Palus

The Palus, or Palouse, are a Sahaptin-speaking people of the Columbia Plateau whose villages followed the Snake River and the Palouse River valley. They call themselves the Naxiyamtama, the river people, and take their common name from Pa-luš-sa, their principal village at the junction of the Palouse and Snake rivers near Palouse Falls.

Upper, Middle and Lower bands made up the nation, many living in bilingual villages alongside their Nez Perce kin. Seasonally nomadic, they gathered for salmon fishing, root digging, hunting, trade and dancing, and were expert horsemen who bred distinctive spotted horses, the Palouse horses from which the Appaloosa takes its name.

In October 1805 the Lewis and Clark expedition met the tribe, most of whom were away on their autumn round, and gave a silver peace medal to their paramount chief Kepowhan.