Indians eager to capitalize on Lewis, Clark bicentennial

ROCKY BOY, Mont. -- Hunched over the kitchen table of their small house, mother and son slowly thread colored beads together.

It is tedious work, so slow-going that it will take hours before the blur of yellow, red and blue begins to resemble purses, but this is a family tradition, one the Big Knife family has done together for generations on the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation.

Hugh and Evelyn Big Knife never make much money on their crafts. But they hope that will change as millions of tourists travel the Lewis and Clark trail during the three-year bicentennial of the 1804-06 expedition across the West.

Indian tribes across the West may not all embrace Lewis and Clark, but they are hoping at least to cash in on the tourism, and educate the public about Indian heritage as well.

Some tribes are developing tour packages for visitors to travel to reservations and learn about Lewis and Clark from an Indian perspective. Others hope to sell some of their traditional handiwork.

Hugh Big Knife, 35, and other members of the Chippewa Cree are trying to get a federal grant to open a store to market tribal arts and crafts.

"Someone coming in might like something we make," he said. "The arts and crafts center could provide an education to the public, tourists who pass through."

Training guides

In South Dakota, the Lower Brule Sioux are training teenagers to become tour guides. At the reservation's high school, students are learning how to put up a tepee and tan buffalo hides, as well as how to tell their tribe's history to tourists.

By the end of summer, the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Indians in North Dakota will invite tourists to stay overnight in earth lodges they are building for the bicentennial. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark wintered with the Mandan Hidatsas, and during the bicentennial the tribes will tell their history to tourists along the trail.

"I would hope the people would take some time to learn about Indian culture," said Amy Mossett, tourism director for the Three Affiliated Tribes. "Why not learn something about them rather than continuing to believe a lot of the old stereotypes?"

The Confederated Tribes of Umatilla in Oregon have a CD tourists can listen to as they travel the trail near the Umatilla Indian Reservation. They also offer a free map showing the expedition route through their homeland along with stories from tribal elders about Lewis and Clark.

The Umatilla reservation is also developing a culture village of lodges, where Indians will demonstrate how to dry meat, fish and make tulle mats.

The Blackfeet in Montana are working to erect a panel exhibit about the tribe's history.

"We're not exactly jumping up and down, but the reality is this thing is going to happen," George Heavy Runner, a planner for the Blackfeet, said of the expected influx of visitors. "We just want to be players in that tourism market."

Many reservations do not have the stores, the tour guides or other means to accommodate visitors. So Ed Hall, national coordinator for the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial for the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, is helping tribes apply for grants to open businesses and restaurants and is talking to them about incorporating Lewis and Clark's journey into events reservations already hold each year.

The hope is that the publicity will lead people to visit the reservations even after the bicentennial.

"Lewis and Clark is only one of many stories that we have to tell," said Heavy Runner, who is working on the Blackfeet exhibit. "We're vibrant people. We know who we are. We have a sense of land, of who we are, of history," he said. He added: "We think we have something special."

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