Sep 30, 2004 - 23:55:14 CDT
Lewis and Clark may have received a warm welcome from Indian tribes when they arrived in the area 200 years ago, but those commemorating their journey in Bismarck later this month won't be welcomed universally.American Indian protesters plan to target the national "signature event" that will be held in Bismarck, because they say it's improper to commemorate an event that marked the beginning of the end of their way of life, culture and people.
"To us, it's no reason to celebrate," said Deb White Plume, a protester who lives on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. "To us, it represents the dawn of genocide. I think to Americans it's probably like a patriotic celebration but to us there's nothing to celebrate because it meant the end to our way of life, and why would we celebrate that? I think if there was a reenactment of the Jewish Holocaust or slavery nobody would ask 'Why are you opposing that?' "
Victorio Camp, a 29-year-old college student who lives on the Pine Ridge Reservation, said the protesters who show up at the National Lewis and Clark Signature Event Oct. 22-31 are the same group that protested a Lewis and Clark event in Chamberlain, S.D., on Sept. 18 and in Fort Pierre, S.D., on Saturday. They angrily confronted reenactors who are retracing Lewis and Clark's journey, demanding that they turn back, and say they'll continue to protest as the events continue on to Oregon.
State Tourism Director Sara Otte Coleman said she learned Wednesday that protesters are expected to target the Bismarck events.
"The organizers are welcoming anybody who has a story to tell as long as there isn't any violence," she said.
The protests are being organized by a youth group called Owe Aku, which means "bring back the way" of spirituality, language and values, Camp said. They say Lewis and Clark gave President Jefferson a blueprint for invading and stealing their land and paved the way for missionaries, settlers and pioneers.
Camp said they share their perspective during peaceful protests in which they carry signs, sing songs and talk to people attending the events. But media accounts indicate things turned ugly in Chamberlain, where some protesters had upside-down flags and signs with expletives. Some reenactors said they were threatened.
Tracy Potter, an organizer of the local signature event, said he welcomes the protesters, as long as they don't interrupt the events.
"They have a point of view, too," Potter said. "They did 200 years ago and they do today."
He said the Lewis and Clark events are intended to remember history and provide a venue to talk about what happened.
"We don't commemorate this period, this thing that happened 200 years ago, because we're honoring Lewis and Clark or the U.S. history," Potter said. "Remembering history is not endorsing it."
But White Plume said spending $87 million nationally is much more than "remembering" what happened.
"That's celebration," she said. "It's more than just marking a day."
Ironically, the Bismarck events will focus on the warm welcome Lewis and Clark received from Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nations during the winter of 1804-05. The "Circle of Cultures" theme will focus on local ethnic groups, particularly American Indians and the Three Affiliated Tribes.
American Indians and the Three Affiliated Tribes have been involved in planning events and determining how to tell the story of what happened, but Camp said most American Indians have a bitter view of the Lewis and Clark journey.
"They forgot to ask the grassroots people," he said. "You can't just ask the leader of a tribe. ... America should think before they do something like this."
He said many American Indians are participating in events because they recognize the potential to make money off of the tourists traveling through their areas -- and he doesn't blame them for that, especially when so many are impoverished due to the very journey being commemorated.
"This is all about money," he said.
Potter said personally, he agrees with much of what the protesters are saying; he would have opposed the Manifest Destiny.
"I'm on the Indian side, but it happened," he said. "Not acknowledging it or sweeping it under the rug, that doesn't help either."
White Plume said it's ironic that the protests began in South Dakota, the same place where Lewis and Clark nearly got into a battle with Lakota Indians at the Bad River.
"In the end they let them go through," White Plume said. "I think they've regretted it ever since."
Potter said he half expected protests.
"I kind of wondered whether there would be a reaction, particularly from the Lakota people. They didn't like Lewis and Clark 200 years ago and I'm not surprised they don't like them today."
Potter said they want everybody to have a chance to speak their mind and he hopes protesters will speak in the "Tent of Many Voices," a National Park Service traveling tent in which there are speakers every hour.
The Bismarck Tribune is a major sponsor of the signature event.
(Reach Deena Winter at 250-8251 or deena.winter@bismarcktribune.com.)
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