SOUTH DAKOTA TAKES PART IN LEWIS AND CLARK BICENTENNIAL KICK-OFF

On January 18, 1803, President Thomas Jefferson sent a confidential message to Congress requesting $2,500 to fund an expedition up the Missouri River and on to the Pacific Ocean.  It was this request that led to one of the most daring, arduous, and significant journeys in American history, the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Fittingly, America’s observance of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial begins at Jefferson’s mountaintop home, Monticello in Virginia.  Beginning Jan. 15, seminars, performances, exhibitions, press conferences, and other special events revolving around the Lewis and Clark story will be held at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.  A formal ceremony will be held Jan. 18 on the West Lawn of Monticello.  This will be the official kick-off for the national Lewis and Clark Bicentennial commemoration events that will continue through 2006.

As one of the Lewis and Clark trail states, South Dakota has been preparing for the Bicentennial commemoration for more than 10 years.  The South Dakota Department of Tourism will have a booth in the exhibit hall at the University of Virginia throughout the kick-off event.  Assisting with the booth are representatives from the Yankton and Chamberlain-Oacoma Chambers of Commerce, the Akta Lakota Museum in Chamberlain, Cedar Shore Resort in Oacoma, and the  Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Tourism Office.  Lewis and Clark promotional materials from many South Dakota communities, businesses and organizations will be distributed at the exposition.

Two South Dakotans are part of the event programming in Charlottesville.  Mary Gunderson, Yankton, will give a cooking demonstration, “Cooking with Lewis and Clark.”  Renowned Lakota hoop dancer, Kevin Locke, Eagle Butte, will give a performance titled “First Flute: Our Role in the Hoop of Life.”

The National Council of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial has designated 15 events throughout the country as Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Signature Events.  The event at Monticello is the first of these nationally recognized events.  A Signature Event, Oceti Sakowin Experience: Remembering and Educating, will be held in South Dakota in August and September of 2004.  It is being coordinated by the Alliance of Tribal Tourism Advocates (ATTA) with assistance from the South Dakota Department of Tourism.

More information on national Bicentennial plans can be found at www.lewisandclark200.org .  More information on South Dakota’s Lewis and Clark Trail can be found at www.travelsd.com.

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