On September 4, 1805, in the upper Bitterroot Valley of what is now
western Montana, more than four hundred Salish people were
encamped, pasturing horses, preparing for the fall bison hunt, and
harvesting chokecherries as they had done for countless
generations. As the Lewis and Clark expedition ventured into the
territory of a sovereign Native nation, the Salish met the weary
explorers with hospitality and vital provisions, while receiving
comparatively little in return. For the first time, a Native
American community offers an in-depth examination of the events and
historical significance of their encounter with the Lewis and Clark
expedition. The result is a new understanding of the expedition and
its place in the wider context of U.S. history. Through oral
histories and other materials, Salish elders recount the details of
the Salish encounter with Lewis and Clark - their difficulty
communicating with the strangers through multiple interpreters and
consequent misunderstanding of the expedition's invasionary
purpose, their discussions about whether to welcome or wipe out the
newcomers, their puzzlement over the black skin of the slave York,
and their decision to extend traditional tribal hospitality and
gifts to the guests. What makes "The Salish People and the Lewis
and Clark Expedition" a startling departure from previous accounts
of the Lewis and Clark expedition is how it depicts the arrival of
non-Indians - not as the beginning of history but as another
chapter in a long tribal history. Much of this book focuses on the
ancient cultural landscape and history that had already shaped the
region for millennia prior to the arrival of Lewis and Clark. The
elders begin their vivid portrait of the Salish world by sharing
creation stories and the traditional cycle of life. The book then
takes readers on a cultural tour of the Native trails that the
expedition followed. With tribal elders as our guides, we now learn
of the Salish cultural landscape that was invisible to Lewis and
Clark. "The Salish People and the Lewis and Clark Expedition" also
brings new clarity to the profound upheaval of the Native world in
the century prior to the expedition's arrival, as tribes in the
region were introduced to horses, European diseases, and firearms.
The arrival of Lewis and Clark marked the beginning of a heightened
level of conflict and loss, and the book details the history that
followed the expedition: the opening of Salish territory to the fur
trade, the arrival of Jesuit missionaries, the establishment of
Indian reservations, the non-Indian development of western Montana,
and more recently, the revival and strengthening of tribal
sovereignty and culture. Conveyed by tribal recollections and
richly illustrated, "The Salish People and the Lewis and Clark
Expedition" not only sheds new light on the meaning of the
expedition, but also illuminates the people who greeted Lewis and
Clark, and despite much of what followed, thrive in their homeland
today.
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