The Circle Of Tribal Advisors – COTA for short – is one of five volunteer advisory circles to the National Council of the Lewis & Clark Bicentennial. The other four are the Circle of State Advisors (COSA); Circle of Conservation Advisors (COCA); Circle of Education Partners; and the Circle of Signature Event Advisors.

In the 1990’s, as planning for the Lewis & Clark Bicentennial was just getting underway, the National Park Service hosted a series of “listening sessions” for tribes along the Lewis & Clark Trail. Tribal elders, leaders and scholars voiced their perspectives – and apprehensions – about the looming 200th anniversary of Western “discovery.”

Those sessions produced a list of priorities and concerns shared by all the participating tribes:

1. “We are still here” and we want to tell our own stories, without censorship, about the expedition and its consequences for Native peoples;
2. Protection of cultural resources, including burial and religious sites;
3. Protection of natural resources, including traditional foods;
4. Revitalization of Native languages and cultures;
5. Protection of tribal cultural, historical and intellectual property rights;
6. Inter-tribal and inter-cultural reconciliation.

During that same time, debate was raging within the National Council about whether the anniversary ought to be called a “celebration.” American Indians could not – and would not – celebrate the event that opened their homelands to Westward expansion, loss of lands and cultures, oppression and genocide. The only two tribal members of the Council’s board of directors fought hard on the issue – and prevailed. The 45-month-long national event would officially be called a “commemoration” or “observance.”

In October 2000, representatives from a handful of tentatively reassured tribal nations met in Lewiston, Idaho, to discuss whether or not to participate in the bicentennial or boycott it. That gathering confirmed the tribal priorities set forth in the listening sessions, established groundwork for inclusive tribal participation in the bicentennial, and launched the formal coalition that became COTA. By 2005, COTA membership included reps from 41 of the 58 modern tribal governments that now represent the 100 tribal nations recorded by Lewis & Clark.

At its 2001 annual planning workshop, the National Council of the Lewis & Clark Bicentennial went a step further. It officially and unanimously adopted tribal involvement as its No. 1 priority for the bicentennial commemoration. Now more empowered, COTA set to work formulating vision and guidance statements to help shape inter-cultural collaboration and planning and to insure that tribal involvement was meaningful, “not just table decoration,” as one COTA founder put it.

Now, at the bicentennial’s halfway point, tribal and non-tribal communities have become more comfortable working together – even when issues are difficult. The rewards are new mutual understanding, rich educational opportunities, collaborative legacy projects, and more common ground than we may have supposed.

COTA’s original priorities of getting out the word that the Indian people whose ancestors met Lewis & Clark are still here; protecting tribal cultural resources; conserving the Creator’s natural gifts to us; and revitalizing indigenous languages still guide tribal participation in the commemoration. And those standards are receiving enthusiastic support from our non-Native partners and the general public. When the National Council received funding from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation to create a cultural awareness campaign, those four priorities formed the cornerstones of national public education messages in TV, radio and print media.

Other COTA projects – like the U.S. Mint’s beautiful and unique American Indian pouch/Lewis & Clark coin set; a model language revitalization program being developed by three tribal museums (Tamastslikt Cultural Institute at Umatilla, the Museum at Warm Springs and the Peoples Center at Salish/Kootenai); and tribal panels and scholarly symposia at National Signature Events– continue to reflect and advance our original priorities.

COTA is an historic coalition that views the Lewis & Clark Bicentennial as an opportunity to preserve and celebrate what we have left of our lands, cultures, and languages; present our points of view about the expedition and its aftermath; honor our ancestors’ legacies; enhance our children’s future, teach visitors about American Indians today, and collaborate with our neighbors to realize mutual goals and benefits.

Because of the open mindedness and tenacity of many good people – Native and non-Native – meaningful tribal involvement has elevated the cross-cultural dialogue that sets this commemoration apart from past national observances of our shared history.

Sammye Meadows is Cultural Awareness Coordinator for the
National Council of the Lewis & Clark Bicentennial

For more information about the Circle of Tribal Advisors, please contact :

Caree Wesselmann
Circle of Tribal Advisors
National Council of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial
PO Box 11940
Saint Louis , MO 63112-0040
314.454.6856
888.999.l803 (toll free)
314.454.3162 (fax)
COTA@lewisandclark200.org

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