Dayton Duncan – Dakota

tent of many voices and the rest of the traveling exhibit will be here at Mar CH all week and then it moves on the whole distance to Charlottesville it will stay in the Eastern Legacy area through the spring and summer and then begin moving down the Ohio River following Maryweather Lewis's Trail on its way to the next signature event at the Falls of the Ohio in louville Kentucky and Clarksville Indiana on October 14th through 16th 2003 and eventually it will retrace the entire LS and Clark Trail my name is Dayton Duncan and I'm your Master of Ceremonies today and it is indeed a very great pleasure for me and honor to be with you on this historic day I first would be remissed we didn't thank the four birth old singers from North Dakota for their welcoming performance of drumming and sign the heartbeat of their Nation thank you CLA Fox John Bale Clyde Bale Leonard Baker cindric Baker and Fred Fox and we'll be hearing from them again and before we go any further um I'd like to thank our gracious host from the Thomas Jefferson Foundation here at monello they've been an inspir uh inspiration to to everyone here and have produced I think a wonderful program for the official launch of the bicentennial please give a warm Round of Applause to Dan Jordan the president and Cat mhof Chief Operating office officer of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation thank you for your hospitality it was a wonderful event up on the hill and I think everyone is looking forward to Saturday as well I'd also like to draw your attention to the many federal Partners identified on the back of your program without their interest and support we wouldn't be here today and I know that many of you represent these organizations and you should be proud of being part of this commemoration those of you you can probably see a lot of them right down here as well on on front of the stage those of you who represen the leadership of those federal agencies would you please stand up and be recognized we are pleased uh to have with us today the old guard of the third us infantry from Fort McNair in Washington DC this group of volunteers for the Old Guard will be appearing in perod uniform at special events throughout the B Centennial for the next 3 years also representing the black feet War Society um out here uh all the way from the state of Montana and official reenactors in the National 2003 to 2006 Bicentennial commemoration the discovery expedition of St Charles from St Charles Missouri although as I've learned most of like the core Discovery the original one they come from all over the nation they are the reenactors who portray Captain buis Captain Clark private Joseph quiet house Sergeant John orway private Hugh mcneel and private Robert Frasier will participate in the color guard the flag song and honor song as the uh Color Guard comes in Will Be Sung Again by the fort birth singers for the posting of the colors which will then be followed by a victory song these songs are widely known and sung in many celebrations worldwide ladies and gentlemen would you please rise for the presentation of the colors your oh St and now we'll have the victory song please remain standing this h yes please remain standing for the national anthem which will be sung by Miss Teresa Baker Teresa is a junior at the duchan Academy of the Sacred Heart in Omaha Nebraska she is the daughter of Gerard and Mary K Baker and is an enrolled member of the three affiliated tribes in North Dakota you see what so the T last who brought stripes and bright F stream of still for the one get thank you you may now be seated thank you Teresa for that wonderful song having um a young woman like Teresa from the three affiliated tribes of North Dakota seeing our national anthem is a great symbol um many of you know the story of Louis and Clark pretty well uh many of you know better than I do I'm sure too but what you will be noticing throughout today is uh if you've studied their journals is that when they came to a new place met uh a different Indian tribe as they went there was much ceremony there was ceremony on the part of the core of Discovery with the men parading uh there was uh much ceremony on the part of the particular uh tribe uh in response and it was would go back and forth and today's ceremony to begin the core Discovery too mimics that it's now going to give me great pleasure to introduce an old friend who feels as strongly as I do that the full and complete story of the Epic Lewis and Clark expedition must be told a story as this tent is so aptly named of many voices and different perspectives a story that belongs to all of us J Baker is the superintendent of the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail and the core of Discovery 2 200 years to the Future project the National Park Service administers the trail and the project is a collaborative effort by many federal agencies organizations and American Indian tribes J's leadership has been the driving forth behind what you see here today it is an undertaking of monumental proportions considering the numerous Partners the geographic reach across the continent of this project and the span of the commemoration from January 2003 to the summer of 2006 on a personal note I'd like to say that the first time that I traveled the Lewis and Clark Trail back exactly 200 20 years ago not 200 these numbers get confusing after a while 20 years ago in 18 in 1893 1983 here we go you can't believe anything I say From This Moment On can you I do remember a traving by myself there's only one of me in 1983 I had what turned out to be one of the providential uh moments for a magazine writer and would be author to meet uh Gerard then at the Fort Union uh Trading Post uh those of you know Gerard will quickly understand when I tell you that within two days he had invited me to stay with him and Mary Kay and within 3 days I was babysitting for his their children while they went off to have a nice dinner by themselves it does seem like 200 years ago because at the time