Nez Perce Crossing, Variation (2008) refers to a Native American tribe of the interior Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Their traditional territory centered on the lower Snake River, and Salmon and Clearwater rivers in what is now north-eastern Oregon, south-eastern Washington, and central Idaho. They were the largest, most powerful and best known of the Sahaptin-speaking peoples. Nez Perce Crossing speaks to when the tribe was forcibly removed by the United States government in 1877. Led by Chief Joseph, the tribe crossed 1,170 miles in a fighting retreat known as the Nez Perce War. They were defeated at the Battle of Bear Paw on October 5th 1877, 40 miles south of the Canadian border. This history is present in WalkingStick’s landscape work, with Native American patterning overlaid — the delicate presence of the design transforms the panoramic vista into an active site.