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2004

Great Plains Native American Representations Along the Lewis and Clark Trail

Kevin S. Blake State University, [email protected]

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Blake, Kevin S., "Great Plains Native American Representations Along the Lewis and Clark Trail" (2004). Great Plains Quarterly. 217. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/217

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University of Nebraska Press Publishers of Books· 800.755.1105 . www.nebraskapress.unl.edu GREAT PLAINS NATIVE AMERICAN REPRESENTATIONS ALONG THE LEWIS AND CLARK TRAIL

KEVIN S. BLAKE

Memorializing history in the landscape re~ is often a narrative shaped and reshaped flects deep~seated cultural needs. This process through time to fit the demands of contempo~ not only pays homage to the actions, events, rary society."! The significance of selecting or persons deemed significant at a particular particular historical interpretations for com~ point in time, but it also offers a chance for memoration is that the impress of these upon the creators of the historic marker to write the landscape plays a key role in shaping so~ their version of history and to use an interpre~ cial memory, as "nations rewrite their history, tive format that highlights their own under~ forgetting much, denying more, and replacing standing and values. Cultural geographer past perspectives with new national images Kenneth Foote observes in a study of American and explanations."2 Ironically, some of the memorials, "What is accepted as historical truth peoples central to American identity-Native -are often memorialized with markers that "mistreat" them, creating a con~ tested landscape of social memory that stands KEY WORDS: Blackfeet, cultural resources, "in desperate need of revision."3 interpretive sites, Lakota, landscape, Lewis and Clark, Native Americans, . In the midst of the Lewis and Clark bicen~ tennial commemorations, the significance of American Indians in the social memory of the Kevin S. Blake is an Associate Professor of Geography expedition is strongly debated. Some Ameri~ at . His research interests can Indians express concern over the inter~ include nature~society interactions, Native American geography, landscape symbolism, and place identity. pretation of their peop Ie and see the bicentennial Thanks to William R. Blake for assistance during the as an opportunity "to tell their own story of fie Idwork and to John P. Harty for suggestions on the Lewis and Clark, an epic about Indians bailing data analysis. This study was funded in part by a Kansas out whites, showing them where to go, what State University Small Research Grant. to eat, whom to avoid along the way, and how to get back home in one piece."4 Roberta [GPQ 24 (Fall 2004): 263-82] Conner, a member of the Confederated Tribes

263 264 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, FALL 2004 of the Umatilla in pre tat ions has another benefit, too, since "dis~ and director of its Tamastslikt Cultural Insti~ torted or oversimplified images of Lewis and tute, notes that although the Lewis and Clark Clark are not only inescapable ... they pro~ Expedition is only a "tiny story" within the vide a fascinating index of changes in Ameri~ context of American Indian history, it is one can society and culture over time."9 A more with "tremendous impact" because it "is a story inclusive depiction of Great Plains Native about land, the places we call home."5 Americans along the NHT (the "Trail Tribes") The purpose of this article is to examine is a critical element in understanding the rich the portrayal of American Indians at the in~ multicultural heritage of places along the trail terpretive sites along the Lewis and Clark and the Native role in helping the expedition National Historic Trail (NHT) in the Great travel to the Pacific and back. Plains to see to what extent multicultural This study examines the cultural aftermath awareness exists. My central thesis is that many of the Lewis and Clark Expedition through a of the representations of Great Plains Native previously untapped source-the landscape of Americans along the Lewis and Clark Trail the interpretive sites on the trail itself. Estab~ are stereotyped and give little or no voice to lished in 1978 under the administration of the Native peoples. This is problematic not only , the Lewis and Clark because of the slanted messages about Ameri~ NHT involves dozens of partnering federal, can Indians and social memory that increased state, and local agencies, nonprofit organiza~ numbers of visitors during the bicentennial tions, American Indian nations, and private are receiving along the trail landscape, but landowners. Even the information centers also because these poorly drawn interpreta~ operated by the federal government along the tions should not be the model for new inter~ Great Plains portion of the NHT are under pretive sites developed during the spate of multiple jurisdictions, including the US Army bicentennial commemorations. Similar to the Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Land Manage~ perspective of cultural historian Matthew ment, US Forest Service, and National Park Dennis, I question the meaning of commonly Service. To think of the expedition route as accepted representations of the past and ex~ the "Lewis and Clark Trail" is somewhat of a amine them from multiple viewpoints in the misnomer since Lewis and Clark did not typi~ belief that this process is essential for all groups cally blaze a new trail. For the most part, the to gain meaningful interpretations of the com~ expedition traveled routes previously used by plete cultural and historical significance of traders or Native Americans, yet the signs of Lewis and Clark.6 Lewis and Clark pointing the way fix this im~ The underlying cause of the desire for a age in the NHT interpretation (Fig. 1). Native American voice in the Lewis and Clark drama goes beyond historical events and the GREAT PLAINS PERSPECTIVES ethnocentric perspective of the expedition journals, it also springs from the privileged The Great Plains segment of the NHT i~ status of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in the focus of this study for several reasons. Fore­ American social memory. The expedition most, this is the "home of the peoples whc helped America invent its identity, even while gave to most of the world the current percep­ the story grows and changes through each gen~ tion of what an American Indian is.''lO Tht eration.7 Some of the recent interpretations of encountered by Lewis and Clad Lewis and Clark portray them as proto~ecolo~ also were culturally and linguistically distinc gists and multicultural diplomats, but all sto~ (Siouan, Algonquian, Caddoan) from th( ries have two sides and it strips the expedition Rocky Mountain Indians, with a unique se of meaning to exclude the American Indian of intertribal relations and interracial deal perspective.8 Examining the misguided inter~ ings with white traders. Furthermore, the Lewi GREAT PLAINS NATIVE AMERICAN REPRESENTATIONS 265

FIG. 1. Signs like this one on Highway 1806 near Fort Pierre National mark the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail. All photographs by the author, June 2003.

