Farewell, Columbus Day -- Hello, Exploration Day

Map of the United States, 1823. Credit: University of Nevada, Reno.

Exploration is in our DNA. Without that innate curiosity, our world would be so different; yet, our schools shortchange students through what has traditionally been a sanitized, Euro-centric recollection of America’s past. No Child Left Behind has further eroded history education by placing the emphasis on math and language arts.

As a former school board president of a district of 10,000 students, I witnessed much of this first hand. Because of my experiences, when recently approached by another former board member to have Columbus Day rededicated to Neil Armstrong Day, I was fascinated. I countered with Exploration Day, which would honor all explorers, and we began a modest journey of our own.

In the process of honing our message, I came across the account of Moncacht-apé, a Native American explorer who lived in the late 1600s and early 1700s. Antoine Simon Le Page Du Pratz, details his travels in “Histoire de la Louisiane,” originally published in Paris in 1758.

In the aggregate, the story of Moncacht-apé exemplifies our concern for the dismal state of historical literacy by the average American, and how little we know about how we arrived at the present. However, his story also epitomizes the strand of curiosity embodied in all of humanity to see what’s over the next horizon, and that element of similarity that connects us all, regardless of our more contemporary ethnic lineages.

In a reprinting by the Harvard College Library, naturalist and historian Stanley Arthur wrote,

Le Page spent eight years among the Natchez and what he wrote about them -- their lives, their customs, their ceremonials -- has been acknowledged to be the best and most accurate accounts we have of these original inhabitants of Louisiana. He has left us, in his splendid history, much information on the other Indian tribes of the lower Mississippi River country.

Le Page sought to determine the origins of Native Americans. His quest led him to Moncacht-apé, a member of the Yazoo tribe with an amazing saga.

Moncacht-apé told Le Page,

I had lost my wife, and all the children whom I had by her, when I undertook my journey towards the sun-rising. I set out from my village contrary to the inclinations of all my relations, and went first to the Chickasaws, our friends and neighbors. I continued among them several days to inform myself whether they knew whence we all came, or at least whence they themselves came; they, who were our elders; since from them came the language of the country.

As they could not inform me, I proceeded on my journey. I reached the country of the Chaouanous, and afterwards went up the Wabash or Ohio, almost to its source, which is in the country of the Iroquois or Five Nations. I left them however towards the north; and during the winter, which in that country is very severe and very long, I lived in a village of the Abenaquis, where I contracted an acquaintance with a man somewhat older than myself, who promised to conduct me the following spring to the Great Water. Accordingly when the snows were melted, and the weather was settled, we proceeded eastward, and, after several days journey, I at length saw the Great Water, which filled me with such joy and admiration that I could not speak.

Having satisfied our curiosity in viewing the Great Water, we returned to the village of the Abenaquis, where I continued the following winter; and after the snows were melted, my companion and I went and viewed the great fall of the river St. Laurence at Niagara, which was distant from the village several days journey. The view of this great fall at first made my hair stand on end, and my heart almost leap out of its place; but afterwards, before I left it, I had the courage to walk under it. Next day we took the shortest road to the Ohio, and my companion and I cutting down a tree on the banks of the river, we formed it into a pettiaugre, which served to conduct me down the Ohio and the Mississippi, after which, with much difficulty I went up our small river; and at length arrived safe among my relations, who were rejoiced to see me in good health.

But Moncacht-apé was not through. Elders told him that the native people came from a land much farther than the source of the Missouri River. He set out to find their origins. He journeyed north to the land of the Illinois, across the river from the mouth of the Missouri. After crossing the Mississippi, he traveled along the northern bank of the Missouri, spending time with the Missouri tribe to learn their language. As he made his way west, Native American companions joined him to serve as translators; they parleyed with the other tribes, and crossed the Continental Divide. He made his way to the Columbia River (though Le Page called it the Fine) and eventually to the Pacific Ocean. There, an old man described a land much farther north and west where large rocks were exposed at low tide and how the land of the setting sun was visible from that point. He told Moncacht-apé that this was the land from where they had originally come.

Moncacht-apé was advised that it would take 36 moons to reach that point and that the weather would be quite severe, so he returned home and shared his story with his people, and eventually with Le Page. From Moncacht-apé’s descriptions, Le Page produced the first map to show a westward flowing river to the Pacific, separate from the Missouri, and which didn’t show the mythical “inland sea” which supposedly lay west of the Rockies. Le Page’s “Histoire” was translated into English in 1774. Thomas Jefferson owned a copy. Lewis and Clark carried another on their expedition.

As far as I know, the incredible trans-continental journey of Moncacht-apé isn’t taught in schools, but it should be; for no other reason than what astronaut Frank Borman said, “Exploration is really the essence of the human spirit.” It’s a common and prominent trait that connects us.

As the story of Moncacht-apé shows, the true American spirit has been and is about achieving the impossible through inquisitiveness, exploration, scientific research, innovation and creativity. From the earliest migrations across the Bering Strait to the successful landing of the Curiosity Rover on Mars, America continues to inspire the dreamers, the courageous, and the adventurers. Through Exploration Day, we can share these stories and motivate future generations to take the next giant leap for all of humankind.

Related Links

HNN Hot Topics: Columbus Day