good afternoon. i would like to just comment that there have been a lot of really good things shared here. today as i sat and listened many of those things that have been thought about and discussed and spoken of, i think many of us have had those thoughts before, and so when we accept that responsibility to speak

speak for our ancestors because they no longer have a voice we understand that as ones that may be nagpra, officers for our tribes, but we also understand the importance of our communities knowing about this. when we do these, bringing home our ancestors, we oftentimes first speak to our community so that they are aware, and much has been spoken about the dangers of maybe bringing something home we are not aware of. we rely on prayer. we rely on our spirituality to guide us. those words i spoke in our language, i was asking for that asking for that guidance and

direction in our lives so that we can do what it is we need to do for the answer servers -- ancestors that have been disturbed. i spoke with our community about these things and how they can be looked at, and i put together some pictures, but not first without understanding that others may not view these as appropriate. i think for us, when we talk about the importance of educating one another, of listening to another, then we sometimes do things out of the greater good of what could happen. while these pictures do not detect our ancestors' remains at

all, they could be images that may impact another that believes differently. i wish to apologize if these images do that for anyone, and i guess maybe warn you a little bit that these are pictures of an actual repatriation we've done on behalf of our brother and tribe, the ojibway people in canada, across the river from where i come from. sioux sainte marie michigan. these pictures that i show you -- i'm going to have to spin around a little bit, so i can see what i'm talking about -- this specific spot here.

as many of our burial spots are, they are on a high piece of ground overlooking water and this is right downtown saint marie. it is known as a burial ground for thousands of years. through negotiations and discussions, much like is taking place here today, we are able to negotiate with the united states army corps of engineers to get a lease for the interior of this and to protect it from any further dangers. we fenced it off, and now the tribe has complete control of the interior. this is again remains that were

requested by the army surgeon general, specifically a letter was written that documented that fact, and it's interesting that has been brought up many times here today in regards to how some of our ancestors were collected for that purpose. to not know that in advance, but to yet have this presentation ready again, it just reinforces our belief that these things happen with good reason. what we see here is our community accepting that responsibility of repatriation, that inherent responsibility for all of us. for our community, the lady that you see in the blue, she wanted to humanize it in a way that

maybe others could understand. sometimes, our ancestral remains are looked at as artifacts, and for us, we know and believe and understand that they were real family members. they were mothers. they were fathers. grandmothers, grandfathers sons daughters, panties, uncles. -- aunties, uncles. this woman, she decided to do a storyboard. here we see other community members welcoming them back in a way we understand. we had that sacred fire there to feed them, to do the things that we've been taught to do that are important, and these community members, our eagle staff, they were there present. we had many people helping who

wanted to welcome our ancestors home. this storyboard -- it's hard to see, it's not very accurate, but you can see that there are six individuals that this tribal member elizabeth deese painted. we knew that there were six individuals we were repatriating. we knew their genders. she created this picture of them to again remember that they were real family members. i'm going to have this read. >> these are the remains of six real people,.

i just felt that the words she had written and the effort she had took to welcome these ancestors back home was important to share. i think the message was very powerful. again, a lot has been discussed about repatriation and the logistics that go with that in terms of transporting them home. for us, we didn't believe that we could fly in a plane out here and then not be able to have those ancestors with us.

to lose control of them by having them in that storage bay on the airplane, it was not acceptable so we drove to the smithsonian, and we picked them up and brought them back home. when we did, in those discussions, we talked about that river and how important that was to us as a people and the water and what that means to us and we thought about, how is it that we will take them back across this river to their homeland where our brethren lived on the other side, what is now called canada? that border never existed for us , and for us, it still don't. we don't honor that. so it was discussed and decided that we would take them home in a birchbark and new the way we did hundreds of years ago. this canoe that you see was

commissioned by the bachelor on a first nation, with the intent of bringing those ancestors back across that river. technology will fail you every time. again, you see that eagle staff central to our belief and always leads us in the way that we need. again, it is used, prepared, the spirit of that eagle, to guide us. you can see in the other side, that is sault ste. marie, canada

. here we are crossing. before we did this, we contacted the border patrol, and we told them -- we did not ask -- we said on this day, we will be bringing our ancestors home. they showed up, but they showed up to help us. they escorted us across that river. you can see what a beautiful day that it was. that river was called. as we crossed, we didn't know how long it would take, and it only took us about 15 minutes because we were strong in our belief and what we were doing. we were strong in our paddle strokes. when we got across the river many were there to greet us. i would like to mention that

eric hollinger who worked with us came back and was therefore this day, and that was really important for us to have him be a part of that. from the 1860's, when the army surgeon general requested those skulls -- i say that not easily. it is hard to say that word. how else can we maybe get that message across? again, we were in sault ste. marie canada at this time, and their government acknowledged this responsibility. they had the royal canadian

mounted police escort us about 25 miles, and then we'd go ahead of the procession. at every stoplight, they would pull their cars in front of the traffic and allow us to go through. they did that for us until we got to this place. again on a cliff overlooking the water where we respectfully and appropriately returned our ancestors into the womb of our mother earth. one of the reasons i was asked to come, the karl may museum in germany -- by no we are probably short on time, but they again have ancestral remains in their possession.

