September 2004, Volume 4, Issue 9

WISDOM OF THE ELDERS AND TURTLE ISLAND STORYTELLERS NETWORK

We would like to introduce you to Turtle Island Storytellers Network, the online speaker's bureau for talented Native American historians, storytellers and song carriers in your area. This project is currently under development by Wisdom of the Elders, Inc., a Native American not for profit corporation located in Portland, Oregon.

The purpose of the Turtle Island Storytellers Network is to create speaking and consulting opportunities for gifted Native American oral historians during the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial and beyond. When we launch our website in December 2004, it will include up to 80 individual web pages of talented indigenous speakers from tribes in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, North and South Dakota, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Ohio and Indiana. Each web page will include a summary of the speaker's background and tribal heritage, an audio file, historic and contemporary photographs, relevant web links, and the individual's contact information.

Starting in the fall of 2004, we will send notices by e-mail announcing Turtle Island Storytellers Network, share speakers' web portfolios, and communicates their special skills and talents to area agencies, organizations and institutions. We are contacting you to see if you would be willing to distribute this series of notices to your organization through your email networks, newsletters and/or website. Our project is being funded by National Endowment for the Arts, as well as Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail at National Park Service.

For more information phone (503) 777-7140 or you can also check out our website at www.wisdomoftheelders.org

LEWIS AND CLARK MEASURES GAIN MOMENTUM IN SENATE

The U.S. Senate has unanimously approved a bill establishing the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park in Oregon and Washington state.

Also, the Senate Committee on Interior Appropriations Voted to grant $5 million towards land acquisition for the expansion of Fort Clatsop National Memorial. One of the primary justifications for the expansion is to create a 6-mile long Fort To Sea Trail that would allow people to walk from Fort Clatsop to the Pacific Ocean.

This funding recommendation will now go to conference committee for final action, then on to both the House and Senate for final votes on the Act. The funding will be used to purchase land, from willing sellers only, within the expanded boundary of Fort Clatsop National Memorial in Oregon.

The Lewis and Clark National Historical Park bill would expand and rename Fort Clatsop National Memorial in Oregon and add three sites along the lower Columbia River, bringing the federal park for the first time into Washington state. The park proposal follows approval of a law two years ago to expand the Fort Clatsop memorial from 130 to 1,500 acres. The three new sites would add another 500 acres to the park The sites to be added to the park include the Station Camp site near McGowan, Wash., as well as the Megler Rest Area and Cape Disappointment State Park.

LEWIS AND CLARK DISCOVERY CENTER

The Lewis-Clark valley is excited to welcome visitors to the trail. Two visitor centers await your inspection. First is the city of Clarkston's center located at 632 6th street in historic downtown Clarkston.

In addition, the brand new Lewis-Clark discovery center for the valley is right on the Snake River and is located inside Hells Gate State Park in Lewiston. This beautiful building showcases the valley's gateway to the river journey into Washington state.

Starting on October 7,2005 the discovery expedition of St. Charles and the Lewis-Clark bitterroot corps will be leaving canoe camp in Orofino, Idaho. There will be 33 corps members retracing the daily journey down the Snake and Columbia rivers. On March 23,2006 the same groups will begin retracing the route back to St. Louis. Now is the time for the tour groups and towns along the river to schedule their bicentennial activities. The eastern legacy is finished. A video journal of the 2003 and 2004 journey can be viewed at www.lewisandclark.net. We await your visit to the Lewis-Clark valley!

Thomas E. Eier
Sergeant John Ordway in Idaho
teier@lewiston.com

Links to the trail websites:
lewistonchamber.org
clarkstonchamber.org
lewisandclark.net
northcentralidaho.info

UNITED STATES MINT UNVEILS DRAMATIC NEW NICKEL DESIGNS FOR 2005

A new image of Jefferson, the Return of a Buffalo, and an Ocean in View!

The United States Mint announced today that it is issuing two newly designed 5-cent coins (nickels) in 2005 to complete the Westward Journey Nickel Series. A fresh, new image of President Thomas Jefferson will grace the obverse (heads side) of both nickels. It will be the first time that the image of Jefferson has changed on the nickel.