his hair was black and I had hair ladies and Gentlemen please welcome Gerard Baker thank you very much Dayton and and um don't let him kid you he did come up with leou and Clark back in 1803 and four and yes at that time I did have black hair yes at that time he did have hair and uh we got along and we still do and I have a lot of respect for this man I want to thank my daughter for for sitting and for everybody who who is here we're here can I say um this has been a interesting time for the times I've been involved in leis and Clark I started won Clark uh journey in my lock house back home on a reservation with my parents and my grandparents and a lot of influences of course Clan grandparents a lot of influences about our history I was taught at the early age about the respect about the stories about our life about our struggles as Indian people I have been taught by the agency of the National Park Service and other agency as well that we continue over those struggles there for the preservation of our natural resources for the preservation of our cultural resources like R and Clark and like my family like my ancestors we're on a journey and this journey is about to start for all of us again the Journey of rediscovery the Journey of learning the Journey of respect and also the Journey of teaching as we go through this land with the core discovered too the tent that you're sitting in and the displays that you'll see is a time to renew who we are as human beings it is a time to understand each other it is a time to teach our young it is a time like Lon Clark did and like our tribes did we knew who we were we still know who we are it is a time to again like lson Clark all of us need to do this is to look around the next bend over the next Mountain see what's there see where we're going it is a time of stories is this time of sharing cultures when people come to see this all peoples of all colors of all religions of all ages we hope that they walk away with many things but the hope that I have is they walk away with more questions and answers because if we walk away from this with more questions that means our Quest is always there for those answers that we're willing to go beyond who we are we're willing to look into the next life if you will the life that's still coming to our younger Generations the ones that will learn by what we leave them so as we go through this I want to thank first of all the tribes the tribes that were there the tribes that had a culture when Louis and Clark came through I want to thank those tribes that are here still that still we still have a culture we still have our grandpas and our grandmas and our grandchildren we still have this Earth that we tread on that we call the grandmother the mother if anything else folks we need to understand that what we walk on is a life that has a spirit we need to look with new understanding that our grandfathers told us that our grandmothers told us to walk not just with your feet not just with your head but as Lewis and Clark and as our ancestors did is we walk with our Spirits we walk with their eyes we walk with their ears and we walk with their voices so I ask you to join us in this journey and again I want to thank those tribes that are here today and I would like to have all the tribal members stand please and I want to thank you thank you very much it is with you that we go forward and us as American people who are obviously proud of our country let's learn together let's face challenges together as human beings let's understand one another so that we can continue our respect and continue our traditions of stories and continue our traditions of understanding and learning what's around the next bin thank you Gerard I think you uh just got a demonstration of why I personally believe that uh as the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark expedition begins and as the National Park Service and its Federal Partners send the core of Discovery to out along the trail to teach the story the stories of Lewis and Clark they couldn't have found anyone better than Gerard Baker among the ceremonies that would occur when Lewis and Clark came into the Homeland and Villages of uh yet another of the the nearly 50 Indian tribes that they met along the way among those their spiritual leaders of the tribes would often gather for prayer ceremonies blessing ceremonies sacred ceremonies they saw many of those in their 2 and 1/2 years on the trail including one time that I recall before they were about to make their crossing of the Bitterroot mountains and realize as they did so many times that they couldn't proceed without the help and assistance of a native tribe and they asked some young nees Pur Boys in their teens to help guide them over the mountains that had almost killed them when they traveled alone on their way west and before they set out those uh those boys held a ceremony that LE sub cribed uh asking for a safe journey and for good weather and um they had the best weather on the way back with thez Pur than they certainly did on the way west by themselves sorry I'm sorry sorry Mr Baker is going to speak ladies gentlemen everyone of our leaders are where they participate we always honor them with some gifts to the ones that he works with and this is we've done this for ages this is nothing new for us some of you know I've been to our reservation and other reservations do the same thing and Dr is my nephew so uh have one you got friends here good afternoon ladies and gentlemen it is a great honor for me to speak in behalf of this small ceremony that Mr ger Baker is going to have this afternoon we that to begin the giing ceremony first thank you than than you so the Indian name of he who goes first M okay the next GI ceremonies he Dr said go to a long friend the English translation of the Indian name is he goes first and in language dun okay Mr Duncan thank you very much this is support we got from another gift giv ceremony here goes to isab CH who had been working a lot with tribes with the tribes Elizabeth down