and Clark Expedition expressed a different in the mountains as opposed to viewing moun~ message to Plains Indians than to those in the tains. River travelers today also see the Gates mountains or coastal because much of as the place at the foot of the mountains where the Great Plains had recently been claimed by the Great Plains has been left behind. 12 the in the . One of the Native American messages along For the purposes of this study, the Great the trail is that, to at least some Great Plains Plains extends from Kaw Point (the confluence tribes in 1804, the Lewis and Clark Expedition of the Kansas and rivers in Kansas was just one more party of outsiders interested in City) to the Gates of the in trade, continuing an already well~established the Big Belt Mountains of . 11 Even trend. Tracy King of the though the mountains are not always in close (A'Aninin) Nation says, "If it wasn't Lewis proximity to the upstream of and Clark, it would have been somebody Gates of the Rocky Mountains, here the char~ else."13 Indeed, the incursions of whites had acter of the expedition became focused ever already wreaked radical change with the intro~ more strongly on crossing the Great Divide, duction of , weapons, and and and for the first time the expedition felt it was other diseases, as well as the subsequently 266 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, FALL 2004 altered power relations. Yet American Indi~ I visited the interpretive sites accessible by ans easily could have eliminated the expedi~ automobile within the Great Plains, and tion at numerous points, and without the aid closely examined those that have interpreta~ and accommodation of Plains Indians the tion of American Indians in the context of expedition would have foundered long before Lewis and Clark. IS Locations visited by a large reaching the Rockies. 14 The Native American number of tourists were deemed most central message also tells of how Lewis and Clark en~ to this study of how American Indians are tered an advanced society, not a wilderness, represented along the NHT. The absence of exemplified by the sophisticated agricultural any single compendium containing every site society of the and nations on the NHT, coupled with the various routes with large earthlodge towns. IS To relate their taken by different members of the expedition, story during the bicentennial commemoration, resulted, no doubt, in this study's omission of the tribes have developed tour packages and some sites with on~site interpretation of resource materials for visitors. In Montana, American Indians. Visiting every single inter~ for example, the Chippewa run a store pretive site, however, would not be a feasible marketing tribal arts and crafts, the Lower nor necessarily meaningful goal given that at Brule in South Dakota tell their tribe's any point in time some interpretive sites along history through and buffalo hide tanning the NHT will be closed due to construction, displays, and the Three Affiliated Tribes of the renovation, or decay. Observations were in~ Mandan, Hidatsa, and offer overnight cluded from nearly all of the major NHT sites, stays in earthlodges. More than a such as national historic landmarks, national desire to cash in on Lewis and Clark tourists, historic sites, and places designated as national this is a prime opportunity for the tribes to signature events in 2004~6 by the National educate the public about American Indian Council of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial. culture of two hundred years past.16 An attempt was also made to include observa~ Although I have made repeated visits to tions from interpretive sites representing each portions of the Lewis and Clark Trail, this of the Trail Tribes. study relies extensively on detailed fieldwork Forty~eight locations with on~site interpre~ completed in June 2003 along the entire Great tation were examined for this study (Table 1). Plains segment of the route. In the Great Plains Detailed notes about the textual and pictorial it is impossible to separate the physical char~ interpretation of American Indians were acter of land and the season of the year from taken, along with photographs where permit~ the way in which its sense of place is inter~ ted. 19 The sites were then analyzed based on preted. Open vistas begin to dominate the (1) American Indian nations interpreted, (2) landscape north and west of Kaw Point, where date of interpretive site development, (3) fund~ trees seek "the river valleys, as though to es~ ing agency and/or management organization, cape a limitless expanse of wind~whipped (4) location, (5) interpretation format (e.g., grass," cottonwoods begin to dominate ripar~ marker or statue), and most importantly, (6) ian woodlands, and the expedition first en~ nature of the American Indian portrayal. The countered American Indians and bison. Ii In interplay of landscape and memory at these at this time of year the trail strikes interpretive sites along the trail is important through a mostly treeless, rolling green to analyze in this manner since "the very dura~ in a big sky country of endless summer thun~ bility of the landscape and the memorials derheads. In Montana the dappled sunlight placed in the landscape makes these modifica~ on the broad expanses of the tions effective for symbolizing and sustaining and river lowlands, and the mountains tower~ collective values over long periods of time."20 ing into the cumulus, make for unforgettable As much as from wood, plastic, and steel, the images along the trail (Fig. 2). interpretive sites are built "from strata of GREAT PLAINS NATIVE AMERICAN REPRESENTATIONS 267

FIG. 2. Decision Point, Montana, at the confluence of the Marias and Missouri rivers. The Marias enters the Mi ssouri in the upper left of this northeasterly view, just downstream of the large island in the Missouri.

memory."2l Some markers may last only a with American Indians, primarily with the couple decades, while statues and monuments Teton Sioux (Lakota) in South Dakota and made of steel or stone may interpret a version the Blackfeet (Pikuni) in Montana. Good of events to multiple generations. Neighbors relates to the spent with the The findings are categorized into four ma~ Mandan (Neufdia) and Hidatsa (Nuxbaaga) jor thematic representations of American In~ Nations and the expedition's study of Plains dians, each having some connection to specific Indians. Sacagawea Reinterpreted includes the expedition events and places along the trail: multiple archetypes attributed to her, such as Councils of Power, Hostile Encounters, Good guide, interpreter, peace symbol, and Madonna Neighbors, and Sacagawea Reinterpreted. These of the trail. themes are presented in a westward sequence Interwoven throughout the four themes of because each one is shaped by prior events, American Indian representations is a cameo yet a purely linear or chronological structure role that is typically reserved for the Natives. would not account for repetition of the repre~ American Indian interpretations consistently sentations along the trail. Councils of Power receive less space than is devoted to any other relates to the councils held with the eastern major aspect of the expedition, such as the and central Plains Indians. Hostile Encounters transportation, naturalist observations, and encompasses the expedition confrontations camp life displays in the Chamberlain Lewis 268 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, FALL 2004

TABLE 1

INTERPRETIVE SITES EXAMINED ON THE LEWIS & CLARK NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL

INTERPRETIVE SITE LOCATION

Case Park (Lewis and Clark Point) Kansas City, Missouri Riverfront Park* Leavenworth, Kansas Frontier Army Museum* Fort Leavenworth, Kansas Fort Leavenworth Historic Wayside Tour Fort Leavenworth, Kansas Atchison Historical Museum Atchison, Kansas 4th of July Creek 1804* Atchison, Kansas Historic Trails Center Council Bluffs, Lewis & Clark Monument Council Bluffs, Iowa State Historical Park Fort Calhoun, Nebraska Lewis and Clark State Park* Onawa, Iowa Scenic Overview, US Highway 75 Decatur, Nebraska Nebraska Historical Marker, US Highway 75 (Omaha Tribe) Macy, Nebraska Nebraska Historical Marker, US Highway 75 (Tonwantonga) Homer, Nebraska Cottonwood Cove City Park* Dakota City, Nebraska Sergeant Floyd Monument Sioux City, Iowa Sergeant Floyd River Museum Sioux City, Iowa Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center Sioux City, Iowa "Lewis and Clark: An American Adventure" (Southern Hills Mall) Sioux City, Iowa Spirit Mound Historic Prairie* Vermillion, South Dakota Lewis & Clark Visitor Center at Calumet Bluff (COE) Gavins Point Dam, Nebraska Chief Standing Bear Memorial Bridge Running Water, South Dakota Lewis and Clark Information Center Chamberlain, South Dakota Atka Lakota Museum & Cultural Center Chamberlain, South Dakota Bad River - Missouri River Confluence (Lilly Park) Fort Pierre, South Dakota LaFramboise Island Nature Area Pierre, South Dakota Farm Island Recreation Area Pierre, South Dakota South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center Pierre, South Dakota West Whitlock State Recreation Area Lake Oahe, South Dakota Sakakawea Monument Standing Rock Reservation, South Dakota Monument Standing Rock Reservation, South Dakota Double Ditch State Historic Site Bismarck, North Dakota Sakakawea Statue State Capitol Grounds Bismarck, North Dakota North Dakota Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center Washburn, North Dakota Fort Mandan Washburn, North Dakota Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site (NPS) Stanton, North Dakota Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site (NPS) Buford, North Dakota - Missouri River Confluence* Buford, North Dakota Big Sky National Back Country Byway Wayside Exhibit (BLM) Terry, Montana New Beginnings Statue Miles City, Montana Pompeys Pillar National Monument (BLM) Pompeys Pillar, Montana Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Visitor Center (BLM)* Fort Benton, Montana Decision Point: Marias River - Missouri River Confluence (BLM) Lorna, Montana Montana Historical Marker, US Highway 87 (Marias River)* Lorna, Montana State of Montana Lewis and Clark Memorial Fort Benton, Montana Fort Benton Scenic Overlook, US Highway 87* Fort Benton, Montana Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Interpretive Center (USFS) Great Falls, Montana Ryan Island Day Use Area Great Falls, Montana Broadwater Portage Overlook* Great Falls, Montana

