Lewis and Clark

I have used the web resources off PBS regarding Lewis and Clark. I have learned that Lewis & Clark would go to tribe to tribe telling all of the tribes that the land that they have been on for years now belonged to the US. I was shocked to read that they had a slave named "York" that they brought with them; they let the Indians believe that he was a "wild creature that has been tamed" so the Indians believed it had spiritual powers.

Lewis and Clark's mission was to make peace of all Western tribes, though some tribes saw them as a direct threat and were hostile in return as they had heard about the White man taking things away from them. Throughout the reading, there was many things that each Tribe would contribute and known for. The Chinook's were canoe builders, fisherman and planters. Hidatsa were farmers of corn, tobacco and beans. When Lewis and Clark would show up they would many times have exchanges so that the Indians thought that they were there in peace.

My overall thought of Lewis and Clark, while they were trying to make peace with all tribes. Some of the tribes thought about the advantages that they would be giving to them, and were hostile. Like the Blackfeet Indians thought that giving their guns to them would be a disadvantage, and tried to steal the guns from the US representatives in their sleep, which caused deaths of the Indians. From then out they were hostile to any US representatives.

Many of the tribes were hospitable to the Americans, feeding them, letting them stay at their camps. While others were offered things from the Americans and did not feel that it was enough like the Missouri Indians. As they were offered tobacco, paint and beads they did not feel that was enough as they requested whiskey.

It seemed to be divided as to who was peaceful and who was not. I feel that many of the tribes were promised things in return of peace though the Americans later did follow through. They took so much from the Indians and did not exchange enough for it to be a fair exchange.


References:
http://www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/native/mis.html - date created- unknown, date accessed 9/10/18

Comments

  1. Prof. Nicole NesbergSeptember 18, 2018 at 10:35 AM

    Hi Cory,
    Excellent blog on Lewis & Clark. As an American Indian woman, the story is never complete without discussing Sacagawea.
    Something to further the conversation and keep in mind. The Lewis & Clark expedition gave out Peace Medals between 1804-6. Within a few short decades Americans were pushing further and further West. If you look at the Nez Perce, completely on the West Coast of America, the U.S. government was taking their land within 50 years. Imagine peacefully meeting and being given a promise of friendship and within less than a century being completely overrun, some people imprisoned for believing in peace & friendship.

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    Replies
    1. CKaneSeptember 19, 2018 at 7:14 AM

      That is just crazy to me, thinking that you have a friendship and then to be stabbed in the back down the road. I am going to look into the Peace Medals, and will come back to add that to the conversation.

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    2. UnknownSeptember 23, 2018 at 6:58 PM

      Professor Nesberg and Cory,

      It is unfortunately a terrible tactic that was used against the Native American people. 50 years was a long period of time then, so I would imagine it was the succeeding generations that were met with bloodshed rather than being handed Peace Medals. I wonder if any of those medals were looted from deserted Native American settlements or possibly the dead bodies of the betrayed Natives.

      Patrick

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    3. CKaneSeptember 24, 2018 at 8:03 AM

      A terrible tactic is right. The fact that we do not teach our children these things that have happened to the Native Americans is appalling. I will say again, that I am one of these people that did not know much of anything about Native Americans. The more I read and am learning I think that is needs to be taught in schools, and let kids know what has happened. It is the country that we live in, it should be known what has happened on the soil in the years before us.
      We learn about wars in school, and what happened in detail with some of those wars; why not learn about this as well?

      I remember having a whole month on the Holocaust; it had many gory details that we read about. What is different? Is it because the government does not want us to know the truth about the Native's? They want to keep it hidden how they were treated? How they were told things would be, and trade; and then everything just taken away?