there last one very hard total turt m the last and final gift J i' like to see it go to car Carol MCB Carol MCB hold I've been asked to do a praising song up in North Dakota on the for br reservation to have a presence on the older generation the older people had praising songs of their own in days of now in younger generation we sort of lost a lot of that uh personally I don't have a prais in s or we don't have a prais on of our own to sing days when they were honored and whatever the people or the person had a praising song that he sang to show the appreciation of to see a prais on of his own for that reason I don't have one I belong to a clan up in Fr brle North Dakota and the clan in that particular clan we own of one praising song that we have a right we all have a right to use and sing at times like this I just wanted to explain this today is a great H for in my teamship Gerard is my grandfather it may look like it should be the other way around but he is my grand and I'm asked to do a praising song for him and I'm going to borrow this for this afternoon and that we have to say we want to borrow that praising song with some of them that are belong to that Clan here I want to to know that I'm I'm borrowing this just for this occasion God thank you very I want to thank the baker family for that very special and moving uh ceremony as Gerard taught me and I won't go how I got the name EET he goes first um some things take time and the ceremonies uh are part of that if you look at the Lewis and Clark journals and if you ever try to read the entire speech that they gave to each tribe and considered that it then had to be translated and translated the replies had to be transl ated back and translated back in the different ceremonies that they held you come to a complete understanding why I took them 2 and a/2 years to get to Oregon and back it was a real honor for me to be standing at the with you my as I were saying that the in the ceremonies there were often times sacred ceremonies so spiritual leaders would give blessings and prayers for well-being for safe travel for understanding and prayers as Jo I mentioned for their children and the children yet to come and we are going to have some today we're very fortunate to have some today I'm going to uh name the people who are going to be doing it in order be but and then they will do it but not one by one we are going to be moving sort of from east to west as Lewis and Clark did Kenneth Bram is the chief of the monum nation the largest and most western of Virginia's eight recognized tribe he was elected as assistant chief in 1989 and chief in 1995 Lawrence denmore III is an attorney and a member of the oak band of the saponi nation in North Carolina he serves on the okichi sapon tribal council and works to preserve Eastern suan culture history and the toell saponi language of the tribes that inhabited the pedmont regions of Virginia and North Carolina in pre-colombian times the Reverend Alan Kito is an ordained Presbyterian Minister and pipe holder from the Sanu tribe of Nebraska one of four that comprise the Santi division of the Sue Nation the sanes are now found in five states as well as Canada assisting him will be Steve rour Mike squash of the wam tribe is here they met Lewis and Clark at the mouth of the Snake River on the Columbia River Plateau they remain in Washington state and singing will be Fred Hill um Rex Buck Pat Ranna Jason buck and Johnny Buck all R upon Arman honn is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Confederate confederated tribes of Umatilla and is a leader of the Ella louse these tribes have lived on the Columbia River plateau in northeastern Oregon and Southeastern Washington for over 10,000 years and dick dick Bosch I'm sorry a CL opinion represents the Lower Columbia region of the Pacific Northwest I do want to remind you these blessing ceremony participants are spiritual leaders and what they will be doing is sacred in their culture and to be respectful of them and of their ceremonies during these blessing ceremonies there must be no photography of any kind any still digital or video and I thank you all for your cooperation on their behalf uh in advance of these blessing ceremonies which may now begin Discovery to 200 years of the future uh both meaningful and significant and for giving us I think a reminder that the story of Lewis and Clark is not an isolated moment in time but part of a larger historical story that preceded it and that followed it and I particularly thank you for the prayers that this project 200 years later can be the beginning of a much better future for everyone and we wish the project and its crew safe journey and much success at this time I would like to introduce uh Miss Fran P manella the 16th dire director dor of the National Park Service has a long profession in Parks and Recreation more than 30 years he served as terms as executive director of the Florida Recreation and park Association president of the national Recreation and park Association and the National Association of State Park directors most recently she was director of Florida's Department of Recreation and Parks for 12 years she is a native of Connecticut and graduate of the University of Connecticut and Central Connecticut State College Fran in turn we'll introduce our keynote speaker Mr Paul Hoffman please welcome Fran manella thank you so much Jon and I appreciate all of you being here today and what a great effort that's going forth as we as we kick off this great uh expedition of Lewis and Clark and as we could tell today and I thank all the tribes that are here in particular letting us put giving us this blessing but also demonstrating this comes from our hearts this is a story that needs to be told it needs to be told across this nation and again since September 11th I too and proud to be an American and all of us today I think are able to realize this is an important story to be told and you will be helping us do that and I thank you for that I also want to thank Dayton because he is such a