The reverse (tails side) of the first nickel (to be released in early 2005) will be an American bison design that is reminiscent of the beloved Buffalo Nickel. A second newly designed nickel (to be issued in the late summer of 2005) will feature the same new image of Jefferson on the obverse, with a reverse design that signifies the culmination of the Lewis and Clark expedition. The nickel series has symbolically followed Lewis and Clark along their journey.

"The 2005 nickel designs follow Thomas Jefferson's vision to explore the Great West" said United States Mint Director Henrietta Holsman Fore in a news conference at agency headquarters in Washington. "These small pieces of contemporary art will place us at those spellbinding moments when Lewis and Clark first encountered a grazing American bison and later the vastness of the western waters."

Three new images (one obverse, two reverse) were selected from 144 designs submitted by the United States Mint sculptor-engravers and the 24 artists in the agency's new Artistic Infusion Program. United States Mint sculptor-engravers Donna Weaver, Norman Nemeth and Don Everhart later sculpted the selected designs into the images that will appear on the new coins.

Artist Joe Fitzgerald of Silver Spring, Maryland, designed two of the new images - the obverse of Thomas Jefferson with the word "Liberty" written in Jefferson's own hand and the "Ocean in view! O! The joy!" reverse image for the second nickel in 2005. The quote, "Ocian [sic] in view! O! The joy!" is from William Clark's journal and referred to the ecstatic moment at which the expedition felt its quest to reach the Pacific Ocean had been fulfilled.

Artist Jamie Franki of Concord, North Carolina, designed the "Grazing Buffalo" image for the reverse of the first nickel of 2005. This nickel recognizes the American Indians and wildlife encountered by the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

A law passed by Congress and approved by President Bush in April of 2003 authorized the redesign of the nickel for the first time since 1938 to commemorate the bicentennials of the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

In late 2005, the nickel will feature a scene of the Pacific Ocean and an inscription reflecting an excited entry in the journal of Captain William Clark on November 7, 1805. The design visually depicts the expedition's exultation on believing they had finally reached the Pacific Ocean after so many months of arduous travel.

PART-TIME EVENT AND ACTIVITIES COORDINATOR

CONTACT:
Arlene Johnson, Project Director for the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Committee
701 Grand Blvd
Vancouver, WA 98661
360-906-7119
director@lewisandclark-clark.org.

PLEASE SEND RESUME, REFERENCES AND COVER LETTER OUTLINING EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS BY SEPTEMBER 28, 2004.

The budget is $9000.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience planning public meetings
• Experience in volunteer recruitment
• Experience in working with public/private partnerships
• Experience in planning fundraisers
• Experience in event development, coordination, and management
• Experience in coordinating recreation activities

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Coordinate three public meetings in the fall of 2004 to develop a work plan for the Lewis & Clark Fortnight. Fortnight is a series of community events and activities in the fall of 2005 commemorating the Lewis & Clark Bicentennial.
• Work with the Vancouver/Clark Parks Department to coordinate a fund raising dinner as part of the Discovery Greenway Trail Symposium to be held November 4, 2004.
• Assist with volunteer recruitment and management for Lewis & Clark Bicentennial events including Corp of Discovery II, the National Park Service traveling interpretive exhibit.
• Develop a master calendar of Lewis and Clark related events in Clark County for 2005-06.
• Contact local community organizations to ascertain which organizations are currently planning Lewis & Clark Bicentennial Events and which might be interested in theming existing events to tie into the Bicentennial.
• Develop list of compatible events and contacts.
• Coordinate with existing events during time period.
• Assist with cost estimates, speakers, program, invitees for the Corp of Discovery II.
• Assist with development and coordination of sponsors for Lewis & Clark events.
• Coordinate speakers and events with Washington State Historical Society Lewis & Clark Assistant Coordinator.

ENCOUNTERS

September 30 - October 2, 2004
Lewis and Clark College

This year's symposium, Encounters, delves into the Expedition itself, painting a picture of the Expedition not as a linear excursion across space but rather as a series of encounters that frame rich and unprecedented experiences. Although Lewis and Clark set off with every confidence of their own cultural protocols, they soon moved beyond the customary boundaries of their social, cultural, and intellectual backgrounds, and responded to these new stimuli in different ways. Encounters will explore the Expedition's interconnection with other peoples, landforms, the limits of language, and the Self's response to unfamiliar landscapes and unprecedented situations.

