I invite you to come along the trail in two different ways. . . . One is the view from the keel boat as it goes up the river as it did 200 years ago. But I also ask you to step off that keelboat and be in the villages of the American Indian Tribes that Lewis and Clark encountered. We are in danger, I believe, of losing some of those cultures…. Let’s get together with the spirits of Lewis and Clark, and don’t forget Sacagawea, York the slave, and the others. I challenge you to come along with us as we travel this trail…to not let this vision die once we reach the end of the Bicentennial in 2006.—Gerard Baker, Superintendent, Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail; Opening Ceremonies: Falls of the Ohio Signature Event, Louisville, Kentucky; October 14, 2003.
—Gerard Baker, Superintendent, Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail; Opening Ceremonies: Falls of the Ohio Signature Event, Louisville, Kentucky; October 14, 2003.
The 2003-2006 national Bicentennial commemoration provided an unprecedented national stage for modern-day tribal governments to educate the public about the impact that westward expansion had on tribal lands and cultures, as well as the critical importance of Native American sacred site protection.
Throughout the Bicentennial, The Tent of Many Voices was the main attraction of the “Corps of Discovery II: 200 Years to the Future” traveling exhibit. “It was a respected forum where multiple perspectives on the Expedition could be shared freely and encouraged.” (A Summary Administrative and Interpretive History of the “Corps of Discovery II: 200 Years to the Future, National Park Service, 2008, p.15)
Tribal Legacy Project Archives
Many of the stories shared in the Tent of Many Voices are preserved at the Tribal Legacy Project—an archive of hundreds of hours of Tribal voices sharing their stories. You can watch and listen to these videos at the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, Tribal Legacy Project.
Blessing the Tent
Great Spirit
Grandfathers of the Four Quarters
Mother Earth
I call out to humble myself before you
I ask for your help in blessing this event here today
I ask that all these beautiful people come with open minds
and open heartsI pray they hear and are able to take part
in the sharing of the stories told
I ask that we can, together, learn from the lessons from our history
I ask that we can all see ourselves humble, good people
So that we can learn to respect
So that we can learn to share
So that we can learn to loveSo that we can learn the lessons Oh Great Spirit,
that you would want us toIn this humble way I give you a gift from the West
From the Opening of the Corps of Discovery II Tent of Many Voices, January 14, 2003
and ask for special blessings upon this tent
And ask that it become a special messenger of
all that we ask for.
I offer –
Water from Grandmother Ocean
Sweet cedar from our mountains
Richard Basch, Clatsop-Nehalem Tribes.
On January 14, Tribal elders from each of the country’s regions blessed the [Lewis and Clark] Bicentennial in a sacred ceremony in the traveling exhibition’s Tent of Many Voices. This blessing was an amazing and historical gift, considering that to many Indians the Lewis and Clark Expedition does not symbolize new discoveries and courage as much as the coming of the white man to Indian lands and subsequent loss of human life; loss of land, water, and wildlife; and loss of cultural ways. But 200 years later, the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial is acknowledging and blessing the value of a diversity of “many voices.” The blessing ceremony seemed to affirm that we are now on the same journey, a journey not only to honor our history and its accomplishments, but also to forgive its failings and to understand it from various perspectives. This understanding can only make the United States and Tribal Sovereign Nations stronger.
—J. Moody, People, Land, and Water, 2003
For more, see Foundation Document for Honoring Tribal Legacies: An Epic Journey of Healing, vol. 1 at Honoring Tribal Legacies.