Indigenous Students Retrace Lewis & Clark for Wildlife

Indigenous students are participating in a groundbreaking wildlife re-survey along the historic Lewis and Clark expedition route. This initiative, launched in early 2025, utilizes thousands of motion-triggered trail cameras across 15 states, building upon digitized journals from the original 1804 expedition.

The Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute is prioritizing Native participation, a stark contrast to the original expedition where Indigenous contributions were often unacknowledged. Seven tribal colleges are now involved, managing data and interpreting ecological changes over the past two centuries.

Students like Tamiera Garter and Precious Yellow Fat from Standing Rock College see the project as vital for confirming traditional ecological knowledge and asserting tribal sovereignty in land management. Concerns about data control were addressed, leading to a focus on contemporary data collection.

Launched in spring 2026, the re-survey has already captured over 5.5 million images of 67 species, revealing positive conservation stories like the resurgence of American beavers and the return of fishers to Pennsylvania. The data will be publicly available for land managers and scientists.