Hiláwlimqsa Talapónsanwaas – First Indian Presbyterian Church, Kamiah

Hiláwlimqsa Talapónsanwaas – First Indian Presbyterian Church, Kamiah

Kamiah, Lewis County

Location: US-12, Kamiah, Idaho 83536
N 46° 12.246 W 116° 00.416

The First Indian Presbyterian Church of Kamiah was built in 1873 and is the oldest Presbyterian Church in Idaho, as well as the Gem State’s oldest Protestant Church. It has been in continuous use for over 150 years and continues to be a focal point of the community.  The origin of this congregation can be traced back to July 4th, 1871, when a group of four Yakima tribesmen began preaching to the Kamiah encampment. This engendered a ‘spiritual revival’ among the Nez Perce, which was further reinforced by the arrival of Presbyterian ministers in the following years. In 1873, influential Chief Lawyer spearheaded the building of the church, who served as the first elder, and well-known preacher and missionary Henry Spalding presided over the congregation throughout the 1870s.

The building rests on a foundation of tree stumps and boulders, and the walls are built in a ‘post and box-construction’ style, where the outer boards were nailed into 4×4 posts at the top and bottom. This would soon be replaced by the more common stud wall framing. The church was initially constructed in a Greek Revival style, though changes made throughout the latter part of the 19th Century signify the shift toward Gothic Revival. At some point in the late 1800s, the walls were plastered and painted Various additions to the church have been made over the years, including the addition of the belltower (date unknown), a small chapel with a pressed-tin ceiling was built at the rear of the structure (1914), a new Sunday School room (1918), wood paneling (1968, it wouldn’t be the 60s without some wood paneling), and supplemental restoration work has occurred consistently ever since.

The Church and adjacent grounds form an integral part of the Nez Perce National Historical Park’s Spalding Site’s cultural landscape that provides unique insight into the area’s missionary era. It is and always has been a congregation rich in tribal culture and history as evidenced by songs and prayers in the Ni Mii Puu timpt (Nez Perce language) and study of the Book of Heaven (Bible). The Church is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.