Places listed are those with some on-site Lewis & Clark interpretation. Sites are listed in the sequence studied. Asterisk indicates lack of American Indian interpretation. Federal agencies operating a site are designated COE for US Army Corps of Engineers, NPS for National Park Service, BLM for Bureau of Land Management, and USFS for US Forest Service. GREAT PLAINS NATIVE AMERICAN REPRESENTATIONS 269 and Clark Information Center (opened in 2000 awe the Indians with the military might of the by the South Dakota Department of Tourism expedition. 24 Although several NHT sites and the State Historical Society). The W est~ mention Indian trade, including at Case Park ern Historic Trails Center in Council Bluffs in Kansas City, Missouri, where a marker re~ (built by the National Park Service in 1997 cently erected by the Choteau Society notes and operated by the State Historical Society that the Kansa had traded with the French, of Iowa) pays only token attention to Native and at the 1980s~era Sergeant Floyd Riverboat Americans, noting a few general ethno~his~ Museum (operated by the Sioux City, Iowa, torical events, such as decimation by disease. Museum and Historical Association) with a American Indians break out of the cameo role mention of the trading presence of Indians on most significantly at the Blackbird Scenic the river, the overall American Indian inter~ Overview in northeastern Nebraska; Atka pretation in this segment of the trail is heavily Lakota Museum in Chamberlain, South Da~ slanted toward the first ~ coun~ kota; North Dakota Lewis and Clark Interpre~ cil on August 3, 1804. tive Center in Washburn; Knife River Indian Images of American Indian acquiescence Villages National Historic Site in central dominate the Councils of Power representa~ North Dakota; and the Lewis and Clark NHT tion, such as at the Lewis and Clark Monu~ Interpretive Center in Great Falls, Montana, ment in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Nebraska's Fort but even at these locations some interpreta~ Atkinson State Historical Park (established tion fits within one of the four dominant in 1963 on the western bank of the river at the themes. site of the first council), and the interpretive centers in Chamberlain and Great Falls COUNCILS OF POWER (opened in 1998). Displays frequently refer to the American Indian desire for peace and ex~ The primary objective of the expedition, tending the hand of friendship. Replica and ascertaining the practicability of a water route authentic peace medals are ubiquitous, imply~ across the for the purposes of com~ ing tribal acceptance of the United States as merce, was bundled with numerous other ~ the sovereign power. The North Dakota Lewis jectives, including scientific observation and and Clark Interpretive Center, opened in 1997 collection of plant, animal, and mineral speci~ by the North Dakota Lewis and Clark Bicen~ mens, observation of weather data, study of tennial Foundation in Washburn, informs of Indian cultures, mapping geographic features, the American Indian desire for peaceful trade, promoting American trade, and conducting which is also a major theme at the Knife River councils with the Indians.zz The Councils of and Fort Union National Historic Sites, but Power representation of American Indians in the Washburn center also interprets that In~ trail interpretation dominates from Kansas dians were unwilling to part with their war City to Calumet Bluff at Gavins Point Dam , and the diplomacy of Lewis and Clark on the Nebraska~South Dakota border.23 "never imagined the Indians as true partners." Throughout this stretch the explorers were Lewis and Clark's gift~giving is another stan~ on the lookout for Indians with whom to meet. dard element in Councils of Power, with dis~ Lewis and Clark eventually were able to hold plays on this at the interpretive centers in council with the Otoe (Jiwere) and Missouria Chamberlain, Calumet Bluff, and Sioux City. (Nutachf), Yankton Sioux (), Teton In the Councils of Power representation, Sioux, Arikara (Sahnish), and Mandan~ American Indians are rarely portrayed as equals Hidatsa, with an intent to promote peaceful to Lewis and Clark. The Lewis and Clark trade along the Missouri, inform the Indian Monument in Council Bluffs, erected in 1935 children of the replacement of their late Span~ by the Colonial Dames of America and re~ ish father with a new great white father, and dedicated in 1993 to commemorate "the meet~ 270 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, FALL 2004

GREAT Pt QUARTE

FIG .3. Lewis and Clark Monument in Council Bluffs, Iowa . Erected· in {93~5 by the Col~n{aL' Dames o{ Amtrica, this is one of two life~sized relief panels. The other depicts Native Americans presenting the expedition with melons. ing between famed explorers Lewis and Clark interpretative maps at Sioux City's Southern and area Native Americans," has two large Hills Mall (produced for display in 2003 by relief panels depicting American Indians pre~ Split Rock Studios, a museum outfitting com~ senting the expedition with melons (a rare pany based in Arden Hills, ), the instance of interpretation showing gift~giving interpretive center in Sioux City (opened in by the tribes) and shaking hands with the ex~ 2003 by the Missouri River Historical Devel~ plorers, but there is no further depth to the opment, Inc., a nonprofit organization funded tribal interpretation (Fig. 3). Not only are the by the local riverboat casino), and the 1960s~ indigenous peoples nameless, the Councils of era Fort Leavenworth Frontier Army Museum. Power representation also renders them land~ These representations are ironic given that less in a 1990s~era NHT marker at the monu~ Clark's 1814 map acknowledged an Indian ment, with a map showing the expedition route presence while ignoring Spanish and British in the western portion of the continent pass~ claims. 25 ing through lands either designated Oregon The geographic imprint of the Trail Tribes Country, Louisiana Purchase, or , is consistently absent from many interpretive but not Indian lands. The depiction of Ameri~ maps along the NHT, and the Councils of can Indian land claims as nonexistent or sub~ Power representations are consistent across servient to other powers is repeated in the multiple media and decades. The Council GREAT PLAINS NATIVE AMERICAN REPRESENTATIONS 271

Bluffs monument seemed to set the dominant Sioux encounter. At LaFramboise Island Na­ representation nearly seven decades ago with ture Area in Pierre, on the east bank of the noble yet stylized depictions of the Otoe­ Missouri River, the 1990s-era NHT marker Missouria. Left unsaid is the great change over reads: the past two hundred years for these peoples. Dispossessed of their homeland The expedition had its first meeting with in southeastern Nebraska, the Otoe-Missouria the Teton Sioux on September 25, 1804, at eventually relocated to . 26 Rhonda the mouth of the Teton River (today's Bad Dent of the Otoe Nation observes, "We were River), just across from here. The captains the first to greet Lewis and Clark, and look met on shore with three chiefs: Black Buf­ what happened to us."27 Bicentennial commem­ falo, Partisan and Buffalo Medicine, then orations and interpretive sites containing a took them out to the keelboat. When Clark Native American voice would provide these returned the Chiefs to shore, several T etons peoples a chance to "reconnect to their home­ attempted to detain him. Clark drew his land."28 Literally putting the tribes on the maps sword, the Tetons strung their bows, and reinforces the message that the Native peoples, Lewis readied the men for action. Black despite overwhelming odds, are still in place Buffalo moved to diffuse the situation by to offer their unique perspective. 29 ordering his men to back off. Eventually, they allowed Clark to return to the keelboat; HOSTILE ENCOUNTERS two of the chiefs went with him.

