Lewis and Clark Through Indian Eyes

by Alvin M. Josephy Jr. and Marc Jaffe

Book Overview

For the first time in the two hundred years since Lewis and Clark led their expedition from St. Louis to the Pacific, we hear the other side of the story-as we listen to nine descendants of the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1400042674
• ISBN13: 9781400042678
• Release Date: April 2006
• Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
• Length: 196 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Those who learn not from history repeat it.

Most good ideas are simple, and, as the title of this book suggests, it is a simple collection of some extremely profound ruminations by Native Americans on the acts and impact of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Nine extremely well educated authors were asked to address the effects of the Corps of Discovery for its bicentennial. They are not representative of the man in the street. They may, however, have captured the essence of feeling and sense of the collective beings of the many tribes whose lives were impacted forever, and give a foreboding of what manifest destiny may mean in the 21st century. We learn facts, Sacagawea was not her name, she was not Shoshone, the natives shared their wives with the expedition, the Crows stole the Expedition horses and out traded Lewis and Clark by selling them nags, that the tribes knew of both oceans, had seen and dealt with Americans, Spanish, English and French before, that at least one of the tribes had sent emissaries to the east coast around the time of the American Revolution, and that Lewis and Clark, in reality, traveled fairly well known and used paths to the Pacific Ocean and back with the assistance of a multitude of tribes who fed and guided them. Although the natives viewed such a journey as difficult, there were regular trade routes established along much of Corps' path. We learn too of the relationship of the "Corps of Discovery" to the doctrine of discovery that held the "civilized" countries could lay claim to all they discovered. Part of Jefferson's plan was to cement the United States' claim to the Louisiana Purchase. At least one tribe had to forcefully civilize the Corps when its members entered the homes of the tribe uninvited seeking food. After the starving Corps was reprimanded and made its apologies, it was fed. We can also learn much of the Native American concept of God and the misinformation in Lewis and Clark's journals. The journal's report one tribe was a sun worshiping tribe when it was the custom of the tribe to worship the Great Spirit by facing toward the rising sun in the morning much as Muslim face Mecca. The sense of spirituality and connection with the land coursing through the various essays is the book's most powerful aspect. We learn too of the absurdity of the "Great Father" in Washington concept. Though the eyes of hindsight, we all to clearly see how the lives of hundreds of thousands of courageous souls were lost by the "Great Father's" promises of help and threats of death to those who would not accept. Cynics amongst us may see some parallel to the current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq in which the Great White Father seeks to help the people to his way of life that he knows is best for them. Our manifest destiny now seems to be to force our way of life on Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and Korea, at least. None of the authors addressed this 21st century vision of manifest destiny, but none embraced what the white man did to their ancestors and

An impressively wide-ranging set of essays charting more than just their journeys

Plenty of history books tell the Lewis and Clark expedition story from different angles; but here for the first time is the other side of the story from nine descendants of the Native Americans whose homelands were traversed by the two intrepid explorers. From a newspaper editor who writes of his childhood belief he was descended from Clark to essays which reveal family encounters, tribal law, or the expedition's long impact on tribes today, Lewis And Clark Through Indian Eyes provides an impressively wide-ranging set of essays charting more than just their journeys.

The Indians Have It

Only a man of the lifelong sense of fairness and perspective of Alvin Josephy could have had the idea of letting Indian historians weigh in on such a momentous event. Alvin Josephy's intimate association with these writers gives the title of editor way more weight that it would normally get. This is a very important book, the last effort of a historian committed to the Indian side of the story. He lived to finish it--as he lived to understand and tell the Indian story. I am personally proud to have worked with and know Mr. Josephy for many years and I hope this book inspires young people to seek the other side of the story.

Lewis and Clark through Indian Eyes

This is an important book. In 2001, I asked a Hidatsa woman working on the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial effort about sources concerning the Native American view of Lewis and Clark. She answered that there wasn't a source. Further, she said that no one person could write such a book. The tribes with whom Lewis and Clark made contact were different in many ways; including their forms of government and how they lived their lives. Her words were certainly true. That this book contains essays by nine authors having different tribal backgrounds is a long step in the right direction. Certainly there are tribes and bands not represented; notably, the Blackfeet Nation is missing. Further, because the editor properly chose to accept the essays "unfiltered," the reader has to adapt from one essay to the next. However, the book is easy reading. Precisely because nine essays were necessary, it is dangerous to generalize the content of this book. Several of the authors admire the people of the Lewis and Clark Expedition but conclude that the outcome was no big deal. The European diseases preceded Lewis and Clark and the hordes of non-Indians that followed Lewis and Clark would have come anyway. Almost every tribe had significant contact or knowledge of white people prior to Lewis and Clark. They were aware of how the whites had treated Indian tribes in the eastern United States. A common theme reiterated by nearly every author is that their people have always been here and will always be here. The broken treaties, removal from homelands, lost population, distribution of reservation lands to whites, and poverty brought about by the European invaders are deplored; but the writers see hope in the Indian accomplishments and resurgence of pride during recent years. The authors of these essays are writers, historians, and tribal executives. Each identifies his or her self with a tribe or combination of tribes. However, nearly all have lived much of their lives away from the reservations and have achieved success in "white society." After considerable thought, I decided that this was the proper choice. The vast majority of non-Indians like myself are so ignorant of Indian history and thought that we need an "interpreter." Who better than someone who has stood in both camps. Be forewarned, the introduction of this book is terrible. It is inaccurate, condescending, and unnecessarily contradicts material in the essays. If you have any interest in Lewis and Clark, history, or those Americans we often call Indian; read this book. Discount the introduction and read the essays twice.

Seeing Lewis and Clark in a Different Light

Josephy has put together a strong cast of writers representing a number of tribes that interacted with the Corps of Discovery. The writers represent the Lakota, Salish, Kootenai, Shoshone-Bannock, Crow, Cayuse, Umatilla, Nez Perce, Walla Walla, Mandan-Hidatsa, Puyallup, Coeur d'Alene, Clatsop Nehalem, and Kiowa. These essays delve into their connection with the Corps, but also migrate towards the effects of those interactions on the past, present, and the future. We learn about everything from Clark's offspring to Sacajawea's tribal affiliations to treaties, land loss, current tribal rejuvination, the 1934 Wheeler-Howard Act and much much more. Prayers, poems, family stories, legend and fact are all wound together in this quick read to give a completely different view of the Lewis and Clark expedition. How that small party of men could have such a large effect on so many peoples that continues today is quite amazing. This book is thoughtful, well put together, and a must read for anyone interested in Lewis and Clark, Native studies, and America. Proud, poignant, and insightful, a wonderful last book from a great author who will be missed.