Nez Perce Rock Pile vocabulary

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"The Nee-Me-Poo Trail is characterized by a number of rock cairns which occur along the trail and are not known to exhibit any particular service. Tum loyeets muh is the Nez Perce term used in reference to these rock piles. It translates as “rocks stacked up.” Some have said they serve as a place for messages, others say they are areas where young people have gone on vision quests and piled stones to keep them awake through the night vigil. Reverend David Miles, Sr. (personal communication, 1991) states that the rock piles signify an accompanying prayer. Sometimes, at a later date in their life, the men and women could return to this special place and put in a new stone as they sing a sacred song or songs and offer new prayers. This practice is called tam-loy or Tam-loy yiic max, which means, “wherein one left a memorial to oneself and found one’s old self,” or Immatqu ya ko. Another view is where each stone held a significance..."