiin Maaqs maqs (Yellow Wolf)[1]
Photo of Yellow Wolf in his fifties, taken by or for Lucullus Virgil McWhorter, during the course of their friendship and collaboration on the story of Yellow Wolf's people.
Nez Perce, Wallowa band[2] leader
Personal details
Bornc. 1855[1]
Wallowa Valley, Oregon[3]
Diedc. August 21, 1935[1]
Colville Indian Reservation, Washington
Resting placeNespelem, Washington, near the grave of Chief Joseph[1]
Spouse(s)Pe-Tol-Von-Nan-Ick (Helen)
Ayatootonmi (Little Mountain Woman)[1]
RelationsChief Joseph
ChildrenBilly Yellow Wolf[1]
A-last-Sauked (Looking-away-off), aka Jasper[1][4]
ParentSeekumses Kunnin (Horse Blanket) (father)[3] Yiyik Wasumwah (Swan Woman) (mother)[3]
Known forNez Perce War
NicknameHeinmot Hihhih (White Thunder or White Lightning) (his "war name")[3]

Yellow Wolf or He–Mene Mox Mox (born c. 1855, died August 1935) was a Nez Perce warrior who fought in the Nez Perce War of 1877.[5] In his old age, he decided to give the war a Native American perspective. From their meeting in 1907 till his death in 1935, Yellow Wolf talked annually to Lucullus Virgil McWhorter, who wrote a book for him, Yellow Wolf: His Own Story.[1] He is notable as one of the few members of the defeated Nez Perce to talk openly to strangers and tell their story to the world.[3]

Others of his tribe said he was making a fool of himself for talking to a white man, saying that the children of the tribe would tell the story.[1] In spite of that, he continued to work with McWhorter.[1] In telling the native's side he said, "I am telling my story that all may know the war we did not want. War is made to take something that is not your own."[1] He was concerned that the next generation of Native Americans would continue to suffer under white oppression, and wrote to help them.[1] He said, "the young generation behind me, for them I tell the story. It is for them! I want the next generation of whites to know and treat the Indian as themselves."[1]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n McWhorter, Lucullus Virgil (1940). Yellow Wolf: His Own Story. Caldwell, ID: Caxton Printers, Ltd. pp. 6–23.
  2. ^ Dr. Richard Luppi. "Yellow Wolf: Nez Perce Warrior 1855-1935". Retrieved 2011-12-29.
  3. ^ a b c d e McWhorter, Lucullus Virgil (1940). Yellow Wolf: His Own Story. Caldwell, ID: Caxton Printers, Ltd. pp. 24–33.
  4. ^ Lucullus Virgil McWhorter. "I-ah-to-tonah, or Little Woman Mountain, and son A-last-Sauked, or Looking-away-off". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2011-12-29.
  5. ^ "Spokane Daily Chronicle". news.google.com. 1935. Retrieved 29 December 2011.