Today we have Roberta Connor’s conclusion to her thoughts on the Lewis and Clark expedition of the early 1800’s
Our tribal history is as ancient as our bond to the place the Creator gave us in which to live. One of the recent modern chapters in our long history begins with the arrival of the army expedition led by Lewis and Clark into our homeland. American history in the interior Pacific Northwest commences with their arrival. Comparatively speaking, Americans are still the new kids on the block. American Indians were largely exempt from the American ideals of democracy, justice, domestic tranquillity, common defines, and general welfare for most of the past two centuries. The “Great White Father” could not provide what his voting citizenry did not require, and usually did not deliver on promises past presidents and congress made to Indians. However the land and cultural teachings sustained us.
This history was, is, and always will be a story about our land. The passage of time does not separate the story from the land, and our people have refused to be separated from this land. By now, it must be clear we are not going to go away, or become extinct. The immense and powerful United States needs to acknowledge tribal contributions to its development. Our lands, knowledge, customs, sacred foods, and medicines have all been subject to unwelcome harvests by unethical parties. And yet, tribes continue to try to inform and protect this still-young nation because this is our home. The United States is a powerful nation that must do what it has promised.
We have been patient, we are not leaving. But the land and the species that the Creator placed here with us need our help. The way we all live has consequences for water and air quality and affects all the species with which we share this home. Our tribes have undertaken natural and cultural management compacts and plans and implemented a host of projects to restore and protect many parts of the ecosystem. There are many publicly owned lands in our homeland, and we are active participants in their future wherever possible. Also, with the revenue our tribal enterprises provide, we have begun buying back the land, sometimes at seemingly rapacious rates, from the grandchildren of emigrant families. Our imperative is constant; our tribes must protect our home and all the gifts from the Creator.
My grandfather’s great-grandfathers were little boys when Lewis and Clark expedition came into our homeland. They would grow up and represent our people a the Walla Walla Treaty Council of 1855. In their lifetimes, the hospitality, sincerity, and honesty of their parents would not save them from the travesty and tragedy of the unsettling of the West. Their tribes went from being superior host to Lewis and Clark to being forced to cede almost all of their lands in their lifetime.
“Our people’s devotion to this land is stronger than any piece of paper,” my grandfather told my mother, when explaining his World War 1 tour of duty in France with the US Navy well before Indians had the right to vote. That’s why he went to war when the United States had conflict with other countries. That devotion is deeper than our mistrust. It is more important than our wounds from past injustices. It is tougher than hatred. We continue to be inextricable from our homeland. However modern tools and wars become, our bond to the place the Creator gave us is immovable since time immemorial.
From ‘Our People have always been here’ by Roberta Connor, in ‘Lewis and Clark through Indian eyes’ ed Alvin M Josephy, Jr. 2006 Random House. Roberta Connor – Sisaawipam – is Cayuse, Umatilla and Nez Perce in heritage and a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.