The transition from the Councils of Power This text attributes the initiation of hostili­ to Hostile Encounters representation begins in ties to the T etons with an attempted detain­ Sioux City and is complete by central South ment of Clark, although it notes Black Buffalo Dakota. The Teton Sioux encounter is per­ was a calming influence. The Washburn in­ haps the signature event in the interpretation terpretive center expounds on the hostile na­ of American Indians in the Great Plains por­ ture of the Sioux by stating: tion of the traiL This episode is recounted at every interpretive site from Sioux City to Even gift-giving became a disaster when Pierre, South Dakota, and in the Pierre area they gave one chief, named the Partisan, this story is usually the sole focus of the inter­ fewer gifts than his rival, Black Buffalo. pretation, such as at Farm Island Recreation Highly offended, the Partisan hijacked a Area, LaFramboise Island Nature Area, and pirogue. the confluence of the Bad and Missouri rivers. Interpretive sites in North Dakota and Mon­ The Great Falls interpretive center rational­ tana also focus on this encounter, reflecting izes the Sioux action this way: its drama and the fixation of the expedition on the Teton Sioux dominance of Missouri The open trade advocated by Lewis and River trade.30 The significance of the Hostile Clark would wipe out the Lakota monopoly. Encounters representation is indicated on the No wonder they treated the Expedition with National Park Service standard map panel hostility. installed many places along the NHT. It men­ tions Plains Indians only three times: first Although the Great Falls center at least council, Teton Sioux encounter, and Blackfeet places the encounter in the context of power encounter (the other major event in Hostile relationships, the Hostile Encounters interpre­ Encounters) . tations are silent on other possible causes for The Hostile Encounters representation is well the tense negotiations, such as preconceived illustrated by several versions of the Teton notions on the part of the captains, or how the 272 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, FALL 2004

Teton Sioux were insulted by the expedition's Encounters. All the National Historic Trail poor diplomacy in offering mere trinkets as interpretations of this event follow approxi' gifts, or how the tribe was offended at the idea mately the same script, illustrated with this of subjugation to yet another new great fa~ text at the Great Falls center: ther. 31 The aggressive theme is oft repeated at other sites: the 1990s~era Calumet Bluff visi~ Lewis, Drouillard, and the Field brothers tor center calls the Teton Sioux "one of the rode deep into Blackfeet (Pikuni) country. most aggressive of the Sioux bands"; the Cham~ On July 26 near the Two Medicine River, berlain information center contains text on eight Blackfeet men rode towards them. how the captains reacted with firmness to the Lewis presented three among them with a Sioux warnings and threats; and the South flag, a medal, and a handkerchief. That Dakota Cultural Heritage Center (built in evening he described America's intentions 1989 and operated by the State Historical to trade guns with the Salish (Sells), Society) features text about how the expedi~ (Aqui~Dika), and tion was always on its guard after the Tetons (N imiipu). This news may have alarmed tried seizing one of the expedition's canoes as the Blackfeet because these tribes were their toll. The murals and accompanying text at the traditional enemies. At dawn the warriors Southern Hills Mall in Sioux City also echo attempted to steal the party's guns and the greedy interpretation of the Teton Sioux horses. In the ensuing fight, Reubin Field by stating that they "demanded more than the mortally stabbed an Indian and Lewis shot expedition could afford." another, narrowly escaping being killed The same event may be interpreted from himself. The Blackfeet beat a hasty retreat. several different perspectives, however, and Lewis quickly burned the warriors' aban' while the Teton Sioux encounter is dominated doned shields and reclaimed the flag given by interpretation with hostile overtones, a the previous day. He left a peace medal nonattributed west~bank marker of indeter~ around the dead warrior's neck and fled the minate age in Lilly Park at the Bad River scene. confluence reads, in part: The Montana Historic Expedition Trail Map President Thomas Jefferson commissioned produced in the past few years by the Bureau Captains and Meriwether of Land Management (exhibited at Pompeys Lewis to explore the Louisiana Purchase Pillar National Monument and Decision and make peaceful contact with the native Point) enhances this representation by show~ nations. Here where the Bad River meets the ing Lewis shooting the "thieving" Blackfeet. Missouri, the held coun~ The Blackfeet are also represented as hostile cil, feasting, and celebration with the Teton in the interpretation at the Washburn center Sioux. Language barriers led to an armed con~ and the Great Falls Ryan Island Day Use Area frontation, diffused largely through the ef~ (developed in 1976 by Montana Power Com~ forts of Chief Black Buffalo. The expedition pany). The most biased portrayal of the hos' continued peacefully to the . tile, powerful Blackfeet, however, is in a mural at the Southern Hills Mall in Sioux Without casting blame on either party or por~ City (Fig. 4). traying the Tetons as aggressive or greedy, this As is typical with any narrative, verbal or marker offers a neutral rendition that avoids written, multiple versions of the encounter the Hostile Encounters archetype. exist in Blackfeet oral tradition. The only in, The Blackfeet encounter in northern Mon~ stance of this viewpoint presented along the tana was the most violent of any of the Hostile NHT is in the Great Falls interpretive center: GREAT PLAINS NATIVE AMERICAN REPRESENTATIONS 273

Fig. 4. The Blackfeet encounter is portrayed in this mural at the Southern Hills Mall in Sioux City, Iowa . This is one of thirty~eight murals in the exhibit "Lewis and Clark: An American Adventure," painted by Split Rock Studios and commissioned by Southern Hills Mall.

