Abstract
In the United States, the Lewis and Clark Expedition is legendary. Launched in 1804, it marked the will of the emerging state to expand and grow. In 2004 the grateful country commemorated this remarkable occasion by launching the bicentennial celebrations for the Corps of Discovery. There was much to remember the explorers by: their brave exploits in the unknown territory, their thorough descriptions of geography and wildlife, but also their peaceful dealings with the native inhabitants. In the face of this almost perfect record, one encounter with the Indian population stands out: the meeting of the Corps with the Teton Sioux on the bank of the Bad River. The most serious confrontation with the native population, the event, which could be easily construed as disastrous by both sides, was nonetheless chosen for a celebratory re-enactment on location by the community of Pierre and Fort Pierre in the fall of 2004. The authors of this article had an opportunity to view the performance. In the wake of that experience, they examined the event in the process of its unfolding in an attempt to show how it is constituted 'historically'. Leaning in on Paul Ricoeur's problematization of history in terms of narrative transfiguration, they argue and demonstrate that the process of turning the past into history - in this instance in terms of a celebratory public re-enactment - is the product of a complex transformation that is capable of subverting history, yet does not always succeed in this task.