This custom of promulgating everything by criers, is not confined to the
Nez Perces, but prevails among many other tribes. It has its advantage
where there are no gazettes to publish the news of the day, or to report
the proceedings of important meetings. And in fact, reports of this
kind, viva voce, made in the hearing of all parties, and liable to
be contradicted or corrected on the spot, are more likely to convey
accurate information to the public mind than those circulated through
the press. The office of crier is generally filled by some old man,
who is good for little else. A village has generally several of these
walking newspapers, as they are termed by the whites, who go about
proclaiming the news of the day, giving notice of public councils,
expeditions, dances, feasts, and other ceremonials, and advertising
anything lost. While Captain Bonneville remained among the Nez Perces,
if a glove, handkerchief, or anything of similar value, was lost or
mislaid, it was carried by the finder to the lodge of the chief, and
proclamation was made by one of their criers, for the owner to come and
claim his property.
How difficult it is to get at the true character of these wandering
tribes of the wilderness! In a recent work, we have had to speak of this
tribe of Indians from the experience of other traders who had casually
been among them, and who represented them as selfish, inhospitable,
exorbitant in their dealings, and much addicted to thieving; Captain
Bonneville, on the contrary, who resided much among them, and had
repeated opportunities of ascertaining their real character, invariably
speaks of them as kind and hospitable, scrupulously honest, and
remarkable, above all other Indians that he had met with, for a strong
feeling of religion.
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