A Pikuni raid near the Two Medicine River them. He said we have a gift for you, and in 1806 ended in tragedy. Wolf Calf, a they had hands on guns at all times. In the member of the Pikuni party, recalled the middle of the night the boys tried to leave. incident years later. He said a war party was One of Lewis's men woke up and stabbed roaming the southern bounds of their terri~ one boy. Lewis shot the other. 32 tory when they met the first white men to ever visit the area (Lewis and his men). Significantly, this is the version that is taught The Pikuni greeted the white men in a in a Blackfeet school, and thus it may be as~ friendly way, but later the chief directed sumed to have more resonance with the the young men to steal their guns. In the Blackfeet than Wolf Calf's account. attempt, a Pikuni named Side Hill Calf was stealing, a common action among Plains Indi~ killed with the white men's "big knives." ans and a recognized war honor,33 is also trans~ formed by some NHT interpretations into a Yet another Blackfeet version, although absent degenerate act. The portrayal of the Crow from on~site interpretations, is far different: (Apsaalooka) theft of horses on the return trip, seen in the Chamberlain and Washburn Two Blackfeet boys-12 and 13-were on centers, also fits within the Hostile Encounters their way home when the men of the expe~ theme. dition spotted them and invited them to The unflattering Hostile Encounters por~ camp. Lewis kept insisting they camp with trayal of American Indians would be expected 274 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, FALL 2004 from an outdated source rather than in so many toric Site (designated in 1974, with most in~ displays created in the past two decades. The terpretation development in the past fifteen pictorial reinforcement to the written text of years). this theme in the Sioux City Southern Hills The NHT interpretations of the expedi~ Mall murals and the Montana trail map is par~ tion's ethnography are also inherent in the ticularly disturbing and runs strongly counter representation of Native Americans as Good to achieving even a modicum of multicultural Neighbors. Jefferson instructed the expedition awareness along the trail. Hostile Encounters to study "seventeen areas of Indian life and may be so firmly entrenched in popular thought culture," from "language and law to trade and because of its portrayal in Bernard DeVoto's technology," all with a watchful eye toward generally highly regarded and widely read business enterprise, national expansion, and abridgment of The Journals of Lewis and Clark. the empire of knowledge.37 The Good Neigh~ It refers to the Teton Sioux as "among the bors representation is manifest throughout the most warlike of Indians, swaggerers and bul~ NHT in the elementary interpretation of lies," and it notes that Lewis handled the American Indians as static, passive culture Blackfeet encounter "with an expertness that groups worthy of study, such as with artifacts no one could have surpassed."34 The journal on display in the Sioux City and Pierre cen~ entries of the expedition members cement this ters and the Sergeant Floyd Riverboat Mu~ impression; Clark, for example, used words like seum; displays on farming and hunting habits "vilenous [sic], hostile, and treacherous" to at Calumet Bluff, West Whitlock, and Knife describe the Teton Sioux, who "ill treated US."35 River; signs about Indian words or legends Yet cause for hope exists in suggestions for providing place names at the Chamberlain balanced portrayals of American Indians, such center and Big Sky Wayside Exhibit in Terry, as one published by the Montana 's Montana; and interpretation of Indian plant Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commission. It use at Pompeys Pillar. While in aggregate Lewis says that to improve Montana's Lewis and and Clark assembled a valuable ethnographic Clark interpretation, interpretive signs should record, in practice along the NHT it is gener~ "emphasize the Native American point of ally presented piecemeal and in a way that view."36 conflates Native American cultures, with the notable exception of the Great Falls NHT GOOD NEIGHBORS center. The lodge exhibit at the Great Falls In the vicinity of Washburn, N orth Da~ NHT center notes the role of Lewis and Clark kota, the dominant representations of Ameri~ as ethnographers but also recognizes that their can Indians change direction in a manner views were prejudiced, often describing "only reminiscent of river travelers turning west~ external features and events, neglecting the ward at the dramatic Great Bend of the Mis~ spiritual and cultural significance of what they souri, as the Good Neighbors theme arises to a saw." This statement aptly illustrates the lim~ primary position among Native American in~ ited perspectives offered by a Good Neighbors terpretations. The "Good Neighbors" exhibit archetype of Plains Indians. The interpreta~ at the Washburn center discusses at length tion of the expedition's ethnography is visu~ the mutually beneficial relationship of hospi~ ally oriented toward Native American tality, friendship, and military alliance between dwellings, especially and earthlodges. A the expedition and the Mandan. American tipi dominates the Indian display inside the Indian assistance to the expedition is rarely Chamberlain center, and a stylized tipi out~ interpreted in detail elsewhere, with the ex~ side is the signature architectural feature of ception of the Sioux City interpretive center the center (Fig. 5). Tipi replicas are also on and Knife River Indian Villages National His~ display at the Atka Lakota Museum, Fort GREAT PLAINS NATIVE AMERICAN REPRESENTATIONS 275

FIG. 5. Lewis and Clark Information Center, Chamberlain, South Dakota. The tipi picnic area overlooks Lake Francis Case on the Missouri River. (The is a crop duster.)

Union Trading Post, and Southern Hills Mall. her society she adds, "] efferson wanted to make Earthlodges are even more frequent on the Indians into farmers and traders. But we were trail, with displays about their construction or already doing all of that. The difference is, we replicas at Blackbird Scenic Overview, Calu, were doing it without slave labor."38 Quota, met Bluff, West Whitlock, Double Ditch, tions of American Indian perspectives about Great Falls NHT center, and Knife River their own identity, civilization, or beliefs are (Fig. 6). used liberally at the Great Falls NHT center Although the Knife River site offers a great to add a Native voice. deal of ethnographic interpretation, it still lacks a Native American voice that goes be, SACAGAWEA REINTERPRETED yond the material culture of tools and hous, ing, to religion and governance, for example. Changing interpretations of the Lewis and This absence is common among a variety of Clark Expedition reflect changes in society, sites, all developed within the past twenty, such as the increasing interest in Sacagawea five years. Amy Mossett, a Mandan,Hidatsa, concurrent with the women's movement.39 In, wants the commemorations to recognize that eluded in the expedition for her ability to inter, "Indians have the strongest sense of place of pret with , Sacagawea is the most anyone in the world." Of the sophistication of instantly recognizable individual in displays 276 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, FALL 2004

FIG. 6. Interior of a Hidatsa earthlodge replica at FIG. 7. Sakakawea statue on the North Dakota Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site, State Capitol grounds in Bismarck . Sculpted by Leonard North Dakota. The painted buffalo hide depicts the Crunelle and erected in 1910 by the Federated war exploits of Mandan Chief Four Bears. Clubwomen and schoolchildren of North Dakota. along the trail since she is the only woman ture rather than the return and to Sacagawea's and usually the only depicted Native Ameri~ multiple roles in that westward progress. Her can.40 Her image has transcended her original absence from statues in Sioux City, Washburn, role in multiple reinterpretations of what she and at the Broadwater Portage Overlook sym, meant to the expedition. Like the Good Neigh, bolically suggests the ambivalence of the bars representation, the Sacagawea Reinter, American Indian portrayal along the NHT in preted theme is a widespread element in the the Great Plains. Lewis's dog, Seaman, on the NHT interpretation, but it is strongest from other hand, appears on both the Sioux City northern South Dakota to Great Falls. and Broadwater Portage statues as well as in The easternmost and westernmost Great Kansas City. Plains sites on the NHT with on,site interpre, So many meanings have been layered upon tat ion both feature statues: Kansas City's Case Sacagawea that her true self could well be Park (erected circa 2000) and the Broadwater unrecognizable in her mythic interpretation. Portage Overlook in Great Falls (erected Even her name changes as one moves among 1989). Sacagawea is a sculpture staple along the interpretation sites. Sacajawea is often the the trail, featured in Kansas City, Missouri; preferred spelling in and , a Bismarck, North Dakota; and Miles City, Fort reflection of the phonetic Shoshone pronun, Benton, and inside the Great Falls NHT in, ciation for a name meaning Boat Launcher. terpretive center in Montana (Fig. 7).41 Sakakawea is used in northern South Dakota Sacagawea faces west on all five statues, which and in North Dakota because of the phonetic points to the emphasis of the Lewis and Clark Hidatsa pronunciation for a name meaning trail interpretation on the westward adven, Bird Woman. Because Sacagawea's name is GREAT PLAINS NATIVE AMERICAN REPRESENTATIONS 277 usually spelled in this fashion along the trail Madonna, whereas her reinterpretations as and in the literature, I use this spelling except interpreter or harbinger of peace come in later for when it is spelled differently at a particular displays along the trail. interpretive site. Sacagawea is portrayed as the expedition's "indomitable and unerring" guide NATIVE AMERICAN VOICES in the earliest interpretations of her extant along the NHT, dating back to 1910 at the Mark Spence highlights the challenges of Bismarck statue (erected by the Federated interpreting American Indians within the con~ Clubwomen and schoolchildren of North Da~ text of Lewis and Clark, noting that current kota) and 1920 at the Sakakawea Monument commemoration efforts are rooted in old ideas in South Dakota (erected by the Mobridge that cloud understanding of the expedition Hickory Stick Club). The unerring guide rep~ and perpetuate a set of cultural burdens that resentation is repeated many times along the are increasingly problematic. The interpreta~ trail in later interpretive efforts, including on tion of Lewis and Clark "as exemplary models the 1928 Daughters of the American Revolu~ of multiculturalism" is even "less accurate" tion plaque at Pompeys Pillar, the 1972 marker than that of a century ago when they were at the Fort Mandan reconstruction, and on hailed "as champions of industrial growth and the recent Montana trail map at Decision Point resource exploitation."44 According to Spence, and Pompeys Pillar that indicates, "Sacagawea the danger is that the Lewis and Clark bicen~ points the way." At the Washburn and Great tennial will portray excitement and adven~ Falls centers her role as a guide is reinterpreted ture but not all of the expedition's legacies. to say, "She did not guide the Expedition as He calls for "an honest assessment of the ex~ romanticized accounts claim, but she did pro~ pedition as a long, difficult, imperial venture vide crucial help in several instances." with tragic consequences for the peoples and According to several reinterpretations of homelands that Lewis and Clark described and Sacagawea in the Great Plains, this "crucial evaluated."45 The dependence of Lewis and help" was either as an interpreter for Lewis Clark on resident communities in making and Clark or a harbinger of the peaceful in~ their way across the continent is still under~ tent of the expedition. Both of these perspec~ emphasized along the trail. How can we re~ tives are quoted from the journals of Lewis cover what has been lost since the Lewis and and Clark at the Sakakawea statue interpre~ Clark Expedition if we do not receive a com~ tive marker in Bismarck, and they are repeated prehensive view of who they encountered? in the Sioux City and Great Falls interpretive Although the Councils of Power, Hostile centers.42 The Sacagawea interpreter role is Encounters, Good Neighbors, and Sacagawea also elaborated in a NHT marker at the Reinterpreted representations dominate the Jedediah Smith Monument near Mobridge, Native American interpretation along the South Dakota, and Sakakawea as a symbol Great Plains portion of the Lewis and Clark convincing local tribes that the expedition Trail, eleven of the forty~eight places with on~ came in peace is reiterated in the Washburn site interpretation lack even a brief mention center. Building upon the Sacagawea arche~ of American Indians. In almost every case of types of guide, interpreter, and token of peace, omission, the tribes could have been inter~ she is also portrayed as a heroic Madonna of preted as part of the Lewis and Clark journey, the trail, uncomplainingly dealing with the since American Indians were rarely completely hardships of travel while caring for an infant;43 separate from the expedition. The construc~ every statue and depiction of her along the tion and renovation of interpretive sites for trail includes her son, Jean Baptiste Char~ the bicentennial commemoration offered a bonneau. Statues and earlier memorials favor chance to end the silence of Native American the interpretation of Sacagawea as a guide or voices and the recycling of old themes.46 278 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, FALL 2004

