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7 Great Plains Nat. Resources J. 55 (2002-2003)
Panel IV: Lewis and Clark and the Indian Tribes: Retelling the Historical Encounter

handle is hein.journals/gpnat7 and id is 61 raw text is: PANEL IV: LEWIS AND CLARK AND THE INDIAN TRIBES:
RETELLING THE HISTORICAL ENCOUNTER
SPEAKER: WAYNE EvANSt
SUMMARY BY: LEONIKA CHARGINGt
I would like to say thank you to the students for asking me to be here. It is an
honor to be here. I think they asked me to present because I had some feelings,
beliefs, and attitudes about this whole thing.
I got involved in the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery kind of by accident.
There's group called the Friends of the Museum at the W.H. Over Museum, and they
were having a meeting to discuss the Corps of Discovery. I became involved in that
meeting. I think originally they just wanted the Oyate Drum to be there.' We
showed up and they were talking about Lewis and Clark and were quite excited
about it. The scholars and some of the community members are here. I heard some
of their stories and words.., words like according to the savage mind there were
little people. That these little people (the Ihanktonwan2 told them) were little people
who lived around here and carried little bows and arrows and would shoot and kill
you. As I was hearing this I was very disturbed.
I am not a very forward person. My grandparents told me to keep my mouth
shut and be quiet. Be humble, be respectful, and not get in front of people and talk.
I still have that in the back of my mind, so I always hesitate. Even though I am a
professor and I have to get up in front of people and talk. But I became concerned
with these terms and these descriptions. I kept listening.
The people were very enthusiastic and excited about the Corps of Discovery. I
finally opened my mouth at one of those meetings and have not been able to close it
since regarding this topic. When the opportunity came I shared what my relatives
told me about Canotinas or little people? They never told me they were little devils
and they never made any reference to the savage mind believing they existed. But in
a very respectful and honorable way they believed in them. They didn't believe,
t Wayne Evans, P.h.D., Doctor of Educational Psychology and Counseling, University of South Dakota;
Professor, American Indian Studies, University of South Dakota.
t Leonika Charging, Arikara/Hidatsa; Panel Moderator; J.D. Candidate May 2003, University of South
Dakota, School of Law; Native American Law Student Association Member.
1. Oyate means the people in Lakota. This a drum group comprised of Dr. Evans and
community members.
2. Ihanktonwan is the Nakota/Dakota word for the People that live by the river. It now refers to
the Yankton Sioux people.
3. Canotina (pronounced Chawn-o-tee-nah) is the Nakota/Dakota (Ihanktonwan) word for little
spirit people which were believed to live around Spirit Mound, as well as, other places in this area.

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