A frank portrayal of Toussaint Charbonneau, a French-Canadian fur trader, who, with his Shoshone Indian wife Sacagawea, joined the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1803. While Sacagawea assumed legendary status as a "token of peace", Toussaint has been maligned in fiction and nonfiction alike.

Spanning the globe and the centuries, Frances Karttunen tells the stories of sixteen men and women who served as interpreters and guides to conquerors, missionaries, explorers, soldiers, and anthropologists. These interpreters acted as uncomfortable bridges between two worlds; their own marginality, the fact that they belonged to neither world, suggests the complexity and tension between cultures meeting for the first time. Some of the guides were literally dragged into their roles; others volunteered. The most famous ones were especially skilled at living in two worlds and surviving to recount their experiences. Among outsiders, the interpreters found protection. sustenance, recognition, intellectual companionship, and employment, yet most of the interpreters ultimately suffered tragic fates. Between Worlds addresses the broadest issues of cross-cultural encounters, imperialism, and capitalism and gives them a human face.

Particularly valuable for Ronda's inclusion of pertinent background information about the various tribes and for his ethnological analysis. An appendix also places the Sacagawea myth in its proper perspective. Gracefully written, the book bridges the gap between academic and general audiences.OCo"Choice""

At the heart of this landmark collection of essays rests a single question: What impact, good or bad, immediate or long-range, did Lewis and Clark’s journey have on the Indians whose homelands they traversed? The nine writers in this volume each provide their own unique answers; from Pulitzer prize-winner N. Scott Momaday, who offers a haunting essay evoking the voices of the past; to Debra Magpie Earling’s illumination of her ancestral family, their survival, and the magic they use to this day; to Mark N. Trahant’s attempt to trace his own blood back to Clark himself; and Roberta Conner’s comparisons of the explorer’s journals with the accounts of the expedition passed down to her. Incisive and compelling, these essays shed new light on our understanding of this landmark journey into the American West.

What did the Lewis and Clark Expedition live on? Fresh bison on the High Plains, dried salmon in Columbia River country, dog and horse when necessary, vegetables offered by Indian hosts, portable soup, and salt pork carried from Philadelphia. Leandra Holland's narrative about what the expedition members ate on their journey in 1803 to 1806 makes this book a rich treat as well as a solid reference for historians, researchers, and re-enactors. Extensive illustrations and a sprinkling of authentic recipes help to trace the expedition's daily life, their food preparation, and their preservation and storage methods. A detailed index, separate recipe and menu index, and item-by-item appendices of food groups further assist food lovers and Lewis and Clark buffs.

A beautifully rendered reference guide to the Great Plains portion of the famous expedition through the American West highlights the explorer's remarkable encounters with previously undocumented flora and fauna as they moved through the Plains region. Original. (Biology & Natural History)