Coming full circle: spirituality and wellness among Native communities in the Pacific Northwest

Abstract

tradition, he sees an authentic dialogue of past and present. The acceptance of oral tradition especially among underrepresented voices has been long overdue, and Lewis and Clark Among the Nez Perce: Strangers in the Land of the Nimiipuu is vital to readers’ understanding of history — its contacts, cadences, and rhythms. Much has been written about the Nimiipuu people and their encounters with Lewis and Clark and other European influences. For the first time in an academic press setting is the opportunity for readers to share, in equal parts, traditional forms of historical reporting and a companion with reference and reverence to traditions, accounts, and customs. Pinkham and Evans do a marvelous job of blending the academic with traditional narratives that provide a story rich in humanity and clarity. Using oral traditions alongside clues from the journals of the Corps of Discovery the authors expand and alert readers to the encounters and interactions between the Native and Euro-American cultures and experiences. The authors take the time to balance the stories readers first encountered in books such as Zoa Swayne’s Do Them No Harm, and her acknowledgements of the many Nimiipuu people she interviewed for her book, with expansion and clarity from a perspective of Native ritual passage of events and traditions. Stories of Twisted Hair, the Shoshone guide Old Toby, dog eating, and canoe mishaps are all balanced and add a new lens to view these events. They also provide a context that allows for a “birds eye view” of history to see it all unfold. The beginning chapters are choppy in style and form, but once readers get past these minor encumbrances, the prose flows with clearness, and purpose. In “Weaving Long Ropes: Oral Tradition and Understanding the Great Tide,” published in the Summer 2007 issue of the Oregon Historical Quarterly, Jason T. Younker discusses how enough evidence of tsunamis and earthquakes along the Northwest Coast in the oral tradition of Coos Bay Indians exists to connect the mythic narratives to such specific episodes as the 700 tsunami that struck the Coos Bay, Oregon, region. He reminds us that oral tradition calls for people to weave long ropes to keep from being swept away, to listen to the advice of elders, to respect the environment, and to remember the lessons that elders teach. Like the tradition of historians James Rhonda, Alvin Josephy, Elliott West, and Bernard Devoto, Pinkham and Evans remind us from the highest and most prominent point on the historical horizon to listen to all voices. Doug Erickson Lewis & Clark College