The persistence of poorly drawn Native the waslcU (white men). Eighty years after American representations along the Lewis and the encounter with Lewis and Clark the Clark Trail likely emanates from a variety of buffalo were gone, forever changing the circumstances, including the influence of Lakota way of life. DeVoto's seminal work mentioned earlier in Hostile Encounters, and the power of the he~ Because no one organization has had total con~ roic Lewis and Clark myth. A lag time in ei~ trol over the NHT interpretation, there are ther the ability or inclination to replace multiple layers of meaning regarding Ameri~ semipermanent markers contributes to the can Indians. Given the varied and constantly presence of outdated perspectives, as could changing perspectives on American Indian in~ the lack of a single management directive to terpretation, however, the existing decentral~ include the Native voice. The variability in ized NHT interpretation model may be best. American Indian cultures and in the versions Historian Simon Shama notes that "not all of Native oral histories also is a contributing cultures" embrace the myths produced by the factor. Yet it is also clear from some recent interplay oflandscape and memory "with equal biased interpretations that some organizations ardor."48 Skewed interpretations apparently are at best uninformed by recent scholarship, resulted in the defacement of several Jedediah or at worst unwittingly racist.47 Smith plaques and the Sakakawea Monument Rarely do the NHT interpretations attempt plaque near Mobridge, South Dakota, on the comprehensive summaries of the legacy of Standing Rock Reservation. The damage is at Lewis and Clark (especially pertaining to N a~ two different locations separated by several tive Americans), but a comparison of two ex~ miles of paved and dirt roads, and it is selec~ amples illustrates the potential voice versus tive at each site, targeting specific language as silence of indigenous peoples in the expedi~ opposed to random or senseless destruction. tion drama. At the South Dakota Cultural Even the choice of the medium for the van~ Heritage Center a recent interpretive display dalism seems purposeful and symbolic, as it called the "Explorers' Legacy" reads, "The consists of red paint sprayed over some text in Lewis and Clark Expedition made the West a neat circle. It is not hard to imagine why real for Americans .... The Corps of Discov~ someone in this area would disagree with the ery brought back a wealth of information about heroic portrayal of Jedediah Smith, but less land, plants, animals, and native tribes." This immediately evident is why some text at the passage perpetuates the cameo role for Ameri~ Sakakawea Monument received the same can Indians and implies they had no sense of treatment. An explanation may lie within the place prior to the expedition. Conversely, the Native American perspective that urges teach~ Atka Lakota Museum (opened in 1991 by St. ers to "avoid materials which illustrate Native Joseph's Indian School) strips the journey of American heroes as only those who helped its heroic drama and instead focuses on the Euro~Americans."49 The Sakakawea Monu~ changes to the people and place: ment interpretive text places her significance entirely within the context of a noble savage The Lakota met Lewis and Clark in 1804. helping the expedition: "Sakakawea won her Subsequently, increasing contact with the place in history as the indomitable guide of white world included traders, explorers, Lewis and Clark on their trip to the Pacific in missionaries, the US Army, Indian Agents, 1805 .... By her courage, endurance, and un~ miners, and settlers, bringing sweeping erring instinct she guided the expedition over changes to the Great Plains. Thousands of seemingly insuperable obstacles .... Sakakawea Indians died from diseases, setting off a is, beyond question, the most illustrious femi~ struggle for the people to retain what was nine representative of the Indian race." On theirs amid the seemingly endless tide of the site of the Sakakawea Monument, a bronze GREAT PLAINS NATIVE AMERICAN REPRESENTATIONS 279

