Set amidst the backdrop of the Wallowa Mountains, the entire area is part of the ancestral homeland of the Nez Perce Tribe, and is a sacred place to the Nez Perce Tribe and the Confederated Tribes of the Colville and Umatilla Indian Reservations. Iwetemlaykin is the Nez Perce name for this area of the Wallowa Lake basin. The heritage site covers 62 acres.