4/13/2006

Greetings Readers!

   We have a special treat for you today! Not only do we have the usual rundown of events and suchlike, but we also have a special extra-long article on James Ronda, author of "Louis and Clark Among the Indians" (among many other titles). Since it is longer than our normal entries, we will be breaking it up into sections, for your convenience, with the other events between the paragraphs. Look for the "quotation marks", Readers -- there you will find the next section of the special feature!

   "James Ronda's last 51 Days with "Lewis and Clark Among the Indians" in various venues - the last one being Room 203 of the Smith Center at Washington State University. There, James Ronda, author of "Lewis and Clark Among the Indians" ended his twenty-five year odyssey under the aegis of the WSU history department. Before Ronda wrote "Lewis and Clark Among the Indians" (UNEB Press 1984, $17.95) there was no account of the Indian experience with Lewis and Clark. In his 51 days, Ronda spoke to audiences ranging in size from five people to 25,000, in fields, darkened auditoriums in South Dakota, and even in Nebraska (his speech was the biggest event in Nebraska that weekend). Once, he even lectured in a mall, of all places (making him the only American historian to do so - true story!)" (To be continued...)

   Darfur Diaries: Message From Home -- The documentary on everyone's mind, the tragic story of the people of Darfur and their struggle under the Sudanese government. This moving film will be played at 7:30pm on April 19th at the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse, on 420 E. 2nd Street in Moscow. Everyone who has seen this film, Readers, from curious students to the Deputy Permanent U.S. Representative to the United Nations, has been moved by the story of the struggle currently unfolding in Darfur.

   "Ronda says that there is one rule - the Jackson rule, named after the late Donald Jackson, the compiler of the two volume collection of letters of Lewis and Clark. The rule says that it is no longer useful to think of the story of Lewis and Clark as the story of two men. Ronda agrees with this sentiment. His corollary is that since the past is a different country, things are done differently there. You have to get out of the boat and the river bank and see the journey from other points of view. For example, York and Clark were not pals - that's a whitewash of the past. Clark whipped York, and did not give him his freedom. You can't escape the ways of the past, and you can't write about a place until you've truly seen it. Ronda is surprised by the interest in the Lewis and Clark bi-centennial. He sees Americans as caring, not about history, but about anniversaries. Anniversaries are History Lite - all the excitement, but only one date to remember. Americans, he considers, are always looking for the next big thing." (To be continued)

   Speaking of the next big thing, Readers, you should know that Gail Stearns is having a book signing soon! April 29th, in fact, from 12:00pm-2:00pm, right here in Book People! The signing will be for her book, "Writing Pauline: Wisdom From a Long Life", the story of an exceptional woman. Gail Stearns is Director of the Common Ministry and Adjunct Faculty in the Honor's College and Women's Studies Department at Washington State University.

   "A chance reading in 1980 of "Passage Through the Garden" by James Allen, led Ronda to wonder what hadn't been written about Lewis and Clark. Allen suggested Indians. Ronda began reading and in 1980 took to the Lewis and Clark trail in a red WB Rabbit. He didn't see anybody on the trail. When he wrote the last chapters of "Lewis and Clark among the Indians", he cried. His life had been changed forever. The interest in Lewis and Clark took off in the 1990s - an unsettled time in American cultural history. Americans were ashamed of the actions of their leaders. Before 9/11, Americans were hungry for good guys and good stories, simple stories with triumphant endings. But for the Native Americans, the story of Lewis and Clark was not a triumphant story. Their journey ends with the drowning of Celilo Falls, an event covered in Katherine Barber's "Death of Celilo Falls". Lewis and Clark is not a "road story". The term 'Corps of Discovery' was not used to describe them until the 1950's and later. What ignited interest in the bicentennial was money, and Lewis and Clark became heritage tourism, a great American carnival."

   7:00pm, Wednesday May 3rd, LeRoy Ashby, professor of History at Washington State University, will be signing copies of his book on popular culture. The book, "With Amusement to All: A History of American Popular Culture Since 1830", comes highly recommended for it's breadth and depth of scholarship as well as it's wide (dare we say popular?) appeal and accessible style. Come see what it's all about, at Book People of Moscow!