FIG. 8. Blackbird Scenic Overview alongside US Highway 75 on the Omaha Indian Reservation north of Decatur , Nebraska. The site was developed in partnership between the local natural resources district and the Omaha Tribe. This location overlooking the Missouri River is a sacred place, near the burial site of Chief Blackbird of the Omaha. The interpretive shelter in the background symbolizes an Omaha earthlodge. Interpretive displays place the Lewis and Clark Expedition in the context of the Omaha, an atypical but welcome perspective along the National Historic Trail. relief picturing her and Jean Baptiste Char, state, with the old interpretation mostly re, bonneau is undamaged, as is the nearby Sit, moved and the new interpretation not yet in, ting Bull Monument. Likewise., at the Jedediah stalled. Furthermore, road construction forced Smith Monument site the text is untouched that me to approach the summit from an uncon, interprets Sacagawea as the trip's only female ventional direction, making my own path and a key interpreter with the Shoshone. across the prairie; therefore, I drew a sense of Enhancing the contemplative mindset of place through my own touch, smell, sight, visitors along the Lewis and Clark Trail could hearing, and spirit. Had I visited Spirit Mound at times be equally important as creating the even a few weeks later the interpretive signs right tone in American Indian interpretation, would likely have been in place and the visit however. 50 Spirit Mound, South Dakota, of, highly structured, all to the possible detriment fered a powerful opportunity for personal of a contemplative experience. contemplation about the meaning of the place Nevertheless, interpretive sites along the to Lewis and Clark and Native Americans dur, NHT can offer an inSightful portrayal of Na, ing my fieldwork, but that was by accident, tive Americans. Blackbird Scenic Overview, since the site recently was acquired by the a relatively unknown Lewis and Clark site in 280 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, FALL 2004 northeastern Nebraska, developed over per~ Reinterpreted, which largely seems a function haps the last fifteen years jointly by the Papio~ of whether American Indians were consulted Missouri River Natural Resources District and in the interpretation process. Pictorial repre~ the Omaha Tribe, illustrates an exception to sentations of the Trail Tribes are the most the overall pattern and provides a possible problematic in the portrayals of Hostile En~ model for future interpretations (Fig. 8). The counters. significance of this site accrues from its sa~ It could be unrealistic to expect to see the credness to the Omaha due to the proximity American Indian voice in the textual inter~ of Chief Blackbird's grave, not just because pretation of the trail, since this voice is tradi~ Lewis and Clark visited the grave. Lewis and tionally oral, not written, and the storyteller Clark are portrayed as a small part of the tone of voice and listener reaction are elemen~ Omaha story in the detailed signs about Omaha tal to sharing ideas and interpreting meaning. 53 history, earthlodges, social structure, symbols, But to craft new or revise old representations of and contributions to American society and Native Americans along the trail, recordings the expedition. Another sign asks visitors to of tribal voices, or at least written quotations, "respect this sacred area." The inclusion of and an end to the recycling of insensitive rep~ American Indian partners is a key in breaking resent at ions would be an appropriate start. Just the mold of the typical Native representations. as some members of the expedition undoubt~ Including the perspectives of the Trail Tribes edly became more attuned to American In~ would likely lead to interpretation of contem~ dian cultures during their journey, the Lewis porary issues related to the legacies of the ex~ and Clark trail interpretation should further pedition, such as "sacred site protection and evolve toward including the Native Ameri~ the return of human remains and burial can voice. goods."51 Too often in America an "anti~ historical habit of thought" intrudes on the NOTES representations of the valued past, with his~ 1. Kenneth E. Foote, Shadowed Ground: tory "merely museumized, not integrated with America's Landscapes of Violence and Tragedy (Aus~ the present."52 Places like Blackbird Scenic tin: University of Press, 1997), 29. Overview and the Great Falls NHT center 2. Quote from p. 109 of David Lowenthal, "The offer a sharp and refreshing contrast to this Place of the Past in the American Landscape," in tendency. Geographies of the Mind: Essays in Honor of John Kirtland Wright, ed. David Lowenthal and Martyn Analyzing the date, creator, and format of J. Bowden (New York: Oxford University Press, interpretation leads to several conclusions. 1976), 89~ 117. See also Simon Shama, Landscape Surprisingly, the newest interpretive efforts and Memory (London: HarperCollins, 1995), 15. and those by federal agencies do not always 3. James W. Loewen, Lies Across America: What offer the most culturally aware interpretations Our Historic Sites Get Wrong (New York: New Press, 1999), 443~47. Although the label "Native Ameri~ of Native Americans in the context of Lewis can" is often generically attributed to the indig~ and Clark, as evidenced by the Hostile En~ enous peoples of the Great Plains, many tribes also counters tone of the 2003 mural display at Sioux identify with "American Indian," the typical term City's Southern Hills Mall or the Hostile En~ at many interpretive sites along the Lewis and Clark counters and Good Neighbors tropes perpetu~ Trail. This article uses terminology similar to that used in Suzanne Heck, ed., Native American Re~ ated at Decision Point and Knife River. The source Handbook (Atchison: Kansas Lewis and Clark media used in American Indian interpreta~ Bicentennial Committee Native American Sub­ tion tend to characterize certain themes. Re~ committee, 2002), which interchangeably describes constructions, for example, typically focus on American Indians, Native Americans, and the in­ material culture, reminiscent of Good Neigh~ dividual tribes. 4. Timothy Egan, "Two Centuries Later, a bors. Signposts and statues are mixed in their Moment for Indians to Retell the Past," New York messages of Councils of Power and Sacagawea Times, June 15, 2003. GREAT PLAINS NATIVE AMERICAN REPRESENTATIONS 281

5. Ibid. See also Roberta Conner, "The Lewis named the Gates of the Rocky Mountains, refers to and Clark Bicentennial: Putting Tribes Back on this place in his journal as towering, remarkable, and the Map," in Lewis and Clark: Legacies, Memories, dark, with gloomy rock cliffs. See David Lavender, and New Perspectives, ed. Kris Fresonke and Mark The Way to the Western Sea: Lewis and Clark across the Spence (Berkeley: University of Press, Continent (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2004),265-73, and Christie Appelhanz Eckert, 2001), 229-44, for a description of how the dramatic "Focusing on Inclusion: American Indian Perspec­ landscape change at the Gates caused Lewis to un­ tive," Kansas! no. 4 (2003): 21-22, for discussions derline his journal entry for added emphasis, and also of the varying American Indian points of view on for how the expedition focused on crossing the Great the bicentennial. Divide after the Gates. Heat-Moon, River-Horse, 360, 6. Matthew Dennis, Cultivating a Landscape of 382, comments on leaving the Great Plains behind Peace: -European Encounters in Seventeenth­ and being at the foot of the Rocky Mountains once Century America (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University he reaches the Gates. Press, 1993), 2-5. John C. Hudson, "The Big 13. Angie Wagner, "Indians Want Their Side of Empty," Historical Geography 31 (2003): 61-67, also Story Told," Topeka Capital-Journal, May 4, 2003. promotes the value of a multicultural perspective. I use the tribal names that are commonly seen in This study does not primarily focus on telling the the interpretation along the trail, in the Lewis and Lewis and Clark story from the American Indian Clark literature, or by the tribe today, although point of view since that is already the perspective other tribal names are provided in parentheses. of James P. Ronda, Lewis and Clark among the Indians, 14. The shifts in power relations are discussed in rev. ed. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, [1984] David J. Wishart, The of the American 2002), and this perspective is also best related by West, 1807-1840: A Geographical Synthesis, rev. ed. Plains Indian storytellers. Instead, this article exam­ (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, [1979] ines the NHT portrayal of Native Americans who 1992), 19-22; Spence, "Historical Commentary," were encountered by Lewis and Clark. p. 59; and John C. Ewers, "Plains Indian Reactions 7. The significance of Lewis and Clark to na­ to the Lewis and Clark Expedition," in Voyages of tional myth and identity is explained by Bernard Discovery: Essays on the Lewis and Clark Expedition, DeVoto, The Course of Empire (Boston: Houghton ed. James P. Ronda (Helena: Montana Historical Mifflin, 1952); John Logan Allen, Lewis and Clark Society Press, 1998), 171-82. and the Image of the American Northwest (New York: 15. The Native American perspective can be Dover, 1991); James P. Hendrix Jr., "A New Vi­ sampled in Dan Oko, "Honoring the First Discov­ sion of America: Lewis and Clark and the Emer­ erers," in Living in the Runaway West, ed. High gence of the American Imagination," Great Plains Country News (Golden, CO: Fulcrum, 2000), 45- Quarterly 21, no. 3 (2001): 211-32; and Walter 46; Margot Roosevelt, "Tribal Culture Clash," Kirn, "Lewis and Clark: The Journey that Changed Time, July 8, 2002, 66-68; and Ronda, Lewis and America Forever," Time, July 8, 2002, 36-4l. Clark among the Indians. 8. Mark Spence, "Historical Commentary: The 16. Heck, Native American Resource Handbook. Unnatural History of the Lewis and Clark Bicen­ 17. Paul Russell Cutright, Lewis and Clark: Pio­ tennial," Montana: The Magazine of Western His­ neering Naturalists (Lincoln: University of Nebraska tory 53, no. 2 (2003): 56-63. Press, 1989), 62. 9. Quote from p. 160 of John Spencer, '''We 18. Three guidebooks that proved valuable in Are Not Dealing Entirely with the Past': Ameri­ identifying sites with American Indian interpreta­ cans Remember Lewis and Clark," in Fresonke and tion were Barbara Fifer and Vicky Soderberg, Along Spence, Lewis and Clark, 159-83. the Trail with Lewis and Clark, 2nd ed. (Helena, MT: 10. William Least Heat-Moon, River-Horse: The Farcountry, 2001); Roy E. Appleman, Lewis and Clark: Logbook of a Boat across America (Boston: Houghton Historic Places Associated with Their Transcontinental Mifflin, 1999), 263. Exploration (1804-06), National Survey of Historic 11. Kaw Point is also known as Kawsmouth, a Sites and Buildings, vol. 13, ed. Robert G. Ferris place that takes it name from the Kansas (or Kaw) (Washington, DC: US Department of Interior, Na­ River, which was named for the people alternately tional Park Service, 1975); and Thomas Schmidt, called the Kaw, Kansa, or Kanza. For more on the National Geographic Guide to the Lewis and Clark Trail Kansa, see Heck, Native American Resource Hand­ (Washington, DC: National Geographic, 2002). book, 9-12, and Muriel H. Wright, A Guide to the Dozens of tourism pamphlets published by federal, Indian Tribes of Oklahoma (Norman: University of state, and local agencies were also consulted. This Oklahoma Press, 1986), 160-64. study only examines interpretive sites extant in 12. John B. Wright, "The Dearborn River Con­ June 2003; thus, new sites under construction at fluence: Montana's Northwest Passage," Historical that time, such as the Missouri-Yellowstone Geography 31 (2003): 89-96, writes that Lewis, who Confluence Center, are excluded. 282 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, FALL 2004

