
About Us
Hipéexnu’ is a newly founded 501 (c) 3 non-profit since August of 2018.
We were then approved in September of 2018 by the Secretary of the State of Idaho.
WHY ARE WE NEEDED:
- On the Nimiipuu reservation and Tribe there are no more first language speakers that can continuously and effortlessly speak in the Niimiipuu dialect.
- There is no place on this earth that one can go and be "totally" immersed in the
Niimiipuu language and culture.
- According to Fishman's 1991, Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale (GIDS), This
dialect would fall at a Level 8 - "the only remaining speakers are of grandparental age."
- According to the EGIDS of 2010 - this dialect is at a Level 8a - "the normal cycle of
intergenerational transmission has been broken. There may be younger adults who
know the language, at least somewhat, but they do not regularly speak it with their
peers and are not fully proficient."
The revitalization process, in todays American Culture, is not an easy path for those doing the work. It takes continual dedication through all of the American distractions, entertainment, lifestyles, and the self-glorifying platforms that take us away from our true purpose. Then there is the one place we should expect the full transmission of our language and culture but it's not.
We keep hearing "Cultural Standards" mandated in Public Schools, where most reservation schools fall under, but it doesn't mean prioritize the Nimiipuu language and culture.
It ultimately means it may be an elective but NEVER prioritized.
There are no more fluent speakers on the Nez Perce reservation. So, how can we show of our culture and language proudly when no one is speaking it and truly living it?
Even today, all the successfully operating Indigenous Language Immersion schools in the United States say, not to be influenced by the corruption of politics or the distractions of the American Culture.
We are here to honor our Nimiipuu ancestors by restoring our language and culture that they ultimately paid the price for.
"Not to be associated with the foolish ones, to live in the company of wise people, that honor those, who are worthy of honoring. This is the greatest happiness." Thích Nhât Hanh

Longhouse for Horace Axtell

Chinook, Montana

Horace Axtell

Bears Paw War Memorial of 1877

Bears Paw Memorial - Horace Axtell Family

Young Lookingglass homesite

tim’néepe – Heart of the Monster – picture courtesy of Clearwater Paper of Kamiah Idaho

Out digging roots with mom.

Artwork by Nez Perce Artist John Seven, grandson of Horace Axtell

tim’néepe – Heart of the Monster

Lewis-Clark Valley

heté’ewnim wéetes - At Precious Lands - Horace, wife, and grandchildren.

Horace in mens' warbonnet

Horace's

Pilot Knob

x̣uyéełp – N’Chiwana – Columbia River

Horace Axtell gravesite

Horace and Andrea Axtell


wal’áawa – Wallowa