leader he not only has written so many books and been such an important part of the lives of so many of us across this nation but he has been a leader of a National Park Service serving on the national park foundation and also uh through his efforts um and parts of other been able to make sure a film is available it will help tell the story of the lon Clark Expedition as we commemorate uh this great opportunity for us all to be together this is a representative of a partnership not only with the tribes not only with all of us here in this room but with everyone across this nation and again a chance for many of us our fellow Partners our state Partners our local Partners our private Partners to join together to be able be able to tell a story that is so important it was very pleasing to me to watch uh representives from BLM BL Land Management national parks everyone joking laughing working together not that they don't do that all the time but it really this is going to give an opportunity further enhance that opportunity we together don't we yes thank you of stress but but this is a great opportunity now and I and I want to particular thank you uh I've been director for about a year and a half now and you know one of the first people I had a chance to visit World by the way there is heat up here I just want to let you know um but you one of the first people I got a chance to visit with and thank you for the leadership the courage and the vision that you have and you being such a motivator to all of us to have this go forward and I thank you your family the National Park Service that has worked so hard car and everybody that's working with you to make this a reality and I thank D GI bank and others that are here with us today thank you for leadership you provided but to all of you as partners to make sure that we move forward together I thank you also want to recognize here today I had a chance just in the short time I've been here to realize we talked about Partnerships and the families and and all that we and how much is from the heart I'd like to have a stand today where I know I have three members of the Lis and Clark family that are here I don't know if there are more but I know someone representing the Clark family and all also Lis C family would you please stand and and be recognized so we can say thank you to you and your families for helping us or wom for sitting us thank you so much thank you to introduce a very important person in our in the lives for all of us of Department of interior particularly those of us in fishal Wildlife and Parks because he is the Deputy assistant secretary for for interior for fish wild parks and he is a graduate at the University of California in San Diego he has a degree in economics with a biology murder he has a diverse background including being a Wilderness guy now only talk Wilderness about he's also was a bon officer so us may need that once in a while Paul and state director for the congressman de chy who is of course now our vice president and executive direct of the Cody County uh Chamber of Commerce which is what he's most recently left as he came on to work with all of us he for the nearly 12 years has been a strong advocate for Gateway Community input which I think has been so evident through this entire partnership as we've gone forth he now as you know serves as Deputy assistant secretary for our the interor for fish water from Parks he's a great friend to Parks he's a great friend to all of us and I'd like to welcome Mr Paul hoer would you please come out please thank you so much so much well thank you thank you very much Fran Dayton Gerard it gives me great pleasure to be here today and to represent Secretary of the Interior Gail Norton and all of the federal agencies who have partnered to put this wonderful exhibit together and wow what an awesome ceremony the message of of uh reconciliation and respect of all the things that we carry forward from the tent of many Vo is I hope all of us will carry forward that Spirit of reconciliation and respect as we leave today it was almost 200 years ago today that President Jefferson sent his trusted Aid Maryweather Lewis on an expedition to explore the Uncharted West and to secure a place in history today we're here to Mark the commencement of another Voyage to the West the core of Discovery to I want to thank the more than 20 Federal partners and agencies acknow the individuals here today who work so hard on this project and are dedicated to the ls and Clark commemoration that we now begin I'm so pleased to see so many people from all across the United States here today to help us open up this facility the contributions of federal agencies the states and the tribes are the key components to making this event a success the cor to facility represents the kind of quality work we can do when we work together as partners as Fran ly pointed out and I do commend director manella and the partk service along with all the agencies who have made this new traveling Visitors Center the success that we see that it is today we look forward to the adventure and your travels as a Core 2 retraces the steps of Lewis and Clark through the power of interpretation core2 will will help people connect with the stories of the explorers and the peoples that they encountered it will build cultural understanding promote natural and cultural resource stewardship along the Trail Court 2 will reach all cultures it will reach all Americans and it will reach the Youth of America today hopefully if I can turn my page it will rekindle that uniquely American desire to explore what is just over the next Ridge what is just around the corner hopefully it will encourage people to get out and see more of this great land Core 2 will promote the use of the Len Clark National Historic Trail build understanding and support the missions of the agency partners and it will enhance the cultures and the economies of our Gateway communities the bicentennial commemoration is about experiencing history and recapturing the spirit of Adventure