This presentation deals with the early opening of the North West and present
day Washington State to "European" influence from 1792 to the 1830's.
Suitable for elementary through
adult audiences, it is about one hour in length.A decade before Lewis and Clark made their epic journey and long before the great migrations of the mid-nineteenth century, the opening of the North West was first and foremost a business enterprise. It started at the mouth of the mighty Columbia with British and American traders in the 1790's. Later commerce came overland by the traders of the North West Company and after 1820, the HBC. What came about, through give and take was a negotiated understanding and working relationship among the parties. Each retained an element of uniqueness, but assimilated changes into their own way of doing things. It was by and large a prosperous peaceful coexistence based upon the common ground of commerce.
To convey these ideas, John Salicco does a first person impersonation of Jacques Portier, a Métis, in the 1830's who reminisces about his time as a voyageur and a partner in the old Northwest Company. From the founding of Astoria, Spokane and Vancouver, Portier in story and in song provides first hand accounts of the exploits and adventures of his contemporaries - Finlay; Thompson; Simpson; Fraser; McKenzie - the first explorers and traders of the old northwest.
Applicable to K-12: National Social Sciences Standards – US History
Era 4 - EXPANSION AND REFORM (1801-1861)
National Economic Standards
1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14
These standards may be found in the: National Content Standards in Economics. New York: National Council on Economic Education, 1997
http://www.ncee.net/ea/standards/
*This is an Inquiring Mind presentation. Inquiring Mind is a program of Humanities Washington.
Out of State Single performance fee is $300.00
( Out-of-area travel and lodging expenses are extra. )
SPECIAL SUBSIDIZED FEE for Schools or Organizations in the State of Washington
State of Washington organizations booking a speaker for the first time, only pay a $50.00 fee ( directly to Humanities Washington). Each additional booking in a program year (July 1 – June 30) will drop to $25.00. An organization may book up to three Community Conversation presentations per year; additional presentations may be available upon request.
Booking organizations will be expected to pay for program publicity and negotiate speaker travel and per diem costs with the speaker. Upon submission of a final report packet to Humanities Washington, the qualifying organization will receive $150 from Humanities Washington to offset the costs of program publicity and speaker travel to help underwrite these costs.
For details on qualifying for the subsidized performance and booking this presentation through Humanities Washington, please go directly to the Inquiring Mind Website: http://www.humanities.org/inquiringmind/bookingaspeaker.php
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