Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Daily Dilemma #1
Fall 1804
You and your Corps of Discovery are approaching the Mandan Villages. You know this is the trade
center of the Northern Plains. Native Americans and white businessmen travel long distances to trade
in the late summer. On your way to the Mandan villages you and your men have seen many abandoned
villages. The Mandan Indians suffered great losses of life due to a small pox epidemic brought by the
white man. You discover there are two Mandan villages, one led by Chief Big White on the west bank
of the river, and another led by Chief Black Cat on the east bank.
You have yet to begin your journey into the great unknown. So far, all the distance you have come
from St. Louis has been in familiar territory. In October you meet the Mandans. Chief Big White and
his hunting party greet you; peace seems possible. The Mandans are delighted that your expedition
requires that you spend the next five months wintering with them.
You are interested in any information the local traders can provide. You invite them to your camp to
discuss the geography. One of your visitors is a man named Toussaint Charbonneau, a French
Canadian. He is living among the Hidatsa Indians as an independent trader. Charbonneau has a young
Indian wife. He won her in a bet from the Hidatsa warriors who kidnapped her from the Shoshone.
Toussaint Charbonneau wishes to sign on with your Expedition as an interpreter. His wife speaks both
Shoshone and Hidatsa. Charbonneau can translate the Hidatsa into French to Drouillard (a member of
the Corps of Discovery). Drouillard can then translate to you and Clark in English.
Communication with the Native Americans is of utmost importance. The success of your expedition
may depend on the willingness of the Native Americans to trade. Your needs should be explained in
their native tongue. One of your Corps members, MacKenzie, has acquainted himself with Toussaint
Charbonneau and he is not impressed. Apparently, the translation chain does not flow as well as you
originally believed.
Should you hire Toussaint Charbonneau and in the process agree to take along his wife, even though
she is pregnant?
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DeleteMy corps daily dilemma was whether we would allow Toussaint Charbonneau and his young pregnant Shoshone Indain wife, Sacajawea, to join our corps. One of our trusted members, Mackenzie, has gotten to know Charbonneau and is not excited about the prospect of him joining our corps. After some very good discussion my corp decide to take them with us.
ReplyDeleteThe discussion started out negative. We weren't sure if we wanted to take a pregnant woman and a lazy man with us. Then Andrea said that Sacajawea would probably be able to help us find our way if we got lost and find food like her people do. I thought that that was a good point. Then Hugo said that she could probably help us make shelters. We also really need a Shoshone speaker so that we may directly communicate our wishes and needs to that vital tribe. Sydnee pointed out that she could also protect us, because war parties did not contain women or children. We hadn't spoken of Charbonneau, but the feeling of mutual disgust was clear, I felt it only fair to say that if things went downhill we could always send them back. In the end, the positives outnumbered the negatives and we agreed to try them out.
Lewis and Clark also added them to their corps, for many of the same reasons that we did. I think that like us, they more hired her than her husband. Their decision turned out to be one of the most important they made. Thank goodness they got it right.
Like us, they needed the Shoshone horses to survive. She also proved useful for finding food. I think that knowing their decisions made our a little biased but we couldn't help it. They, like us, were worried that Charbonneau would be more trouble then he was worth. In the end the decisions were the same.
Our corp thinks that we should hire Charbonneau. He might not help much, but the little he can do will help a some. Our most interest is his wife. Even though she is pregnant, she can probably speak Shoshone and maybe other Native American languages. She will probably also know the native american knowledge of the location.
ReplyDeleteLewis and Clark decided to hire Charbonneau. Both captains ( especially Clark) didn't think he was much help ,but his wife Sacajawea knew Hidasta and the Shoshone languages. Charbonneau, however, did make several contributions to the success of the expedition. He was actually helpful when the expedition arrived at the French trappers in Canada. He served as a cook.
Lewis and Clark chose to hire Charbonneau. Our corp did also.Lewis and Clark chose this because they knew they needed Sacajawea. This is why our corp chose to hired him also. I hope this was the right decision.
We kind of a teensie weensie bit cheated because we already knew Lewis and Clark's decision ,and they succeeded. Our captain (Christian) thought we should hire Charbonneau. Everyone in our corp agreed. We went over the reasons why we thought what we did and confirmed our decision.