Lewis and Clark through Indian eyes /

In the aftermath of the nationwide celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark expedition comes this lucid reminder that few Indian voices were heard in all the festivities. Coverage of the Indian role in that journey and historical developments in its wake was most often conveyed solely from the white perspective. The nine essays gathered here, written by Native historians, authors, professors, and tribal executives, address the impact of the expedition on the Indians Lewis and Clark encountered and the Natives' descendants. Educator Bill Yellowtail discusses the steady erosion of Indians' economic autonomy. Tribal leader Roberta Conner takes a humorous yet caustic approach, noting that her tribe's homeland was neither an unoccupied frontier nor a wilderness when Lewis and Clark arrived. Indian societies possessed philosophy, laws, order, and religion, none of which were ever mentioned in Clark's paternalistic journals, which she quotes extensively. Our people have always been here, she concludes, and we intend to be here forever, a sentiment that succinctly encapsulates this unique and provocative collection. --Deborah Donovan Copyright 2006 Booklist

From perspectives as diverse as the tribes whose lands Meriwether Lewis and William Clark traversed, these nine essays offer an other-side-of-the-coin view of that historic 1803 mission. "What impact, good or bad, immediate or long-range, did the Indians experience from the Lewis and Clark expedition?" editors Josephy and Jaffe asked their contributors. The answers, fragmented and sometimes luminous, provide a kaleidoscopic vision of Native American opinions about the trip. Vine Deloria Jr., a member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe in North Dakota, argues that "we often tend to clothe the accounts of Lewis and Clark in more heroic terms than they deserve." Pulitzer Prize-winning Kiowa N. Scott Momaday (House Made of Dawn) provides a creative evocation of historic "voices of encounter" which includes a section in the voice of Sacagawea. More prosaically, Bill Yellowtail, a Crow, sees Lewis and Clark as "envoys for free-trade agreements, long prior to NAFTA and CAFTA and the WTO." Several authors recall how the lore and history of Lewis and Clark were transmitted to them by older relatives. A popular historian and a respected scholar of Indian affairs, Josephy died in October 2005. Main selection of the History Book Club. (Apr. 17) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

The 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark expedition sparked the publication of a large number of monographs. Josephy (founding chair, Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian; 500 Nations), who died in 2005, observed that individuals of Native American descent were not adequately represented among the authors of the many bicentennial books. He endeavored to include the perspective of Native Americans in the Lewis and Clark mythology by asking nine contributors, whose ranks include Vine Deloria Jr. and N. Scott Momaday, to respond to the question: "What impact, good or bad, immediate or long-range, did the Indians experience from the Lewis and Clark expedition?" The result is this eclectic collection. Some of the essays celebrate the history of the Native groups that came into contact with the Lewis and Clark expedition; others reflect the justifiable anger that many Native populations still hold toward the U.S. government for the treatment that they have received over the centuries. This collection of essays complements another recent book embracing current Native American perspectives, the Salish-Pend D'Oreille Culture Committee's The Salish People and the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Both works are highly recommended for public and academic libraries.-John Burch, Campbellsville Univ. Lib., KY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Adult/High School-Native American viewpoints were rare among events celebrating the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark explorations. Yet during its trek from St. Louis to the Pacific coast (May 1804-December 1806) the Corps of Discovery made contact with many Indian nations, and the expedition's success was dependent on contributions from Native people, most famously Sacagawea. These nine finely crafted essays, all by distinguished Native American writers and scholars descended from those tribes, probe the roles of Indians in the Lewis and Clark experience from a variety of perspectives. Mark N. Trahant's "Who's Your Daddy?" recounts research into family lore claiming direct descent from William Clark, and in "Frenchmen, Bears, and Sandbars," Vine Deloria, Jr. wittily redefines the historical significance of Lewis and Clark's achievement. Other contributors explore oral histories about the expedition, imagine the voices of Indians encountering Lewis and Clark, and explicate complex tribal legal, economic, and social systems and how they were affected by the expedition and its aftermath. This is an informative and moving collection, recommended for classroom and family discussions.-Starr E. Smith, Fairfax County Public Library, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.