New mural in children’s section of Lewiston City Library tells Nez Perce creation story

A new mural of the Nez Perce creation story is now part of the Lewiston City Library. 

People from around the region gathered on Feb. 6 to hear the story of “Coyote and Monster” from Harry Slickpoo Jr., a Nez Perce tribal member and a Nez Perce language teacher.

He told the first part of the story in Nimiipuu, the Nez Perce language, before telling it in English. 

“Iceye’yen tikem … Haanisaana, paankack’ilksana kawa konapiy naco’x,” Slickpoo told the crowd. That translates to: “Coyote, fish ladder was making, tearing down (falls) so that through there salmon.” 

“ A long time ago, the people lived everywhere.  Before there was any humans on this land, there was only the animal people,” Slickpoo said. 

Coyote traveled up the Columbia River, and kept going upstream to Salmon River country.

“ Way over in Kamiah, there’s this monster’s head just peeking out over the valley. That’s how huge that monster was,” he said. 

In one panel by artist Linda McMillin, the monster is depicted peering over the hills of Kamiah at little coyote. (Credit: Lauren Paterson / NWPB)

Slickpoo told the tale of how Coyote fought the monster, and freed all the animals who had been swallowed. And how the monster’s body was divvied up to create different Northwest tribes. 

“ And where those blood drops landed, there came our huckleberries and our chokecherries and our other roots,” Slickpoo said. 

After the storytelling, Colleen Olive, Lewiston’s youth services librarian, led everyone to the small alcove in the children’s section where the mural wraps around a nook with books and benches. 

Library visitors view the “Heart of the Monster” mural before the storytelling and artist reception on Feb. 6, 2025. (Credit: Lauren Paterson / NWPB)

“ It starts here with the title of ‘The Heart of the Monster.’ And each panel tells a portion of the story,” she said. 

Olive applied for a grant to create the mural after meeting artist Linda McMillin. McMillin worked closely with the tribe through the process, like examining artifacts at the Nez Perce National Historical Park museum to incorporate the designs into the mural.

“ The fish trap and all the other artwork around was from weavings there,” McMillin said. 

The Heart of the Monster is a historical site in Kamiah, Idaho, on the Nez Perce Indian Reservation. The mound of earth is replicated in the mural. 

While she looked at the mural, Nez Perce tribal member Renee Holt said the Heart of the Monster is iconic. 

“ I think culturally it’s a place of significance for us, like it’s a culturally significant part of our homelands, it’s where we come from,” Holt said. 

Tribal member Crescentia Hills also stops by to look at the paintings. 

“This art, it gives you a really good visual of what this story is telling,” she said. 

Norma Staaf, who works at the Kamiah Community Library, drove two hours to hear the story and see the new mural. 

“ I didn’t realize that it was going to be kind of almost an interactive experience with it being in an alcove and set up like a graphic novel to tell the story,” Staaf said. 

The Lewiston City Library is important because of how many people it draws in from the smaller towns in the surrounding area, says Staaf. That library networks with other school and public libraries in the area to share resources, she said. 

Harry Slickpoo Jr., who teaches the Nimiipuu language at Lewiston High School, points to a map of the different Northwest tribes that formed from the monster’s body parts. (Credit: Lauren Paterson / NWPB)

It’s fitting to have the mural in the children’s section, because stories are children’s first form of education, Slickpoo said. 

“ It teaches them about their places where they come from, the animals, why things are the way they are in nature,” he said. 

Silas Garcia, McMillin’s 10-year-old grandson, says he thinks the paintings are really good. 

“ I think a lot of kids would like it,” he said.