it is an opportunity to pay tribute along the trail to to all the cultures and the ethnic groups that help build this great nation of ours the L and Clark expedition will stand forever as a monument to the American Spirit a spirit of optimism courage and persistence in the face of adversity I want to thank you again for inviting me here today to help with this dedication it is an honor and a pleasure to be able to represent secretary Norton who does send her best and wishes she could be here and I I want to close this ceremony today because in Indian Country it is always appropriate to give a gift for prayers asked and so now on behalf of cor Discovery 2 I will now present special gifts to the spiritual leaders who have helped with the blessings today I've been asked to let you know that the gift that Deputy assistant secretary uh Paul Hoffman is uh giving is a replica of the um Jefferson peace medal that many of you may be familiar with that Lewis and Clark gave to the represent I ities of tribes they met 200 years ago carrying on a tradition that actually began with the administration of George Washington and continued well into the 19th century on one side is a likeness of Thomas Jefferson with his name as president of United States and on the other side are two hands clasped in friendship and the words peace and friendship EX thank you Fran and Paul for your words and for your leadership in uh seeing this off for the next 3 years and I'm sure under your leadership it will have a fair a very good journey across this nation now we're delighted to take you on a musical journey journey with David wurn after graduating with a fine arts degree in photography from the University of Georgia David worked as a fot journalist for his hometown newspaper he soon grew tired of quote trading time for money as one of his songs says and so he headed north to Alaska as another song said where he HED and work Summers as a th fishing guide Wilderness soon became an inspiration for many of David's songs and it was living out west that this son of the South realized he wanted to make his living as a songwriter after settling in White Fish Montana and working every type of job imaginable to keep a guitar in his hands David has successfully combined his passion for songwriting and photography L and Clark West for America is a musical tribute to the core of Discovery ladies and Gentlemen please welcome David walburn I've got to get a few things plugged in here and if we could turn down this I know she can see me in the back there's a camera up there so if we'll turn this down for uh I'm just happy to be here and be able to share my passion for the Lewis and Clark Story and as I sit here today and I've often done before in Montana uh where I I'm lucky enough to spend uh the summer in Glacier National Park on the uh Blackfoot reservation and and working at mini Glacier Hotel doing my music um often realized that um when I wrote this it was basically just to bring the story to life and uh that there are so many voices that need to be heard and this is just one of them so I'm going to do just a little bit with the video I'll be playing on Sunday so if you're still around you can come see the whole uh show that I do uh it's about an hour and 15 minutes long so if you're still here I think it's on 1:00 or something like that please come by and uh visit now we'll see if all this works it worked in practice ah there we go now let's see what happens ah well just a brief introduction I know you know the story but uh it was back when the United States was a very young nation and we had just brought from France the Louisiana territory which instantly doubled the size of the United States and our president into time wanted to know what was out there because we basically knew little of what lay to the west of the Mississippi and so of course he put together the Lewis and Clark expedition and he got the two uh to get a group of men together to form the core of Discovery and find out what lay to the West with two goals in mind uh first was just to bring back everything that they discovered and the other probably most important was to hopefully find the legendary Northwest Passage a single waterway that would connect the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean cutting across the North American continent so that they could establish a trade route over land so in 1804 uh they set out in a 55 ft kilbo and two canoes loaded down with tons of supplies and they headed up the Missouri on one of America's greatest Adventures so please join me as we retrace parts of the Lewis and Clark expedition as they head West for America roll up your bed roll shoulder your guns let the journey begin give me your strong Give Me Your brave give me your 30 best men and we'll go west for a mica follow the sun on that Northwest Passage to the Sea we go rest for America God's chosen ones and claim all this land for you and me say your prayers B farewell cuz in the morning we'll rise man our ores cast off from sh and leave St Lou behind and we'll go west for America follow the sun on that Northwest Passage to the Sea we'll go W for America God's chosen ones and claim all this land for you and me we go where no white man has ever gone SE things he's never seen and on our shoulders will carry the weight of a nation's hopes and dreams roll up your bed RS shoulder begin and who will go W for America follow the sun on that no bre passage to Sea we the West for America God's chosen me we go rest for America God's chosen one and claim allers land for you and me thank it's the way to the world for an Indian girl she has to be strong for the lord it's not the life that she would choose oh but what can she do she has to be strong for the Lord she prays every night to the spirit of above so they might look out for their own to give her the strength and show her the way so she can be strong for the boy she's a girl among men but they won't see her Bend she has to be strong for the bo no time to cist I'll Do or Die she has to be strong Lord