Expedition continued
Becker used the role of Sacagawea, played by Kristé Belt, a UNL graduate opera student from Maryland, to capture the essence of the Native Americans Lewis and Clark encountered during their three-year expedition. Although historians will be quick to point out the young Native American girl never stepped foot in Nebraska, it’s through the role of Sacagawea that the audience will see the myriad emotions and thoughts Native Americans must have felt. Creative license accelerates the story so it can demonstrate a three-year journey in less than an hour. Ron Hull, chairman of the Nebraska Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commission, said the play was a sort of poetic imagining of the expedition, and that Sacagawea represents Plains Natives who were friends of the land and listeners to the rivers and animals around them. “Sacagawea gives a wonderful speech about what it means to be free that I like a lot about,” Hull said. “There must have been that sense of freedom for the Native Americans and the French, Spanish and Americans living at that time. They were bound by few restrictions spare those that Mother Nature subjected them to.”
“THEY WERE TRAVELING TO PLACES THAT NO AMERICAN HAD BEEN. THEY DIDN’T KNOW WHAT THEY WERE GOING TO MEET, AND ONLY ONE PERSON DIED IN A THREE-YEAR EXCURSION. AT THAT TIME, IT WAS LIKE SENDING A MAN TO THE MOON.” Jeffery S. Elwell, Department of Theatre Arts chairman
Hull also said there was little information in the Lewis and Clark journals about daily routine during the expedition. “Carson Grace Becker has fashioned a piece that gives a sense of the whole journey and delineates the people on that journey, their personalities, their ethnicities,” Hull said. Becker’s work, Hull explained, also illuminated the relationship between the two leaders of the corps. “Everything we’ve read indicated they were bonded and true partners, which is one of the reasons they were so successful,” Hull said, “And this play reflects that.” As the production evolved from the planning stage to production, Hull said, the commission board wanted to produce something worthy of the American character exemplified by the expedition. “We wanted to honor the courage and endurance of Lewis and Clark,” Hull said, “But paramount in our thinking was the desire to honor the Native Americans, the Otoe-Missouria, and ultimately give all Americans a sense of pride in their country and history.” Hull said the commission had worked closely with Otoe-Missouria representatives from Red Rock, Okla. “We’ve had Native American representation at all of our meetings, and we have about 70 Native Americans from Red Rock to take part in these activities,” Hull said. “I don’t know if this has been done before and certainly not by other Lewis and Clark commissions.” UNL Professor of History Gary Moulton, one of the nation’s foremost Lewis and Clark scholars, served as a historical consultant early in the project. Matt Jones, a Native American history consultant, also worked with Hull, Becker and Elwell on the drafting of a script that evolved since Becker was commissioned in March 2003. “The script for the first tech(nical) rehearsal was on the eighth draft. It was a lot of work for Carson and all of us,” Elwell said. Finding actors to fill the 14 speaking roles was a tough job, Elwell said. The talent search was not limited to Nebraska and included Equity actors from Chicago and New York City. The casting difficulties, Elwell said, came in filling Native American roles. Casting calls for Native Americans in Nebraska, Chicago and New York weren’t successful, Elwell said. Fortunately, local Native Americans came forward to fill the two biggest speaking roles. “Richard Barea, a member of the Omaha Tribe who has acted before, is playing Big Horse. Moses Brings Plenty from South Dakota is playing He Who Pities Them,” Elwell said, “They’ve done a great job.”
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