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    4. UnknownSeptember 29, 2018 at 9:38 AM

      I did some reading about Sacagawea and found that she had been kidnapped by the Hidatsa Indians when she was twelve years old. She was sold as a slave to Toussaint Charbonneau and had given birth to a son eight weeks before the expedition started. Imagine making that trek through the wilderness with a small baby! She spoke two languages, Hidatsa and Shoshone. Charbonneau spoke Hidatsa and French. Together they were interpreters for the group. In addition, she dug roots, collected edible plants and berries which were used for food and medicine. During the travels she met her brother who she had not seen since her kidnapping. Instead of staying with him and her people she bartered for horses and continued with Lewis and Clark. One of the reasons the Indian tribes thought the group was friendly was that they were traveling with a woman and her baby. War parties did not include women. I don’t see how the expedition would have been successful without her. In the end Charbonneau received $500.33 and 320 acres of land. Sacagawea received nothing!
      “Sacagawea” (date unknown). PBS. Retrieved from https://www.pbs.org/lesisand clark/saca.html on September 29, 2008

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    5. CKaneOctober 1, 2018 at 6:59 AM

      I agree that expedition may not have been successful without he presence. If she was not with Lewis and Clark, they may have been seen as a bigger threat and not successful. Also being an interpreter is a big part, not being able to speak what the tribes spoke would have been worse then it was.

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  2. UnknownSeptember 26, 2018 at 7:36 PM

    The Lewis and Clark Expedition was commissioned by Thomas Jefferson. Expedition is a fancy title that really means that these men, their Corps, and Jefferson had a purpose other than surveying the land that was purchased from the French, it would double the size of the United States and would be a conduit for trade from the Mississippi River to the ports of New Orleans (Manifest Destiny) the destruction of the Native Americans. (ENotes).

    The first word that came to mind was tricksters who employed the old bait and switch of friendship and gifts to the Native Americans who were inhabiting the land. Another interesting tidbit is that Jefferson, who Lewis and Clark claimed was the ‘great father’ of the Native Americans, had what he called the Enlightenment Plan which proposed and stated that Native Americans could be equal to Americans if they adopted the white cultures, such as living in cities, dressing like Americans and acting mannerly – Jefferson perceived the Native Americans as barbaric – he wanted the Native Americans to look less barbaric to accommodate and match the style of incoming Americans. Some tribes accepted the Enlightenment Plan, but Tecumseh, Shawnee warrior and chief, disagreed and fought the U.S. during the War of 1812. The Native Americans were slowly split up while Americans took over and inhabited the land. (Weebly).
    ____________

    References:

    ENotes. (March 13, 2012). "What were two main effects of the Louisiana Purchase on America?" Accessed on September 26, 2018 from: https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/louisiana-purchase-what-were-3-main-causes-2-main-322680.

    Weebly. n.d. “The Louisiana Purchase.” Social and Cultural Impacts. Accessed on September 26, 2018 from: https://importantuspurchases.weebly.com/cultural-impacts.html




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    Replies
    1. Christopher O'ConnorSeptember 30, 2018 at 8:50 AM

      In 1860, a group of ten minors invaded the Nez Perce Reservation and made a rich discovery of gold, and lied about where they had found it (Ojibwa). The Walla Walla treaty of 1855 indicated very clearly that no American was to be allowed on the reservation without the consent of tribal leaders.

      Following the discovery of gold by the ten minors, thousands began invading the Nez Perce land and violating the treaty of 1855.

      Chief Lawyer, the Nez Perce chief at the time then signed a new treaty giving the minors rights to occupy the land and sold them even more land. He signed the treaty despite never receiving any of the funds promised to them after signing the Walla Walla treaty of 1855 (Ojibwa). Congress eventually gave forty thousand dollars to pay for the land from this previous treaty, but no record shows that the money ever reached the Nez Perce (Ojibwa).

      An estimated $7-10 million of gold was taken from Nez Perce land by approximately 15,000 miners by 1862, and paid the Nez Perce less than $7,000. Chief Lawyer realized they were being cheated, complained to the Americans, who simply ignnored him (Ojibwa).

      In 1863 another treaty was signed giving up 7 million more acres and retained only 785,000 for themselves. The American Indian agent swore that "We come as your friends, to advise with you and to arrange for the preserving of your rights. We inted to act with perfect justice towards you, in the sight of God."(Ojobwa). It was signed by 51 Nez Perce men, none from outside the reservation area signed. No one signing the treaty lost any land (Ojibwa).

      The discovery of gold on their land was absolutely a curse and not a blessing; in 1881 the Secretary of Interior wrote: "There is nothing more dangerous to an Indian reservation than a rich mine." (Ojibwa)

      Ojibwa. “Gold and the Nez Perce.” Native American Netroots, 2011, nativeamericannetroots.net/diary/929.

      Delete

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