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    Nephi Perdash (1892–1956)

    Nephi Perdash, or Ba-ka-chee, was a Northwestern Shoshone religious leader and member of the first all-Native American bishopric of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was born on 9 June 1892 in Washakie, Utah Territory, to Eunice Moemberg and Charley Perdash, or Newerapaya Tapetapesha.1 Nephi was also the descendant of Shoshone leaders who paved the way for the Northwestern Shoshone membership in the church and establishment of their community at Washakie. Eunice’s father, John Moemberg, also known as Echup, received a vision that led many of the Northwestern Shoshone to accept baptism into the church. Charley’s father, Purdash, was one of the many Shoshone workers who participated in the construction of the Logan Temple.2

    Nephi was raised on his father’s homestead near the Washakie townsite, where he learned to farm and raise livestock.3 As a boy, he was baptized by Moroni Ward, the ward’s second Euro-American bishop, on 7 July 1901.4 Nephi also sang often in Aaronic Priesthood meetings alongside other young men of his generation like Henry Hootchew, Seth Pubigee, and Amos Moemberg.5 On 7 February 1910, Nephi civilly married Jessie Anneboey, or Aibui (meaning “fly”), the daughter of another prominent Northwestern Shoshone family.6 Together they had ten children, six of whom survived to adulthood: Ethel Eliza (1911–1929), Margaret (1913–1967), Fern Geneva (1920–2016), Steve Harold (1923–1988), Nephi Devere (1930–1982), and Devon Wayne (1933–1961).7

    Nephi continued to participate regularly in church services into adulthood. As a deacon, he gave lessons on the book of Enos and the Resurrection.8 Sometime before 1921, Nephi was called as deacons quorum president, and after serving the quorum, he was called as a Sunday School teacher in 1922.9 In 1923, Nephi was ordained an elder.10 He served in these capacities until 1929, when he was called as president of the Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Association.11

    For the next decade, Nephi served in a variety of callings within the Washakie Ward. He was ordained as a seventy on 12 January 1930.12 As a seventy, he served as a home missionary alongside other Washakie Saints like James M. Pabawena, George P. Sam, and Linford Neaman for one year.13 After Nephi was released as a missionary, he and Jessie decided to enter the Logan Temple, where both received their endowments and were sealed on 26 February 1931.14 In 1934, Nephi was called as an assistant to Superintendent Jim John Neaman in the Sunday School, where he helped direct the religious education efforts in the Washakie Ward.15 After serving faithfully in the Sunday School, Nephi was ordained a high priest in 1938.16 This ordination prepared him to become part of the first all-Indigenous bishopric in the church’s history. Moroni Timbimboo was called as the first Shoshone bishop of the ward, with Nephi and Jim John Neaman as counselors.17 This new bishopric was sustained during a ceremony on 22 January 1939 to dedicate the new Washakie chapel built by community members, marking a new era for the Washakie community as general church leadership in Salt Lake City tried to revitalize the infrastructure of the Washakie townsite and farm.18

    While Nephi served in the church, he also continued to work on his father’s homestead, where they grew wheat and raised livestock.19 Nephi was especially interested in horse breeding and often took horses to compete in races.20 In 1926, he entered his racehorse Indian Tom into the Peach Day half-mile saddle horse race and subsequently won first place, earning twenty-five dollars.21 It is unclear how much Nephi earned from his horse breeding and racing enterprise, but Indian Tom continued to win races and prize money in 1927.22 Nephi also worked as a seasonal farm laborer to supplement the income generated from his father’s homestead. He sheared sheep in Broad Canyon, Utah, and worked potato fields in Idaho Falls, Idaho.23 Nephi and his family also hunted game throughout the Intermountain West.24

    Unfortunately, the Great Depression caused many Washakie Shoshone to seek employment elsewhere, often at wartime industrial complexes like the Hill Air Force Base near Ogden.25 For Nephi, troubles came in the form of a homestead claim he was supposed to inherit from his father. The claim came under scrutiny in 1939 or 1940 and legal troubles came to a head.26 These factors may have contributed to Nephi’s decision to move away from the community just ten months after his call to the bishopric.27

    It is unclear where Nephi and his family moved in 1940, but one of Jessie’s obituaries stated that they lived in Ogden from 1942 to 1949, likely to work in wartime industries.28 By 1950, they had returned to Washakie and had begun attending church there again.29 Nephi likely retired from his farm labors after their return, but continued to serve as a high priest in the church.30 He died of “heart and kidney trouble” on 10 August 1956 and was buried three days later in the Washakie cemetery.31

