(This is the overview for Carmelita Lamb’s curriculum unit, “Tribal Legacies of Pathfinding.”)
Tribes that Lewis and Clark encountered along the way
The Tribal Legacies curriculum is designed to bring the richness of the American Indian experience to the Corp of Discovery mainstream story that has been widely recounted over the generations. Critical pieces of information and support were shared by American Indian people with Lewis and Clark which enabled them to successfully traverse the North American continent in 1804-1806. In terms of actual resources, the tribes along the trail furnished information regarding the terrain to be crossed, guides that were knowledgeable on many levels (geography, language, tribal associations), medicines derived from native plants, alternate sources of food that were plant based when hunting was unsuccessful, multiple means of transportation (horses, canoes) and extended shelter from the harsh environmental elements. Without the contributions of these vital resources from the tribes they encountered along the journey, the explorers would have faced extreme hardship and possible failure in their mission to reach the Pacific Ocean.
Indian artist Paha Ska, of Keystone, S.D., an Elder of the Oglala Sioux tribe from the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, holds an authentic Presidential Peace & Friendship Medallion from President Thomas Jefferson, Monday, Dec. 17, 2001, during a visit at St. Mary School in Elyria, Ohio, that was given to Indian leaders by the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1803. Paha Ska, who is about 80 years old, talked about and answered questions about Native Indians. (Photo/Paul M. Walsh)