|Tribe||Nez Perce Pikunan band|
|Died||September 30, 1877
Bear Paw Mountains, Montana
|Native name||Toohoolhoozote (Sound made when striking any vibrant timber or
|Tribe||Nez Perce Pikunan band|
|Died||September 30, 1877
Bear Paw Mountains, Montana
|Native name||Toohoolhoozote (Sound made when striking any vibrant timber or metal with a hard substance)|
|Known for||Nez Perce War|
|Cause of death||died in Battle of Bear Paw|
|Religious beliefs||Dreamer Faith|
At a winter meeting in 1876, Toohoolhoolzote had been appointed the head speaker for the Nez Perce bands of Joseph, Looking Glass, White Bird and his own for the coming meeting with U.S. Army General Oliver O. Howard. The leaders allowed him to speak for them, and to deny or allow the military's demands.
The numbers by band
In the upcoming conflict his following of 30 men was fourth in size after Joseph's (about 60 warriors), White Bird (about 50 men), and Looking Glass (about 40 men). The Nez Perce force had a strength of about 180 plus about 16 Palus men under the chief Hahtalekin (also known as Taktsoukt Jlppilp - “Echo” or “Red Echo”) and Husishusis Kute (Husis Husis Kute, Hush-hush-cute - “Bald Head”, “Naked Head”) - including warriors, elderly and youngsters.
The Native American's concerns
One of the major concerns of the leaders was that they have sufficient time to prepare to leave and to move their livestock. They wanted to wait until autumn as a minimum, or ideally, a year. Toohoolhoolzote also expressed the natives' reluctance to sell their land, which went against their religious beliefs.
The military, on the other hand, demanded that they be moved in 30 days, or the soldiers would use force. General Oliver O. Howard put this to them strongly, after Toohoolhoolzote began to speak on the sacredness of the Earth to his people:
"I do not want to hear you say anything more like that. I am telling you! Thirty days you have to get on the reservation."
"You ask me to talk, then tell me to say no more, Toohoolhoolzote replied. "I am chief! I ask no man to come and tell me anything what I must do. I am chief here!"
General Howard answered sharp. "Yes, you are chief. I am telling you! Thirty days you have to move in...I am the man to tell you what you must do! You will come on the reservation within time I tell you. If not, soldiers will put you there or shoot you down!"
Toohoolhoolzote stood up to General Howard, and told him he would not obey. Yellow Wolf reported the final words:
Chief Toohoolhoolzote did not become afraid. His words were strong as he replied, "I hear you! I have simiakia, that which belongs to a man! I am a man, and will not go! I will not leave my home, the land where I grew up!" For this he was jailed.
This arrest was one of the events which ultimately led to the war.
Toohoolhoolzote's use of the Nez Perce word simiakia is not clearly defined anywhere online. The following quotations illustrate some of its meaning.