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    Nephi Perdash (1892–1956), Native Saints, accessed May 28, 2026 https://www.churchhistorianspress.org/native-saints/biographies/nephi-perdash

      Footnotes

      1. [1]“Nephi Perdash,” “Eunice Moemberg,” and “Charley Perdash,” Church History Biographical Database, history.churchofjesuschrist.org; Washakie Branch, part 1, image 156, Record of Members Collection, 1836–1970, Church History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City (Church History Library hereafter cited as CHL); Elva Roma Neaman Schramm, interview by Dan Kane, Rios Pacheco, and Karen Duffy, Sept. 2001, transcript, pp. 2, 5, The Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation Tribal Library, available at Utah State University Digital History Collections, libraryusu.access.preservica.com. Some census records place his birthdate around 1891 or 1893, but most of these are estimates based on his age. His draft registration card is the only record that says 1894. (Utah Military Records: World War II 4th Draft Registration Cards, 1942, DGS 101539323, no. 977, 7 May 1942, familysearch.org.)

      2. [2]See biography of John Moemberg; “Purdash,” Church History Biographical Database, history.churchofjesuschrist.org; Marion Everton, “History of Logan Temple Is Retold,” Herald-Journal (Logan, UT), 18 July 1936, 5. Purdash is where the family name Perdash originates and, according to Matthew Kreitzer, it traditionally means “singing runner.” (Matthew E. Kreitzer, ed. The Washakie Letters of Willie Ottogary: Northwestern Shoshone Journalist and Leader, 1906–1929 [Utah State University Press, 2000], 306.)

      3. [3]Schramm, interview, Sept. 2001, pp. 4–5.

      4. [4]Washakie Branch, part 1, image 199, Record of Members Collection, CHL; see “Moroni Ward,” Church History Biographical Database, history.churchofjesuschrist.org.

      5. [5]Washakie Ward Aaronic Priesthood Minutes and Records, 1903–15, 1953–58, vol. 1, p. 27, 1 Apr. 1903, CHL; “Henry Hootchew,” “Seth Pubigee,” and “Amos Moemberg,” Church History Biographical Database, history.churchofjesuschrist.org.

      6. [6]Washakie Branch, part 2, image 69, Record of Members Collection, CHL; Box Elder Co., UT, Marriage Licenses, 1887–1966, DGS 4540840, vol. 2, p. 447, 7 Feb. 1910, familysearch.org. For her native name, Aibui, see Schramm, interview, Sept. 2001, p. 2; Shoshone Dictionary, “fly,” last updated 1 Apr. 2026, University of Utah, Shoshoni Language Project, https://shoshoniproject.utah.edu/language-materials/shoshoni-dictionary/dictionary.php; and “Jessie Anneboey,” Church History Biographical Database, history.churchofjesuschrist.org; see also biography of Cohn Shoshonitz Zundel.

      7. [7]See “Ethel Eliza Perdash,” “Margaret Perdash,” “[Infant] Perdash [1915–16],” “Geneva Perdash,” “Fern Geneva Perdash,” “Steve Harold Perdash,” “[Infant] Perdash [1925–25],” “Pearl Josephine Perdash,” “Nephi Devere Perdash,” “Devon Wayne Perdash,” Church History Biographical Database, history.churchofjesuschrist.org.

      8. [8]Washakie Ward Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Association Minutes and Records, 1910–20, 1931, 1935–37, 1947–49, pp. 96, 103, 27 Jan. and 31 Mar. 1918, CHL.

      9. [9]Washakie Branch, part 1, image 251, Record of Members Collection, CHL; Washakie Ward Sunday School Minutes and Records, 1910–26, 1961, vol. 3, 8 and 15 Jan. 1922, CHL. There are no extant records of Nephi’s ordination to the Aaronic Priesthood, but his later ordinations and callings indicate that it happened sometime before 1921, when he was listed as deacons quorum president.

      10. [10]“Roll of the First Quorum of Elders,” 1923, in Malad Idaho Stake Melchizedek Priesthood Minutes and Records, 1872–1973, vol. 19, image 5, 1923, CHL.

      11. [11]Washakie Ward General Minutes, 1902–33, 1943–62, vol. 4, image 191, 19 Feb. 1929, CHL.

      12. [12]Washakie Ward General Minutes, vol. 7, p. 183, CHL.

