Today the Sea Bird made her way to the easternmost point of our trip "In the Wake of Lewis and Clark." We spent the morning cruising up the Snake River on jet boats visiting many trails and winter campsites of the Nez Perce people. The Nez Perce inhabited this area for thousands of years before the arrival of European trappers, the explorers Lewis and Clark and the many settlers who followed them. We saw deeply cut trails on the sides of the canyon hillsides where Indian people had walked and eventually rode horses from summer campsites to their winter camps.

Pictographs and petroglyphs marked rock walls, reminding everyone of the ancient ones' presence so long ago. Stories were told of the Old Ones, who built pit houses, wintered enormous herds of horses and painted their stories of hunts, animals, ceremonies, and simple geometric designs to commemorate their lives. An abundance of wild foods allowed the time needed to create rock art. According to scientists in the area, carbon dating has documented the presence of man in the Snake River Canyon for well over 12,000 years. According to the Indian people, they have been here since the beginning.

In the late afternoon the jet boats returned to the Sea Bird. We then had the option of making a short trip by bus to the Nez Perce National Historical Park. The park is situated on the Spalding Mission site and is a small piece of land donated by the Nez Perce tribe to the Park Service for a historical preservation site. One of the key features of the site is a strong emphasis on the Nez Perce people, who reside on a reservation a short distance away near the community of Lapwai, Idaho. While at the park, we were able to view one of the finest collections of Plateau artifacts collected and repatriated to its place of origin. Several pieces of the Nez Perce exhibit had been sold to the Ohio Historical Society many years ago. Last year, the final fundraising was completed and these fine pieces of Native American regalia were brought home to the Nez Perce people. The collection is housed at this historical park for viewing by Native and non-native people -- a gift for everyone.

One of the centerpieces of this exhibit is a collection of cradle boards. Both old and newly beaded boards are displayed. Diane Mallickan, a park ranger at the site, often tells the story of one of the cradle boards. Her auntie Viola Morris beaded the cradle board, photographed today, and gave it to the Nez Perce Historical Park. Diane's daughter, Dolores Miles, is the grandniece of the beader Viola Morris. With great pleasure and pride Dolores sat for this photograph, as a traditional young Native American mother who might some day be holding her own child in a cradle board very similar to the ones we saw today.