19. Interpretation center videos were excluded 36. Montana Governor's Lewis and Clark Bi­ because often a choice of videos is offered or a Commission and the Montana T our­ fixed schedule is in place, thus it was impractical ism and Recreation Initiative, Lewis and Clark in to consider them as part of the permanent exhib­ Montana: Interpretive Sign Strategy (Helena, MT: its. Furthermore, obtaining a transcript of every Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commission and video for content analysis was unfeasible. Living Montana Tourism and Recreation Initiative, 2000). interpretation is also outside the context of this 37. Quoted from Ronda, Lewis and Clark among study for similar reasons. the Indians, 3-4. See also Donald Jackson, Letters of 20. Foote, Shadowed Ground, 33. the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Docu­ 21. Shama, Landscape and Memory, 7. ments, 1783-1854, 2nd ed. (Urbana: University of 22. Wishart, Fur Trade, 18; Ronda, Lewis and Illinois Press, [1962] 1978), 1:165-66. Clark among the Indians, 35. 38. Egan, "Two Centuries Later." 23. The US Army Corps of Engineer Visitor 39. Christopher Sullivan, "Retracing History: Center at Gavins Point Dam is on the remnants of On the 200th Anniversary of the Cross-Country Calumet Bluff (named for the French word for a Journey of Lewis and Clark, a Look Back Enables a ceremonial peace pipe), most of which was exca­ Critical Examination of the United States," Topeka vated for the dam and power plant. CapitaHournal, January 12, 2003. The nuances and 24. David J. Wishart, An Unspeakable Sadness: mysteries of the name and life of Sacagawea are ad­ The Dispossession of the Nebraska Indians (Lincoln: dressed in Allen, Lewis and Clark and the Image, 211- University of Nebraska Press, 1994), 1-4; Bernard 12; Ronda, Lewis and Clark among the Indians, 256-59; DeVoto, ed., The Journals of Lewis and Clark (Bos­ and Slaughter, Exploring Lewis and Clark, 86-113. ton: Houghton Mifflin, 1953), xliii; Ronda, Lewis 40. Two members of the expedition, Pierre and Clark among the Indians, 17-23. Cruzatte and Francois Labiche, were half Omaha 25. Clark's 1814 map is discussed in James P. and George Drouillard, another member of the Ronda, Finding the West: Explorations with Lewis corps, was half Shawnee, yet travelers on the expe­ and Clark (Albuquerque: University of New dition other than Lewis, Clark, Sacagawea and Press, 2001),54-55, and in John Allen, "The Maps child, York, and Lewis's dog, Seaman, are rarely of the Lewis and Clark Expedition," in Mapping the depicted in statues. West: America's Westward Movement 1524-1890, ed. 41. Andrew Gulliford notes that there are "more Paul E. Cohen (N ew York: Rizzoli, 2002), 74-96. statues erected to her honor than any other Ameri­ Maps in the interpretive centers at Great Falls and can woman" on p. 245 of "On the Tourist Trail Calumet Bluff do depict Plains Indian lands, but the with Lewis & Clark: Issues of Interpretation and standard NHT map on display at many sites does not. Preservation" in Fresonke and Spence, Lewis and 26. Wishart, An Unspeakable Sadness, 216-26; Clark, 239-64. Wright, Indian Tribes of Oklahoma, 199-200. 42. Moulton, Journals of the Lewis and Clark Ex­ 27. Egan, "Two Centuries Later." pedition, 1988, 4:11, 299; 5:111, 122, 268. 28. Ibid. 43. Joanna Brooks, "Sacajawea, Meet Cogewea: 29. Conner, "The Lewis and Clark Bicenten- A Red Progressive Revision of Frontier Romance" nial," 268-69. in Fresonke and Spence, Lewis and Clark, 184-97. 30. Ronda, Lewis and Clark among the Indians, 7. 44. Spence, "Historical Commentary," 58. 31. Roosevelt, "Tribal Culture Clash." 45. Ibid., 62. 32. This version is attributed to Jesse DesRosier, 46. The basic themes are present in DeVoto, a fourteen-year-old in the Piegan Institute in Journals of Lewis and Clark, in his focus on councils Browning, Montana, in Wagner, "Indians Want." announcing the new great father (p. xliii), hostile Thomas P. Slaughter, Exploring Lewis and Clark: encounters with Indians (p. 1), and American In­ Reflections on Men and Wilderness (N ew York: Alfred dians as good neighbors (p. Iv). A. Knopf, 2003), 180-85, also provides alternative 47. Patricia Nelson Limerick, The Legacy of Con­ versions of the Blackfeet encounter. quest: The Unbroken Past of the American West (New 33. Ewers, "Plains Indians Reactions," 172. York: W.W. Norton, 1987). 34. DeVoto, Journals of Lewis and Clark, 1, iii. 48. Shama, Landscape and Memory, 15. Ronda, Voyages of Discovery, xiv, observes that al­ 49. Heck, Native American Resource Handbook, 27. though De Voto's use of some terms is "regrettable," 50. Joseph Sax, Mountains without Handrails: DeVoto was also the first Lewis and Clark histo­ Reflections on the National Parks (Ann Arbor: Uni­ rian to call for a fuller treatment of Indian perspec­ versity of Michigan Press, 1980). tives on the journey. 51. Gulliford, "On the Tourist Trail," 251. 35. Gary E. Moulton, ed., The Journals of the 52. Lowenthal, "Place of the Past," 110. Lewis and Clark Expedition (Lincoln: University of 53. Eckert, "Focusing on Inclusion," 21; Slaugh­ Nebraska Press, 1987, 1993),3:121; 8:329-30. ter, Exploring Lewis and Clark, 8.