History professor to begin Lewis & Clark presentations

The first speaker on the list is Dr. Joel Hyer, CSC associate professor of history, who will speak about the status of Native America before Lewis and Clark. His presentation will be in room 108 of the Reta King Library at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 11.

Hyer was born and raised in southern California, and taught at universities in the Golden State before coming to CSC. He serves as chairman of the Department of Social Sciences and director of the college’s American Indian studies. He earned a doctorate in Native American History from the University of California, Riverside in 1999.

Hyer’s speech and the remaining Graves series lectures are being presented in conjunction with “Lewis and Clark and the Indian Country,” a traveling exhibit that will be on display in the library March 10-April 18. The exhibit was designed and compiled by the Newberry Library of Chicago, in partnership with the American Library Association.

Following is the schedule of speakers who will discuss Lewis and Clark. Note that changes have been made from the schedule’s original printing.

March 18, “Finding Crazy Horse’s Real Relatives,” by Mike Her Many Horses of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation; March 25, “Lewis and Clark Among the Indians” by Dr. Gary Moulton of Lincoln; April 1, “Lewis and Clark Revisited” by Dr. Jim Hanson of Chadron; April 6, “The Mysterious Death of Meriwether Lewis: Murder or Suicide” by Kira Gale of Omaha; April 8, “The Landscape of the Northern Great Plains from Fort Mandan to the Yellowstone River: Lewis and Clark, Then and Now” Dr. Catherine Lockwood of Chadron; April 15, Gerard Baker of Rapid City.

All but one of the sessions begin at 7 p.m. in room 108 of the library. Gale’s presentation on Sunday, April 6, will begin at 2 p.m.