Lewis & Clark re-enactors face anger, protests from American Indians

modbee ^ | 9-21-04

[LouAvul]

ST. LOUIS (AP) - A group re-enacting the Lewis and Clark expedition was confronted in South Dakota by American Indian leaders who questioned the legacy of the 200-year-old trip and its effects on native culture. An American Indian delegation greeted the Discovery Expedition of St. Charles over the weekend with protest signs, including one suggesting the original expedition of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark led to genocide of their people and destruction of their culture. The re-enactors were asked to go back home.

"I went as a peaceful emissary and asked in a kind way if they would leave," said Alex White Plume, a Lakota from Pine Ridge, S.D., who led the protest. "They should go home and rethink what they did to the native population."

Jon Ruybalid, a spokesman for the re-enactors, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the group expects more dialogue with the American Indians they met Saturday near Chamberlain, S.D.

"It wasn't easy listening," Ruybalid said. "What they said was filled with a lot of pain. We are being educated and, in the process, we are a platform for people to express their concerns."

About 20 people taking part in the expedition left St. Charles, Mo., on May 23 on its planned journey along the path of the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804-06. The expedition is heading up the Missouri River in a replica boat.

Ruybalid said members of several South Dakota tribes planned to take part in bicentennial events this weekend near Pierre, S.D. But White Plume said he was "saddened that some tribes welcome them with open arms."

[Fiddlstix]

BTTT

[Jaysun]

"They should go home and rethink what they did to the native population."

Malarkey. Whose fault is it that they were worshiping animals, living in buffalo skin huts, smoking dope, and fighting each other with sticks when we got here? Whose fault is it that many of them have now become avid whiskey drinkers? I'm tired of hearing it.

[Born to Conserve]

We bought that land fair and square from the French, and if the indians have a problem with it they can go collect from Frenchie.

[2banana]

Before Indians were running casinos and selling cigarettes tax-free in North America, they were a stone-age people before the "pale face" came. They had not learned to domesticate animals, they had no written language, they used only stone tools and they had not even yet invented the wheel.

They had never seen a horse, a metal knife, a cart or a plow.

They also commonly practiced slavery, genocide and cannibalism against other tribes. No matter how many times you watch "Dances with Wolves" and "Pocahontas," it will not change these facts.

In terms of population percentage loss, the worst war we ever fought was King Philip's War in 1688. King Philip was an indian chief (also known as Metacomet). The indians burned down whole villages. The Colonists' population was small in 1688 and a good percentage of that population was killed in the war. The indians lost the war.

The Indians sided with the French in the French And Indian War (1753). The indians lost the war.

The indians sided with the British in the Revolution. The indians lost the war.

The indians sided with the British again in the War of 1812. The indians lost the war.

As the Americans moved west, fighting was constant on both sides. The indians started quite a few (but not all) of the fights. The indians lost everytime.

The judgement of history is merciless.

[MplsSteve]

I suppose doing a re-creation of the Washita battle would be out of the question too...?

[Cogadh na Sith]

Didn't Lewis and Clark carry muskets for this kind of thing?

[Jagdgewehr]

Don't they have a casino to run?

Abolish the reservations.

[BlueLancer]

Or Sand Creek?

[Travis McGee]

"They should go home and rethink what THEY did to the native population."

Um, THEY are not L&C. THEY died a couple of centuries ago.

[familyop]

Those ain't injuns. Them's Europeans wearing makeup.

[ZULU]

I generally am sympathtic to the sentiments of Native Americans, but this group is out of their minds.

[RedwM]

Yeah. Just think what would have happened if they all owned guns and lived in trailers, didn't drink at all, and went to church every Sunday.
I don't think they are the ones smoking too much dope.

[familyop]

Hahahahaha! ...good point, cuz'!

[RonF]

Native Americans had domesticated animals; dogs. They used them as a food source and as a beast of burden (not that they could carry much). They hadn't seen a horse before Europeans came because there were no horses on the continent. But once the Europeans let some loose, they learned to domesticate them quite readily. In fact, Lewis and Clark got horses from the tribes they met (and lost some to theft, too).

[huskers2004]

There were many dark moments between the white men and the American Indians...both sides were capable of horrible acts. Acts on immigrants, Wounded Knee, Sand Creek, Little Big Horn... not a shining moment in US History.

[MplsSteve]

LOL!

True, very true.

[Professional Engineer]

ping

[mudblood]

The re-enactors should have scared them with their magic light-making stick (flashlight). Or, failing that, threatened to suck away their spirits with their magic flash-box (camera). If they don't like being poor, they should move to a city, get a job, and save/invest the wompum they make as best they can, like anyone else.

[familyop]

...the Trail of Tears.

LOL! Some of the comments here are killing me. There were major cultural differences between some Indian nations. At least one used wooden houses, had a written language, and took immediately to Judeo-Christian religion and culture. Another raised its sons to dress like girls and engage in sodomy. ...long list of differences and culture wars between them. Some were short, squat and had bubbly rear ends. Others looked more like Yul Brynner in the movie, "Mohawk".