The Indianization of Lewis and Clark

Swagerty, William R.

ISBN 10: 087062413X / ISBN 13: 9780870624131

Published by University of Oklahoma Press, 2012

About this Item

Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.

Seller Inventory # 67930871-6

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Indianization of Lewis and Clark
• Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
• Publication Date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 087062413X
• ISBN 13: 9780870624131
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 2nd Edition
• Condition: Good
• Weight: 3.979 pounds

About this title

Synopsis

Although some have attributed the success of the Lewis and Clark expedition primarily to gunpowder and gumption, historian William R. Swagerty demonstrates in this two-volume set that adopting Indian ways of procuring, processing, and transporting food and gear was crucial to the survival of the Corps of Discovery. The Indianization of Lewis and Clark retraces the well-known trail of America’s most famous explorers as a journey into the heart of Native America—a case study of successful material adaptation and cultural borrowing.

Beginning with a broad examination of regional demographics and folkways, Swagerty describes the cultural baggage and material preferences the expedition carried west in 1804. Detailing this baseline reveals which Indian influences were already part of Jeffersonian American culture, and which were progressive adaptations the Corpsmen made of Indian ways in the course of their journey. Swagerty’s exhaustive research offers detailed information on both Indian and Euro-American science, medicine, cartography, and cuisine, and on a wide range of technologies and material culture. Readers learn what the Corpsmen wore, what they ate, how they traveled, and where they slept (and with whom) before, during, and after the return.

Indianization is as old as contact experiences between Native Americans and Europeans. Lewis and Clark took the process to a new level, accepting the hospitality of dozens of Native groups as they sought a navigable water route to the Pacific. This richly illustrated, interdisciplinary study provides a unique and complex portrait of the material and cultural legacy of Indian America, offering readers perspective on lessons learned but largely forgotten in the aftermath of the epic journey.

About the Author

William R. Swagerty is Director of the John Muir Center at University of the Pacific, author of numerous articles on the fur trade, and a contributor to the Smithsonian’s Handbook of North American Indians.