The Home of My People
我族人的家园
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When Lewis and Clark stepped onto the Weippe Prairie in present-day Idaho in September 1805, they met the Nez Perce Indians. In the following years, the white explorers began to fight with the Indians for their land. Some Nez Perce chiefs signed agreements with the U.S. government, selling part of their lands. But the government always broke those agreements and demanded more land.
1805年9月，当刘易斯和克拉克踏上韦佩大草原（位于今天爱达荷州）时，他们遇到了内兹佩西印第安人。在接下来的几年里，白人探险家开始与印第安人争夺他们的土地。一些内兹佩西酋长与美国政府签署协议，出售部分土地。但政府总是违反这些协议，要求更多的土地。
Other chiefs refused to go along with the government's plans. The most famous was Chief Joseph, whose people lived in the Wallowa Valley (present-day Oregon) .
其他酋长拒绝同意政府的计划。最著名的是约瑟夫酋长，他的族人住在瓦洛瓦山谷（现在的俄勒冈州）。
“In order to have all people understand how much land we owned, ” he once explained, “my father planted poles around it and said: ‘Inside is the home of my people…It circled around the graves of our fathers, and we will never give up these graves to any man. ’”
“为了让所有人都知道我们拥有多少土地，”他曾经解释说，“我父亲在它周围放置了杆子，并说：‘里面是我族人的家……环绕着我们父辈们的坟墓，我们永远不会把这些坟墓交给任何人。”
But in 1874, the U.S. government declared the valley open for white settlement and ordered the Nez Perce onto a reservation. Seeing that resistance was useless, Chief Joseph agreed to move.
但在1874年，美国政府宣布山谷开放给白人定居，并命令内兹佩西人进入保留地。约瑟夫酋长看到抵抗是徒劳的，就同意搬家。
Later, fighting broke out between the Nez Perce and U.S. soldiers. Chief Joseph tried to lead his people to Canada, winning several battles against the soldiers during their flight. But finally, he was forced to give in.
后来，内兹佩西和美国士兵之间爆发了战斗。约瑟夫酋长试图带领他的族人前往加拿大，在迁徙中赢得了与士兵们的几次战斗。但最后，他被迫屈服。
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