Answer: He puts their lives ahead of his own freedom.
Chief Joseph was a leader of the Native American tribe of the Nez Perce. The Nez Perce were a tribe of the interior Pacific region of the United States. Chief Joseph is famous due to his being the chief during the most difficult period of the Nez Perce. During his rule, the tribe was forcibly removed from their territory by the American government and relocated to a reservation in the Idaho Territory. Chief Joseph resisted, and became a significant figure in the American Indian Wars, and was famous as a peacemaker.