we requested for repatriation, and it was like déjà vu all over again, comments being made about the truck backing up to the door of the museum and us cleaning and taking everything that they had. those fears are unfounded as our recent history has shown us. now we are educating them. we are trying to show them that those fears are unfounded. we will be working with them in the near future to work on bringing ancestors home from across the great ocean. miigwich. [applause] >> we do have a few minutes left. first, some questions -- i want to thank you for the beautiful meditation and thoughtful accounts of this repatriation.

i'm struck by the ways in which some of the governmental agencies that may be problematic sometimes -- the state department refuses to recognize laguna and interior does, and suddenly, we have the royal canadian mounted police giving you assistance. do you found that -- find that to be typical when you are involved in cross-border kinds of repatriations and other events? have you found that similar level of cooperation? >> i have. i think what is important to remember is, initially, whether the correspondence is via e-mail or written letters, particularly it's not very effective but when we meet one another as human beings and look into one another's eyes and we can see and feel one another and our

emotions, then we connect on that human level. i think when we can do that, when we can have conversation in a good, productive, positive manner, i think it's way different now. 15 years ago, it wasn't like that. the change has been positive. i think when we went to germany initially, they were very contentious in their belief that the remains that they had, that they legally acquired and owned and that was through letters. once we went and visited and spoke with them, again, i think that humanity comes out.

i was really pleasantly surprised by their reaction once we spoke. i think the conversation just needs to happen, and everything else will kind of fall in place. >> one of the things that, you know, allowed this particular repatriation to happen was a partnership between a tribe on the u.s. side of that thing we don't call but recognize as the border, and a tribe on the other side -- i know michigan tribes have also been involved with state-recognized repatriations. i'm wondering if you can talk for a quick minute about the nature of some of those partnerships, some of which are negotiated in relation to something like nagpra, others of which are not, and of course there are relationships that supersede the law. and wondering if you can talk about how those things play out. >> i guess in terms of nagpra

there is for bridge in there that talks about federally recognized tribes -- verbage in there that talks about federally-recognized tribes. we repatriated on their behalf. once we did that and that transfer of control takes place the smithsonian said, well, now it's your responsibility. what you do is your decision. obviously, our decision was to support our tribe across the river so they can take care of their ancestors and do the right thing. in regards to state historic tribes we have repatriated with them, as well. i think, again understanding that we have these brother tribes, maybe they are not

recognized through that federal status, but they are still recognized in our history. they are included in our repatriation efforts. they are included in the discussions. they are included at the table and they are welcome. the idea that being federally recognized is not even considered. >> is it the case that one could imagine or maybe it has already happened, sort of the reverse a canadian repatriation that takes place cross-border with repatriation coming here? >> i would say that's definitely a possibility. i know that they feel the same way we did and that they would do whatever it is they could to assist in making that possible. again, with the gentleman from

australia, indigenous people there, how they related and interacted with the native americans here at the facility, there is so much commonality among us as people. i'm not speaking of just indigenous peoples. i think part of the problem we see and have is we tend to focus on differences instead of similarities and when you really think about it, there are way, way more similarities than differences. when we can agree on that, and again our conversations are productive positive, and outcomes such as this one, they are just amazing to be a part of. >> maybe one last quick

question. i was struck by in the account of the utah repatriation the sense that, you know -- this is characterized as the heart of paul hunting country -- the worry about repatriation burial being disturbed it seems like this repatriation was in a very safe space, it protected space where that concern really wasn't part of that. >> correct. it was on the reserve in canada. in canada, they called them reserve, not reservation. there were no governmental agreements. they had control of their land and could do as they see fit. i think the idea of doing it on federal land is one that would be acceptable in certain

situations. i know through discussions with all the other tribes in michigan that we believe that when possible, we do read very -- re -bury as close, in a safe place where that fear of being disturbed never happens again. we typically do re-b on reservation landury -- re-bury on reservation land. >> i hope you join me in thanking the panel for what has been a really wonderful conversation. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> tonight on the presidency, author hugh howard talks about the portraits of george washington painted during his lifetime. the author explores the work of gilbert stuart, charles wilson peel, and john trumbull, focusing on how these artists capture the spirit of the first president and what modern

audiences can now learn about washington through these portraits. mr. howard is the author of "the painter's chair: george washington and the making of american art." that is tonight here on american history tv. >> the political landscape has changed with the 114th congress. not only are there 43 new republicans and 15 new democrats in the house and 12 new republicans and one new democrat in the senate, but there are also 100 eight women in congress, including the first african-american republican in the house and the first woman veteran in the senate. keep track of the numbers of congress using congressional chronicle on www.c-span.org. the page has lots of useful information, including voting results and statistics about each session. new congress, best access, on c-span, c-span2, and c-span.org. >> this year, c-span is touring cities across the country

exploring american history. next, a look at our recent visit to corpus christi, texas. you are watching american history tv, all weekend, every weekend on c-span3. >> by chris and the -- christen thee lexington! >> lexington is known as an essex class naval carrier. the first ship of a group, the name of the first ship in the group sets the class. so the essex was the first aircraft carrier built of this type in world war ii. every ship of the same type afterward becomes an essex class. modern nuclear carriers are known as the nimitz class, because the first ship in the class was the uss nimitz.

