Sunday, December 19, 2004
By Matt Moline
The TopekaCapital-Journal
MANHATTAN -- Historical markers along the Lewis and Clark National Historic
Trail play a key role in shaping the portrayal of American Indian culture,
according to Kansas State University geography professor Kevin S. Blake.
Beginning in the summer of 2003, Blake examined signage at more than 48
interpretative sites along the trail's auto route between Kansas and
Montana.
Among the Lewis and Clark historical markers and monuments researched by
Blake, 11 make no mention of the American explorers' contact with Indians as
the expedition proceeded west, eventually reaching the Pacific Coast in
1805.
"I found that astounding, considering that Native Americans were a constant
presence along the route," Blake said.
Blake also found that expedition route maps displayed at official National
Park Service sites along the route portrayed American Indians as nomadic and
"landless," he said.
Blake found that the NPS maps clearly mark territories belonging to the
United States, Spain and Britain, while leaving vacant the zones controlled
by American Indian tribes at the time of Lewis and Clark's epic journey.
"We're not getting a very complete story," he said. "My concern is that
visitors along the trail are only receiving a partial and stereotypical view
of American Indians."
The trail was established in 1978 by the National Park Service and
commemorates the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804-06, the first
American-sponsored exploration of the vast territory known as the Louisiana
Purchase, which was acquired from France in 1803 by President Thomas
Jefferson.
A bicentennial observance of the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark
expedition will continue through 2006, primarily in states west of the
Mississippi River, including Kansas.
Although the majority of the NPS trail's interpretive sites surveyed by
Blake acknowledged the presence of Indians as the American explorers
journeyed west, signage frequently presents native peoples as having had
only subservient or "supporting" roles in the expedition's overall scope and
drama, he concludes.
"Interwoven is a cameo role that is typically reserved for the natives," he
said. "American Indian interpretations consistently receive less space than
is devoted to any other major aspect of the expedition, such as the
transportation, naturalist observations and camp life (of the explorers
themselves)."
Blake also criticizes existing historical markers that tell the expedition's
story based on the journal accounts of the American explorers, to the
exclusion of the point of view of native peoples, especially in regard to
understanding the vital role native peoples played in sending the explorers
safely across the continent.
"The Lewis and Clark trail is marked by signage showing the explorers in
silhouette pointing (off in the distance), and creating the impression that
they found their own way across the landscape, which is not the case," Blake
said. "In most cases, they were following existing trading routes well known
to native Indian travelers. Some American Indians see the bicentennial as an
opportunity to tell their own story of Lewis and Clark."
Blake's research was published in the fall 2004 issue of Great Plains
Quarterly, published by the Center for Great Plains Studies at the
University of Nebraska, Lincoln.