Lewis and Clark and the Indian Country: The Native American Perspective

Lewis and Clark and the Indian Country broadens the scope of conventional study of the Lewis and Clark expedition to include Native American perspectives. Frederick E. Hoxie and Jay T. Nelson present the expedition’s long-term impact on the “Indian Country” and its residents through compelling interviews conducted with Native Americans over the past two centuries, secondary literature, Lewis and Clark travel journals, and other primary sources from the Newberry Library’s exhibit Lewis and Clark and the Indian Country. Rich stories of Native Americans, travelers, ranchers, Columbia River fur traders, teachers, and missionaries—often in conflict with each other--illustrate complex interactions between settlers and tribal people. Environmental protection issues and the preservation of Native language, education, and culture dominate late twentieth-century discussions, while early accounts document important Native American alliances with Lewis and Clark. In widening the reader’s interpretive lens to include many perspectives, this collection reaches beyond individual achievement to appreciate America’s plural past.