July 15, 2004

Tent of Many Voices goes up on Omaha Riverfront

National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior

Lewis and Clark National  Historic Trail  Corps of Discovery II:  200 Years to the Future

601 Riverfront Drive Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-661-1804 www.nps.gov/lecl

t's been 19 months on the road for the staff and crew of "Corps of Discovery II: 200 Years to the Future." The exhibit to commemorate the 1803-06 Lewis and Clark Expedition makes a home visit July 24-27 at Lewis and Clark Landing on the Omaha riverfront.

	NPS Corps of Discovery II mobile exhibit and the 'Tent of Many Voices'.

Corps of Discovery II is the premiere mobile exhibit of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial. Led by the National Park Service, Corps of Discovery II offers a comprehensive look at the epic adventure through interpretative programs featuring maps, graphics, works of art, language and culture as well as live programs in the Tent of Many Voices, a 40- by 70-foot venue that seats 200 people.

"The Midlands are the traditional homelands for several American Indian nations," said Dick Basch, American Indian Liaison for the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail and Corps of Discovery II. "In Omaha we will welcome those nations and greet the Omaha, Otoe-Missouria, Ponca, Winnebago and Santee Sioux at Corps II and the Tent of Many Voices."

Corps II will open at noon on Saturday July 24. The big tents of Corps II will be set up in the parking area between Rick's Boatyard Café and the new Carl T. Curtis National Park Service Regional Headquarters building on Riverfront Drive. In addition to being the Midwest Region headquarters, Omaha is the home base for the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail and the Corps of Discovery II project.

Corps II is free and the public is invited. The hours for Corps II in Omaha are
* July 24 and 25 - noon to 8 p.m.
* July 26 and 27 - 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

There are many stories in the epic adventure of Lewis and Clark. It was America's first mission of science, cultural interaction and business. In Omaha visitors will be treated to presentations from a variety of American Indian speakers, first-person reenactors who will portray expedition members, programs by National Park Service rangers and speakers from other federal agencies including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Corps of Discovery II is designed for kids of all ages. The exhibit includes a half-scale keelboat and a full size Indian lodge where rangers present a variety of interpretive programs that include hands-on objects common to the Trail in 1804-06. 

	Rick Magee, USACOE as Cpl. Richard Warfington.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers staff also bring first person programs to the Tent of Many Voices as part of the vast public-private and tribal partnership Corps II is based on. Rick Magee, shown at right, is one of the Corps of Engineers presenters and visits in the Tent of Many Voices about his life as expedition member Corporal Richard Warfington.

There are, literally, thousands of people that make up the partnership of Corps II. The project is led by the National Park Service but includes more than 25 federal agencies, American Indian nations, dozens of state and local agencies and individual volunteers in each community Corps of Discovery II visits on its four-year tour of the United States. 

Programs in the Tent of Many Voices include a look at life along the Trail before Lewis and Clark came through, life during their trek, life in the two centuries following the Expedition, and what life along the Trail could be in the future.

To learn more about the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial and the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail please visit these web sites: