WSU History Professor Will Watch History in the Making

PULLMAN, Wash. – Orlan Svingen, associate professor of history at Washington State University, will watch history in the making in San Diego as the United States Navy launches the USNS Sacagawea (T-AKE 2).

The launch of the USNS Sacagawea, a new dry cargo/ammunition ship, will take place Saturday, June 24, with representatives of the Lemhi Shoshone tribe taking part in the ceremony. 

Svingen said it is significant that representatives of the tribe will take part in the ceremony. “What has been lost or obscured over the years is that Sacagawea, the American Indian woman who accompanied Lewis and Clark, was a Lemhi Shoshone,” said Svingen. 

According to Svingen, since the Lemhi Shoshones were removed from the Salmon River country of central Idaho in 1907, they have been engaged in a prolonged effort to return to some area of their aboriginal homeland.  

“Although it is not the same as winning the restoration of federal recognition,” said Svingen, “the Lemhis probably heaved a collective and appreciative sigh when the secretary of the Navy asked them to sponsor and attend the launching and christening ceremony of the USNS Sacagawea. It has to feel very good compared to their treatment over the years, by Indians and non-Indians alike,” Svingen observed. 

Svingen, a long time associate of the Lemhi Shoshone tribe, was earlier invited by the tribe to participate in “Finding Sacagawea: A National Symposium on an American Phenomenon.” Held in Bismarck, N.D., June 1–4, the event was supported by the Bismarck–Mandan Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Committee. 

For most of the last decade Svingen has been working with the Lemhi Shoshone tribe on issues related to the restoration of federal recognition of the tribe’s sovereignty. The tribe is now supporting efforts of Svingen and WSU Assistant Professor of history Rob McCoy to create a public history field school in Virginia City, Mont. 

Virginia City is celebrated as Montana Territory’s first capital and as a nineteenth-century mining town. The Montana Heritage Commission is interested in expanding the story of the town to include the area’s first inhabitants. The proposed public history field school will train students in areas such as archival and material culture curation techniques and historical interpretation and preservation. “Expanding the Virginia City story to include American Indian history and culture would greatly enhance the experience,” said Svingen. 

To view the T-AKE fact sheet visit the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command Web page: https://www.msc.navy.mil/factsheet/t-ake.htm