Returning to the Tent of Many Voices 2021

One of many boxes of DVD recordings being digitized.

NPS Photo

About this article: This article was originally published in the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail 2021 Annual Report.

During the 2003-2006 Bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the National Park Service hosted a national touring exhibit called Corps of Discovery II: Two Hundred Years to the Future. The heart of the exhibit was the Tent of Many Voices, a respected forum where multiple perspectives could be freely shared. Hundreds of hours of speakers and performers from across the country were recorded and archived. This year, Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail completed the first phase of a plan that will eventually make the entire collection of videos compatible with modern web browsers, accessible, and available online. In this first phase, nearly 600 archival DVDs were converted into MP4 format.

A selection of presentations given inside the Tent of Many Voices by American Indian elders, scholars, historians, and community members known as the Tribal Legacy Project can be found at the recently updated website, lc-triballegacy.org.

— Ryan Kephart | Cultural Resources Program Manager