   "Ronda credits Stephen Ambrose's "Undaunted Courage" with sparking interest in Lewis and Clark. But Ronda doesn't think "Undaunted Courage" is good history. The paperback edition added three chapters on the Indians, who were completely absent in the hardcover version. "Undaunted Courage" is Lewis and Clark as World War II platoon leaders, adjusted to be 30-second sound bites of history, white guy history, a good simple adventure story in heroic prose. Ronda feels that any writer who claims to be a historian should be judged by the standards of the profession. The writer should show an engagement with the sources, should live with the sources daily. Questions, not sound bites, are the engines of the intellect."

   Friday Cheer! Celebrate graduation and mother's day with the amazing collection "Kiss Tomorrow Hello", a celebration of women by women. Contributing authors include Kim Barnes, Claire Davis, Joy Passanante, and Mary Blew among many others. Catch the book signing on May 12th at 4:00pm, just in time for Graduation!

   "Lewis and Clark's journey, and the Americanization of the Northwest, was not inevitable. If something is inevitable, then there can be no moral judgment attached to the actions. What this past offense is is a gift, but a gift with an obligation. The Lewis and Clark story is a story in a grounded place, where the environment always plays a role. The story is subject to the demands of real life, and can be used as a yardstick to measure change. The Lewis and Clark story represents a clear space between Indians and white colonists where Indian diplomats have cleared a space between parties for clear thinking, a halfway point for mediation. The Lewis and Clark journals are unique among exploration literature for the recording of native voices. In contrast, indians are invisible in Fremont's journals.
   Once the Reader has heard the stories of the journey, the reader has to make choices to get the story right. The reader has to learn from all members of the cast - the explorers, the indians, the environment, everyone. The readers have to decide what the stories mean, and how they are told, and how (and if) the telling can lead us to a higher moral ground."

   Readers, do you know any graduates? Or anyone who desperately needs a few small but good books? If so, take advantage of our graduation sale! We are offering a package of three books: "Blessed are the Peacemakers", a compilation of Christ's teachings by Wendell Berry; "Jesus and Nonviolence: a Third Way" by Walter Wink; and "how to cure a fanatic" by Amos Oz, at a discount of 20% from their normal prices. Don't miss out on this opportunity, Readers, to save money on good books! The sale starts tomorrow, so place your orders today!

   "Ronda sees several ways to tell the Lewis and Clark story.
- Lewis and Clark as white male heroes.
- Lewis and Clark as the triumph of manifest destiny - what was, had to be.
- Lewis and Clark as Band of Brothers, the west as Omaha beach and D-Day. The past, like the present, as a constant struggle.
- Lewis and Clark - the dark side; imperialists subjugating the native people.
- Lewis and Clark as scientists, pioneering naturalists, botanists, ethnobiologists.
- Lewis and Clark as failures, who could never find the Jefferson's northwest passage.
- Lewis and Clark as a complex human community, making its way through the west by the grace of strangers.
- The above are, of course, only suggested interpretations. Please feel free to add your own here -- part of understanding history is taking it and understanding it on your terms."

   This just in, Readers! Gary Gildner will be reading at Washington State University at 7:30pm Tuesday, April 18th. The reading will take place in the Museum of Art Gallery in the Fine Arts Center on the WSU Campus. Books and refreshments will be available after the reading. For more information, please call Andrea Mason at (509)335-6846.

   "For Ronda, Lewis and Clark is our foundation story. It's how we imagine our house, how it's built, how the foundation is constructed, and who is in the master bedroom. It's important for us as a nation to choose which way we tell the Lewis and Clark story, because that story is our story.
   All journeys change us. The best stories are the ones that change us. If for some people the stories are a failure, the story still expands and enriches others. All stories bring us face to face with wonder and strangeness. The adventure of Lewis and Clark is no exception."

Well Readers, I hope you enjoyed our historical interludes. Thank you for reading, and as always, take care!
- Book People of Moscow

Archive of Previous Issues