Wednesday, September 16, 2015

NHD Tip of the Day #3: MLARC Annotation

Here is a sample MLARC annotated citation.

Notice how it goes:
Small - Description
Medium - Summary
Large - Interpretation and analysis
The first two parts are all about the source. The last part is about your relationship with the source (how it helped you answer your research question, what new questions were raised, etc.)

Book
Ronda, James P. Lewis and Clark among the Indians. Bicentennial ed. Lincoln: U of Nebraska P, 2002. Print.


Bicentennial edition of a book by Professor James Ronda originally published in 1988.

This book examines the Lewis and Clark Expedition from the perspective of the numerous interactions with the Native Americans encountered on the two year exploration including the Nez Perce, the focus of my project.. The Corps of Discovery was the first encounter many indians had with the westward expansion of American settlers that would eventually claim most of their land. The author describes in detail, drawing heavily on the captains' journals and other primary sources, the many diplomatic, cultural and economic exchanges between the two groups. The importance of trade goods was emphasized.

This book really shed a lot of light on my research regarding the interactions between the Corps of Discovery and the various groups of indians encountered along the way. The author's list of sources is extensive. One thing I really appreciated was that the author portrayed the indians as human beings and not as the cartoon character stereotypes I have found in other sources. I was curious as to how they could have encountered so many different tribes with almost no violence. I learned that the captains were very skillful in negotiating with the indian leaders and that the role of gift-giving was important. The captains were at first fairly ignorant about the intricate, complicated and far-ranging trade networks but learned quickly how extensive and important they were. The extent of the trade networks became clear to me when the author told how the expedition discovered some of their very own trade goods actually travelled across the country faster than they did. Another point the author made and supported was the major role that Sacagawea played in negotiations with her people, the Lemhi Shoshone. I also learned how William Clark's "personal servant" York (actually a slave) fascinated the indians who had never seen a black man before (and also how the native women had a special interest in him!). I also have a much clearer picture of how the captains negotiated peacefully with the Nez Perce who helped the expedition traverse the Bitterroot Mountains.

Some new avenues of research I'd like to pursue are the following: What happened to York after the expedition? Did the diplomacy practiced by the captains lead to long-term agreements with the indians? Did the western trade goods have long-lasting effects on the indians economy or culture? I would also like to know if there are any stories in the oral tradition of the Nez Perce regarding the encounter with the Corps of Discovery.

2 comments:

  1. Is there a min. amount of question we need in the last paragraph?

    ReplyDelete