Volume 14 Spring 2003 Issue #3

Bicentennial Offers Opportunities for Tourism and Good Will

By Dorreen Yellow Bird

Lewis and Clark's keel boats and canoes navigated a journey up the Missouri River from St. Louis to the Northwest coast and back 200 years ago. On that expedition, they encountered the Lakota, Dakota, Arikara, Mandan, and Hidatsa in what is now South Dakota and North Dakota.

Today these tribes are preparing for tourists who will visit some of the same sites that the explorers visited two centuries ago. This time, they won't be at the shore of the Missouri River handing out food and directions. Instead, Native people will be taking a lead role in interpreting and making history.

"When about 30 million people make the trek following the historic Lewis and Clark route, we will be ready," said Karen Paetz, the director of the Tribal Tourism Partnership Project at United Tribes Technical College (UTTC) in Bismarck, ND. A two-year, $774,000 Department of Labor grant that began March 2001 has helped them prepare. There are 14 other grantees, but UTTC is the only tribal recipient. The UTTC initiative, which includes five other tribal colleges in the region as partners, is seen as a model for other tribes who want to pursue tribal tourism.

This grant focuses on training participants to enter the workforce, and it comes at the same time as the bicentennial. UTTC is using this opportunity to do two things: develop economic strategies for the tribes in tourism and develop employment opportunities, such as preparing young adults to become ambassadors for Indian people, said Paetz, who is a direct descendent of Arikara, Mandan, and Hidatsa people.

Some Native people see the Lewis and Clark expedition as the beginning of a dark period of American Indian history because it opened up the territory for non-Natives. That is true, said David Gipp, president of UTTC, but it also opened up the area for commerce. "Even Sitting Bull himself traded with the Americans, French, and other tribes," he said. Gipp believes tribes can focus on the negative, or they can welcome people into their communities and reap the monetary benefits of the tourism. "It is time to tell non-Natives our point of view of history -- to tell our own story. It is also a time to make friends and a little money. It is a win-win situation," said Gipp (Standing Rock Sioux).

The bicentennial will be a good opportunity for tribes to assure better quality services and products by and about Native Americans -- not the "Hong Kong fetish" type of products. These imitation products from foreign countries have appeared in markets around the nation -- even at Native American pow wows - where they are sold as Native American. True Native American products can represent the artistic, cultural, spiritual, and historic perspective of tribes, said Gipp.

Péhriska-Rúhpa, Hidatsa Man, 1834 watercolor by Karl Bodmer. Courtesy of Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, NE, gift of Enron Art Foundation

Because of UTTC's interest in tourism, the college helped found the American Indian and Alaska Native Tourism Association (now called the Tourism Association) a few years ago. The national organization provides opportunities for Native people to network, solve problems, and educate through tourism.

"We are more sensitive to tribal issues," said Paetz. Tribal tourism advocates can help tribes make sure that what they share with the public is what they want to share. That might mean keeping some sacred stories, sites, and items from public view at times or coaching tourists into a better understanding of what they are experiencing. For example, they might protect ceremonies like the Sun Dance or sites like Bear Butte in South Dakota where Indian people fast and pray.

The efforts to attract tourists are well underway. Standing Rock Reservation was designated a "scenic byway" by both North and South Dakota, which means tourists will be directed to the area, according to Sitting Bull College site coordinator Pam Ternes (Standing Rock Sioux). Sitting Bull College is located along the Missouri River near the boundary between North and South Dakota.

To serve the influx of visitors, the tribe and several others have started businesses on the Standing Rock Reservation, according to Ternes. She gives the Tribal Tourism Partnership part of the credit; the project provides training for tourism entrepreneurs. The college's cultural learning center is developing arts and crafts for visitors to see and purchase. The towns of Wakpala and Kennel, SD, are working on tribal and individual tourist projects. Kennel is rebuilding the Fort Manuel Lisa site, which is said to be the home and burial ground of Lewis and Clark's guide, Sakakawea.

For the Department of Labor grant, UTTC partnered with all the other tribal colleges in North Dakota as well as Sisseton Wahpeton Community College (Sisseton, SD). In addition to Sitting Bull College, the others are: Fort Berthold Community College (New Town), Cankdeska Cikana Community College (Fort Totten), and Turtle Mountain Community College (Belcourt). These colleges receive funding toward tourism and job development. Each tribal college has a site coordinator to serve as a liaison between the college and community.

UTTC hopes that students who receive the training will return to the college in Bismarck for a two-year applied associate degree in tribal tourism, Paetz said. UTTC offers classes like introduction to business, small businesses, and marketing. The college is currently offering pilot classes to seven students for an Associate of Applied Science Degree in Tribal Tourism.

UTTC's involvement will not end when the Lewis and Clark bicentennial celebration is over. The college will continue offering workshops and summer training for tribal colleges, teachers, and students in tribal tourism. In the future, UTTC plans to offer its tribal tourism degree and certificates to off-campus students in rural areas using telecommunications.

Dorreen Yellow Bird (Sahnish) is a columnist for the Grand Forks Herald in North Dakota. She is currently writing and researching a historic narrative and a novel of the Sahnish (Arikara) people. She is also working on a children's book about the Sahnish meeting with Lewis and Clark. She has a master's degree in education from Oregon State University.

For more information, contact: Karen Paetz, acting director of the Tribal Tourism Partnership project at United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck, ND (701) 255-3285 ext. 426 or email kar_paetz@hotmail.com. Pam Ternes at Sitting Bull College (701) 854-3861 or email pamelat@sbci.edu.