September 2005, Volume 5, Issue 7
PROGRAMS AT THE WASHINGTON STATE HISTORY MUSEUM
A Commemoration of Lewis & Clark - Free Public Program at the History Museum
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Join the History Museum as we host two outstanding programs commemorating the Lewis & Clark Bicentennial.
5:00 - 6:00 - Confluence Vocal Octet will present Rivers
This evening of vocal music is inspired by the great rivers of America and commemorates the bicentennial of the Lewis & Clark Expedition. This octet, founded in 2004 in Wenatchee, is a chamber group that performs throughout the Pacific Northwest.
7:00 - 8:00 PM We are pleased to host Lost Legacy: Lewis & Clark Place Names in the Pacific Northwest with Doc Wesselius.
The Lewis & Clark expedition is recorded in American History as an epic journey of exploration that left its historical legacy across the nation. Despite these achievements, much of the nomenclature Lewis & Clark used to describe geographical features in the Pacific Northwest has not been retained, thus challenging the connection of these place names and their past. This program promises to bring to light many of the stories of Lewis & Clark and further our knowledge of the impact their expedition made on the Pacific Northwest.
Tuesday, November 15, 2005 at 7:00 PM
Sacagawea/Sacajawea and the Lewis & Clark Expedition: American Indian Perspectives at the History Museum
The Department of History at Washington State University is utilizing the expertise of American Indian representatives and internationally recognized experts on Lewis and Clark to highlight the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark expeditions. Through performance and discussion Jeanne Eder, Department of History Professor at University of Alaska, Anchorage will present her version of the story of Sacagawea.
This promises to provide an informative and enlightening dialogue because there is great discrepancy and even controversy surrounding details of the expedition. For example, there are differences between tribes on the spelling of the name of the native woman who accompanied Lewis and Clark. Is it Sacagawea? Sacajawea? Or Sakakawea? Tribal perspectives differ in regard to the role she played. Was she a guide, an interpreter, or both? And there are differing accounts about how long she lived. Was she 25 or well in her 90s when she passed away?
Bill Iyall, Vice Chairman of the Cowlitz Tribe and Chairman of the Cowlitz Tribal Council will provide commentary from the Cowlitz Tribal Perspective.
Please call Patricia Thorsten, Washington State University Department of History at 509-335-4626 or Christina Greene, Washington State Historical Society at 253-798-5877 for details.
Sponsored by Washington State University and The Center for Columbia River History.
Location: Washington State History Museum, Tacoma.
200th ANNIVERSARY OF LEWIS & CLARK AT MARYHILL TO FEATURE TULE MAT LONGHOUSE
On October 22 and 23, Maryhill Museum of Art will commemorate the 200th Anniversary of Lewis & Clark at Maryhill. The event will feature presentations by the Rock Creek Band of the Yakama Nation, the same community the Corps of Discovery met in 1805.
From 9am to 5pm, visitors to the Museum can meet members of the Rock Creek Band as they demonstrate traditional arts and share their rich culture in a 60 tule mat longhouse constructed especially for this event. Admission to all outside activities is free.
Members of the Rock Creek Band have spent several months gathering tule reeds to weave into mats and preparing poles for use in assembling the traditional longhouse.
Demonstrations will include how to fashion a traditional canoe from a pine log, make exquisite cedar coiled baskets and bead jewelry, and perform tribal dances, amongst other traditions.
Inside the Museum at 1pm, Sunday, Wilbur Slockish Jr. will give a lecture on the Treaty of 1855. Slockish is the great, great, great grandson of one of the signers of that historic document. There will also be a student art show by tribal members from Warm Springs, OR.
Throughout the weekend, interpretative talks will be given by Maryhill Museum Lewis & Clark docents in conjunction with the special exhibition, Finding Lewis & Clark at Maryhill. Families are invited to explore Lewis & Clark using the activity booklet, Art Discovery: Lewis & Clark at Maryhill, and by participating in Lewis & Clark art activities for children in the EyeSEE Resource Room.
On Saturday at 11am and 2pm, and again on Sunday at 2pm, the Klickitat County Master Gardeners will be on hand to talk about the native plants of the region. The Museum's native plant garden includes most of the plants the Corps documented while in the Northwest.
Funding for the commemoration was provided by the Yakama Tribal Council of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, Mid-Columbia Medical Center, and Klickitat County, amongst others.
12 DAYS IN CLARK COUNTY NOW AVAILABLE IN BRAILLE
In preparation for the regional Lewis & Clark commemoration, the Clark County Historical Museum, Vancouver, WA published a Lewis & Clark children's activity book entitled, "12 Days in Clark County." As the title indicates, the publication focuses on the 12 days the Corp of Discovery spent in Clark County and includes a number of academic disciplines.
The publication was funded by a National Park Service grant, with an additional in-kind donation of paper from Pac Paper of Vancouver.