N. Scott Momaday is a poet, Pulitzer prize-winning novelist, a playwright, a painter, a storyteller, and a professor of English and American literature. He is a Native American (Kiowa), and among his chief interests are Native American art and oral tradition.

Referred to as "the Dean of American Indian writers" by The New York Times, Momaday holds an important place in the American literary arts. Momaday was the first Native-American to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his novel, House Made of Dawn. But it is through the spoken word that his dedication to his people's heritage is most profoundly felt. Born a Kiowa in the Oklahoma Dustbowl, Momaday was raised on reservations in the Southwest, steeped in the oral tradition.

Dr. Momaday kicks off Lewis & Clark College's two-day symposium with a lecture on September 30, 2004, 8 p.m. at the First Baptist Church, 909 SW 11th Ave, Portland. This event is ticketed separately from the symposium. Tickets are available from TicketsWest at 503.224.8499 or www.ticketswest.com

For further information regarding this symposium and Bicentennial Programs, contact bicprog@lclark.edu or Sherry Manning, Director, Bicentennial Programs. 503 768-7207.
http://www.lclark.edu/org/bicprog/encounters.html

LEWIS AND CLARK AT THE WASHINGTON STATE HISTORY MUSEUM IN TACOMA

Exhibits

Beyond Lewis and Clark: The Army Explores the West
Nearly two hundred years ago, army captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark and their Corps of Discovery headed west with orders from President Thomas Jefferson to find a route to the Pacific Ocean and document the land and peoples they encountered on their way. The Lewis and Clark expedition became a model for subsequent army expeditions. An eight-decade story of army exploration west of the Mississippi is traced in the exhibition. Among the hundreds of images and objects in the exhibit are Meriwether Lewis's air rifle, original field notes and maps drafted by William Clark, and items associated with the Isaac Stevens railroad survey and treaty tour. WSHM will be the only West Coast venue to present this nationally touring exhibit. Sunday, February 15, through Sunday, October 31, 2004.

WEBSITE OF THE MONTH

By Sharon Hultman, WSHS Digital Projects Manager

THE JOURNALS OF THE LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION

The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition Online is a project of the University of Nebraska Lincoln made possible in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The goal of the site is to make available the text of the Nebraska edition of the Lewis and Clark Journals, edited by Gary Moulton.

In addition to the expected collection of journal entries, the site contains several additional related articles by Moulton and James P. Ronda, audio clips of journals entries and other articles, an image library, and a collection of video clips. The developers have also provided a nice "webography" of Lewis and Clark materials on the Internet.

The journals are far from complete—in some cases there may be only a single entry for an entire month—but new entries are being added each month. In time, this site will become a major reference for students of Lewis and Clark.

EVENTS LISTING

We are now listing bicentennial events and promotions in a large, searchable database, with several different search criteria, freeing up space in the electronic newsletter for more news-related items. If you would like to have an event or promotion listed in this new database, please direct all information to Mark Vessey at mvessey@wshs.wa.gov and he will post the listing.

To access this new feature, visit our website at www.washingtonhistory.org/lewisandclark and click the Bicentennial Events Calendar Database at the top of the page —or click on the link below.

PLEASE LOOK for additional information and updates on Bicentennial planning activities and projects in next month's e-newsletter.

ALSO - if you have articles or news-worthy information that you would like to contribute to this e-newsletter or to Washington's quarterly bicentennial newsletter, please contact Mark Vessey at 360.586.0219 or mvessey@wshs.wa.gov.

The Washington State Historical Society, lead agency of the state's Agency Assistance Team (AAT) for bicentennial planning, will send this newsletter via e-mail on a monthly basis to provide updates on events, projects, and activities going on around the state in preparation for the commemoration.

Your name is in the state's Lewis and Clark Trail database as someone who has expressed interest in the bicentennial. If you do not want to continue to receive this newsletter and/or other bicentennial communications, reply to this e-mail or contact Mark Vessey at the Heritage Resource Center 360.586.0219.