![\"\"](\"https:\/\/windriver.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Screen-Shot-2017-05-20-at-1.44.16-PM.png\")
\u201cWhat I\u2019m doing is editing the journals with sculptural work, which has never been done before,\u201d Greeves explains.<\/p>\nOver 200 years ago, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark embarked on \u201ca monumental epic in the history of the U.S.,\u201d as described by Fort Washakie sculptor R.V. Greeves.<\/p>\n
In the other direction on America\u2019s timeline, Greeves thinks he\u2019d be able to complete every artistic idea in his head about 300 years from now.<\/p>\n
In the near middle of this history\u2014where we are today\u2014Greeves is in the throes of producing art that complements the journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Greeves explains that in the centuries since Lewis and Clark returned from the Corps of Discovery venture across the burgeoning nation, scientists and historians have been doing the same, and act called editing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I\u2019m doing is editing the journals with sculptural work, which has never been done before,\u201d Greeves explains.<\/p>\n
The focus of this project\u2014his primary focus in the studio\u2014is the Native American Indians encountered by the Corps of Discovery, most of whom had never witnessed a white person prior to the years of this expedition.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was the purest time to ever see the American Indian,\u201d Greeves reflects.<\/p>\n
His \u201cIn the Footsteps of Lewis and Clark\u201d collection, now up to more than 50 bronzes, represents those moments and interactions. Through historical research, Greeves is learning and sculpting each of the tribes the expedition encountered, from the plains to the Coast.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey basically touched all groups of people in this country [at that time] except the southwest Indians, of course,\u201d Greeves explains.<\/p>\n
Many of his Native subjects weren\u2019t just witnessed. They assisted the researchers on their mission. The people Greeves sculpts were instrumental in the success of the expedition. Lewis and Clark and their team found themselves in challenging situations numerous times across what would become the United States, and it was often Natives who helped them persevere.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Indians played a bigger part in it than history has given them the credit for. Without them, the expedition would have failed,\u201d Greeves declared.<\/p>\n
A key element of the success of the expedition was the collection of information, as mandated by President Thomas Jefferson. The scientific mission was designed to collect extensive data from the across the continent and return it to Jefferson. The team returned with may materials and journals, of course, but Clark and others have spent lifetimes analyzing the field notes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was such a monumental undertaking there becomes no end to the project,\u201d Greeves explains.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/windriver.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Screen-Shot-2017-05-20-at-1.44.56-PM.png\")
Now a part of that undertaking for several decades, Fort Washakie\u2019s resident sculptor, himself raised in Missouri, has every intention of upholding the tradition of dedicating one\u2019s life work to Lewis and Clark\u2019s charge.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to work on it until I die,\u201d he declared in response to the question of how many pieces his \u201cIn the Footsteps\u201d collection will ultimately include.<\/p>\n
Many of Greeve\u2019s pieces can be found in museums and exhibits across the very continent he continues to help Lewis and Clark describe. Many reside in his gallery in Fort Washakie, which is open by appointment. Greeves has sculpted extensively beyond his edits of Lewis and Clark\u2019s journals, almost exclusively of Native American subjects.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve only lived among Indians my whole life. I don\u2019t know anything different,\u201d he offers. Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, he moved to Fort Washakie on the Wind River Indian Reservation as a young man. He has been creating art from the heart of the Reservation for about 60 years now.<\/p>\n
Though he hasn\u2019t found a way to extend his time in Fort Washakie by another 300 years, Greeves has found a way to extend the understanding and presence of the people who called these mountains home well before he was born.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Reconna\u00eetre le r\u00f4le essentiel des tribus dans le succ\u00e8s du Corps de d\u00e9couverte<\/p>","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":12241,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"community":[],"season":[],"class_list":["post-12235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/windriver.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/windriver.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/windriver.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/windriver.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/windriver.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/windriver.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12235\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/windriver.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/windriver.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/windriver.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/windriver.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12235"},{"taxonomy":"community","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/windriver.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/community?post=12235"},{"taxonomy":"season","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/windriver.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/season?post=12235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}