The book was written by noted Lewis & Clark Historian and Vancouver resident, Barb Kubik and illustrated by Camas Artist, Diana Rice Bonin. One thousand copies were printed in Vancouver at ADCO printing with the intent of 500 copies being given away to 4th grade teachers in Clark County. In an effort to ensure access to the publication to all readers, the Museum recently gave permission to the Braille Access Center at the Washington State School for the Blind, Vancouver, WA to produce a Braille version.
In turn, the Washington State School for the Blind's Foundation presented the museum with one Braille copy of the publication for use by the public in the Museum's Research Library. Print copies of the book are available through the museum for $9.95; Braille versions are available for $20 from the Braille Access Center at the Washington State School for the Blind. To purchase a Braille version or for more information about the Braille Access Center call (360) 696-6321 ext 158. For more information or to purchase a print version of the publication contact the Clark County Historical Museum at (360) 993-5679. The Clark County Historical Museum is located inside the historic 1909 Carnegie Library building at 1511 Main St., Vancouver, WA 98660. Museum hours are Tuesday-Saturday, 11-4 and First Thursday's until 8 PM.
WEBSITE OF THE MONTH
By Sharon Hultman, WSHS Digital Projects Manager
Lewis and Clark gNet
http://www.lewisandclarkgnet.org/index/
A collaboration between University of Nebraska's Peter Kiewit Institute and the National Park Service Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, the Lewis and Clark gNet site is packed with images, multimedia , and a database of expedition journal entries. The site has further benefited from a complete, and beautiful, redesign in the last year or two.
Teachers will love the Education section, which features not only enormously educational video lectures and/or talks by noted experts on various aspects of the Corps of Discovery, but highlights reels which condense each videotaped segment down to a few minutes while still maintaining the main points of the speaker. Teachers are also given the opportunity to browse the Corps of Discovery II Photo Library, and live webcasts of reenactments of the three-year voyage of Lewis & Clark.
Another incredible educational tool is the database of journal entries, searchable by keyword or by date. For classroom use, the entire database can be printed out chronologically.
As the Corps II members travel around the country, they have created videos of various speakers in the Tent of Many Voices. Whether you are a student, teacher, or just a seeker of knowledge, you will enjoy these videotaped presentations by academicians, park rangers and members of the Native American community.
The site also houses a database of all the Corps of Discovery II Trail Stops and other events. A multi-layered interactive tourist map will aid you in finding out where to find the Corps II folks at any given point in time and space.
While the interactive map portion of the site is not yet active, the rest of the site is robust and entertaining enough to keep the visitor interested and returning often.
NEW LEWIS AND CLARK PICTORIAL BOOK
NOW AVAILABLE
Ocian in view! Oh! the joy:
Lewis & Clark in Washington State
The latest book offering from the Washington State Historical Society is Ocian in View! O! The Joy: Lewis and Clark in Washington State, with illustrations by Roger Cooke and narrative text by Robert C. Carriker (168 pp., 78 color illustration, 4 maps; $27.95 paper ). This volume is an ideal companion for anyone interested in retracing the Washington portion of the Lewis and Clark trail by car or boat—or from the comfort of a favorite easy chair. Cooke's unique illustrations draw you into scene, and Carriker's informative text and judicious use of quotes from the journals of William Clark and other corps members impart both a historian's perspective and a sense of actually being part of the expedition. These illustrations also grace a series of wayside markers erected at points of interest along the Washington portion of the expedition route as part of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial commemoration.
168 pp., 78 color illustrations, 4 maps, $27.95 on paper.
To order your copy, contact Amy Coggins at 253/798-5902. Shipping and handling are free to members of the Washington State Historical Society who purchase the book directly from WSHS.
DESTINATION THE PACIFIC - NEW SOUVENIR GUIDE AVAILABLE NOW!
The souvenir edition of the Destination: The Pacific commemorative guide is now available. The guide includes information about Signature Event programs and how to purchase tickets, which go on sale at the end of June.
The magazine also offers information about the new Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, a forum for Tribal Voices, a suite of bicentennial-related programs and products, and a travel planner section for those interested in attending Destination: The Pacific activities in November.
To receive a copy of the guide email director@destinationthepacific.com or call (503) 861-4403 and provide your name and mailing address. For updated information about bicentennial programs and ticketing information visit www.destinationthepacific.com.
NATIONAL LEWIS AND CLARK TALENT DATABASE NOW ONLINE
Event and program coordinators looking for Lewis and Clark-related speakers, musicians, dance groups, performers, living history interpreters, and even puppeteers can search the Washington State Historical Society's new online Lewis and Clark Talent Database. Each entry includes detailed program descriptions, costs, and contact information. Nearly 200 entries from across the United States are listed in this handy new feature at http://69.13.172.222/LCTalent/programSearch.asp. Or, go to washingtonhistory.org, click on "Lewis and Clark," then "Talent Database." To get the broadest search results, leave all fields blanks and click "Search."
To get your program entered in the database, email Lauren Danner, Assistant Bicentennial Coordinator, at Ldanner@wshs.wa.gov.
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.