Clark's Descendants Replace Stolen Tribal Canoe

Mylee Wahlgren, 6, left, and her grandmother Donna Sinclair, of Washougal, Wash., bless the 36-foot replica canoe during the canoe reparation ceremony Saturday Sept. 24, 2011, at Fort Columbia, near Chinook, Wash. Back in 1806, explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark stole a canoe from native Americans living on the Pacific Coast. More than 200 years later, Clark's descendants are making amends to the Indian's descendants by having a 36-foot replica built for them. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

LONG BEACH, Wash. (AP) — It was a long time coming, but the descendants of explorer William Clark have tried to make amends for a 205-year-old theft. A descendant of the explorer in the Corps of Discovery expedition that opened a land route to the West presented the Chinook Indian Nation with a replica of  a canoe that the corps stole in 1806.
Some of Clark's descendants and a few donors stepped forward to pay for the canoe, which was custom built in Veneta, Ore. The five-hour ceremony on Saturday included songs, gift exchanges and the maiden voyage of the replica canoe.Ray Gardner, chairman of the Chinook Nation's tribal council, said the return of the canoe is a "good place to begin healing. "It's nice to see a circle completed," Gardner said.
After completing their journey west and spending a wet and wretched winter at the mouth of the Columbia River in 1806, Clark and Meriwether Lewis found they were short a canoe, so they stole one from the Clatsop Indians who had kept them alive all winter. The Clatsop later became one of five tribes to form the Chinook Indian Nation. It has long been a sore subject with the tribes in the Pacific Northwest, who perceived the theft as a major insult. Canoes were a sacred part of their culture and an important mode of transportation.

The Chinook Indian Nation is not formally recognized by the U.S. government. Federal recognition would make the tribe eligible for economic assistance, land, housing grants and other government benefits.

"I cannot help but think, if one family can step forward and right a wrong that has been committed against the Chinook nation 205 years later," Gardner said,  "it would be nice if the federal government would do the same."Clark's descendant, Lotsie Clark Holton, said she was overwhelmed by the acceptance of her family by Chinook tribe members.

Holton learned of the theft while working at a Washington, D.C., nonprofit with Gardner, setting Saturday's events in motion. "It's been a wonderful experience. The Chinook people totally accepted us," Holton said. "After 205 years, it was certainly overdue."

Ok. Lots of unpleasant yet funny thoughts about this one photo but that's another blog.
William Clark's 8th generation descendants Rick Holton, right, and Anna Haala, 77, left, of Seattle, look on during the canoe reparation ceremony, Saturday Sept. 24, 2011, at Fort Columbia, near Chinook, Wash. Back in 1806, explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark stole a canoe from native Americans living on the Pacific Coast. More than 200 years later, Clark's descendants are making amends to the Indian's descendants by having a 36-foot replica built for them. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

William Clark's descendants Robert, 8, and Greta, 4, Holton, and their grandmother Carlota 'Lotsie' Holton, and Peyton 'Bud' Clark, right, stand in front of their gift, a 36-foot canoe during the canoe reparation ceremony Saturday Sept. 24, 2011, near Chinook, Wash. Back in 1806, explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark stole a canoe from native Americans living on the Pacific Coast. More than 200 years later, Clark's descendants are making amends to the Indian descendants by having a 36-foot replica built for them. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Lewis and Clark

This is an undated photo of a portrait of explorers Meriwether Lewis, left, and William Clark. Back in 1806, the explorers stole a canoe from native Americans living on the Pacific Coast. More than 200 years later, William Clark's descendants are making amends to the Indians' descendants by having a 36-foot replica built for them by an Oregon builder of custom wooden boats. (AP Photo)