      13. [13]Washakie Ward Historical Record and Minutes, 1930, photocopy, CHL; biographies of James Martin Pabawena and George Parago Sam; “Linford Neaman,” Church History Biographical Database, history.churchofjesuschrist.org.

      14. [14]Logan Temple Endowments of the Living, 1884–1957, microfilm 178054, vol. A, p. 625, 26 Feb. 1931, FamilySearch Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City (FamilySearch Library hereafter cited as FSL); Logan Temple Sealings of Living Couples, 1884–1957, microfilm 178139, vol. A, p. 212, 26 Feb. 1931, FSL.

      15. [15]Washakie Ward Manuscript History and Historical Reports, 1847, 1874–1965, image 57, CHL; biography of Jim John Neaman Sr. He started as second assistant in 1934 and in 1936 shifted to first assistant. (Washakie Branch, part 1, image 297, Record of Members Collection, CHL.)

      16. [16]Washakie Branch, part 1, image 199, Record of Members Collection, CHL.

      17. [17]Washakie Ward Manuscript History and Historical Reports, image 63, CHL; biography of Moroni Timbimboo.

      18. [18]Henry A. Smith, “New Era Dawns for Indian Ward,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 18 Feb. 1939, Church section, 3.

      19. [19]“Wheat Production and Acreage Statements,” Garland (UT) Times, 13 Oct. 1933, 2.

      20. [20]Kreitzer, Washakie Letters of Willie Ottogary, 152.

      21. [21]“Peach Day Horse Racing,” Box Elder News (Brigham City, UT), 21 Sept. 1926, 4.

      22. [22]“Race Program the Best Ever,” Box Elder News, 13 Sept. 1927, 1.

      23. [23]Kreitzer, Washakie Letters of Willie Ottogary, 166, 230.

      24. [24]Kreitzer, Washakie Letters of Willie Ottogary, 153.

      25. [25]See “The Washakie Ward.”

      26. [26]Throughout the years, Charley’s homestead appeared on the “delinquent tax” list in the local newspapers. The question of Charley’s land ownership seemed to come down to a claim that some Northwestern Shoshone homesteads were held in trust for twenty-five years and could not be taxed. In 1940, Nephi presented a tax deed to the county and was ordered to take the matter up with Clark Rudd. The exact outcome of the exchange is unknown, but as of 2025, the homestead land is no longer in the possession of Perdash descendants. (“Delinquent Tax List,” Box Elder News, 14 Dec. 1920, 3; “Delinquent Tax List,” Bear River Valley Leader [Tremonton, UT], 9 Jan. 1940, 15; “Suit Seeks to Restore Indian Land,” Salt Lake Tribune, 19 Feb. 1935, 20; “B. E. County Commissioner Proceedings,” Bear River Valley Leader, 7 Mar. 1940, 3.)

      27. [27]Washakie Ward Manuscript History and Historical Reports, image 63, CHL; Moroni Timbimboo and Amy Hootchew Timbimboo, interview by Martin E. Seneca, 25 July 1967, transcript, p. 18, Doris Duke Oral History Collection, Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City.

      28. [28]Idaho, Death and Burial Records Compiled from Headstones, Sexton Records, Burial Permits, Early Ward Records, and Some Immediate Family Sources, microfilm 1941290, image 1082, FSL. In 1947, Jessie applied for and was granted a divorce from Nephi. In subsequent censuses, taken by the government and by the church, Jessie and Nephi are listed as “married” in the same household. Their obituaries also simply list one another as spouses, not divorcees. (1950 U.S. Census, Portage, Box Elder Co., UT, enumeration dist. 2-57, p. 4; “Nephi Perdash,” 1950, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Church Census Records [Worldwide], 1914–60, FamilySearch database, available at familysearch.org; Idaho Falls Family History Center Obituary Collection, 1880–2013, DGS 100464638, “Jessie P. Cota” obituary, image 3450, familysearch.org; “Obituaries,” Ogden [UT] Standard-Examiner, 11 Aug. 1956, 10.)

      29. [29]“Nephi Perdash,” 1950, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Church Census Records (Worldwide), 1914–60, FamilySearch database, available at familysearch.org.

      30. [30]“Resident of Washakie Buried,” Leader (Tremonton, UT), 16 Aug. 1956, [8].

      31. [31]Washakie Branch, part 2, image 509, Record of Members Collection, CHL; “Resident of Washakie Buried,” [8].