there were 24 essex class built, 19 in world war ii. they were designed to be the super carriers of the day. the only place the carriers fought was the pacific. the reason is because they had the kind of range -- they could carry enough bombs, fuel ammunition to travel the vast distances of the pacific. the atlantic ocean was mostly summary and war and land-based war, because you could launch airplanes from england to hit the german factories. the pacific, not so. they had to be back the japanese and the islands of the pacific. to beat back the japanese and the islands, you had to take your airplanes with you, to provide close air support for the marines and soldiers ashore, in addition to protecting the other ships in the fleet. since lexington is not a museum in the sense that we are not funded by an entity, like a state, city, federal government, etc. -- when you are not funded by that, you have to bring

people in the door to pay the bills. and you have to make it interesting to enough people that want to come in the door. some people just might not be interested in ships, but yet they might be interested in seeing a digital 3-d movie related to ships, maybe, related to aircraft. so we have to make angst not only related to lexington, because that is the story we are trying to tell -- we are trying to tell a story about the navy in the pacific, world war ii. we have to make it interesting for the visitor that might not be as involved in history, so we put other things on board, like maybe some interactive games and exhibits. we are in hangar bay one right now. behind me in hangar bay one, we have what is known as a tbm-tbf avenger. the reason it has two names is depending on who built them.

this is the type of airplane that president herbert walker bush flew during world war ii. also significant for corpus christi, he got his wings at the naval air station corpus christi. that is another attachment to corpus christi for president herbert walker bush. this airplane he flew. and people know that he got shot down during the course of the war. but also, he went down another time due to an oil pressure problem. when he went down that first time, he was rescued and ended up on the lexington for a couple of days, until he could get back to his aircraft carrier, the san jacinto. he came on board and spoke at an

event we had. he did not remember too much of his time on board the lexington. he says he does remember what he calls sack time, sleeping a lot, on lexington. not very historical for us, but he did spend a couple of days in world war ii on board lexington. most visitors that come here, we would like them to come aboard to learn all the history about it. that is not necessarily the case. many people come on board and go, wow, this is really big. we get people on board that do not care about airplanes. they are engineers. the want to see how the ship ran. they want to go to the engine room. they can go to the engine room. we get some dentists who want to see where people took care of teeth, or nurses who want to see where people were treated after they got injured or were sick. the shipment only has to be combat space, ready to fight the war, but it has to be a hospital, a post office, has to be a restaurant, everything. so it becomes a city at sea. i would say for the most part the airplanes are probably the biggest draw, but after that there are any number of things

people are interested in. behind me is what we call our restoration area. this is where we can bring airplanes in that have then subjected to the elements every several years, so we can redo them. sometimes, we change the paint schemes on them, depending on if there is something more significant, a story we want to tell. for the most part, just bringing them down here for a tuneup. the atmosphere in corpus christi, because of the salt water of the bay, very corrosive. airplanes, being metal, are subjected to a lot of corrosion, a lot of wind, even sand erosion from some of the beach sand. it is important we keep on a schedule to keep the maintained. right now, they are working on what is known as the a-7 corsair to renovate it. in other two or three weeks, it will be back on the flight deck, and we will bring the next one down. in the 22 years that we have

been here, we have become quite an important part of corpus christi, including the movie industry. we filmed part of the movie "pearl harbor" here. we filmed the first episode of "jag" here. we just finished filming a big pepsi deal, halftime for the super bowl, a blake shelton concert. we have become not only a tourist attraction, we have also attracted the movie industry because if you stand on our flight deck and lookout, use ebay. you do not see a lot of buildings. there are certain shots they can do that make it look as if this is a ship at sea. the navy is critical and very important to this nation's prosperity. so it is important people understand the role of the navy, understand how we got to where we are, and understand, for us the evolution of the aircraft carrier.

world war ii essentially saw the first aircraft carrier. that was the invention or the operations of the first aircraft carrier. the japanese proved how strong and how important aircraft carriers could be. we took that and evolved it during the course of world war ii. and now aircraft carriers are the centerpiece of our seapower. so it is important -- we think it is important that people sort of understand that, but put it in context of the history that came before it. >> find out were c-span cities tour is going to go next online her is going next online it c-span.org/cities to her. you are watching american history tv all weekend, every weekend on c-span3.

>> you are watching american history tv a weekend, every weekend on c-span3. >> monday on american history tv patrick allah fund draws caricatures for students at the art gallery. david mccullough discusses some of the most memorable qualities of the president. that is monday, 2:30 p.m. eastern here on american history tv. >> tonight thomas allen harris explores how african-americans have been portrayed in fort -- photographic images from the time of slavery through today. >> the film is based in many ways on the work of deborah willis, "reflections and black," her groundbreaking work -- work on black photographers. she was also very aware that there was another