Museum of Human Beings

Museum of Human Beings is a novel written by Colin Sargent, which delves into the life of Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, the son of Sacagawea.[1] Sacagawea was the Native American guide, who at 16 led the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Summary

At the turn of the nineteenth century, the young Indian woman Sacagawea leads Lewis and Clark to the Pacific. But what about that tiny infant in the commemorative engraving, perched on Sacagawea's back? He is her son, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, the youngest member of the Expedition, a child caught between two worlds who grows into a man haunted by the mother he barely knew and the wilderness she betrayed. Sacagawea is only sixteen when she leads the Expedition and catches the eye of William Clark who finds her exotically appealing. Afterwards, Clark takes in Sacagawea and her child, and raises Baptiste as a foster son. When the teenage Baptiste attracts the notice of the visiting Duke Paul, Prince of Wurttemberg, Clark approves of the duke's “experiment” to educate the boy at court. A gleeful Duke Paul exhibits Baptiste throughout Europe as a “half gentleman-half animal.” Eventually Jean Baptiste turns his back on the Old World and returns to the New, determined to find his true place there. He travels deep into the heart of the American wilderness, and into the depths of his mother's soul, on an epic quest for identity that brings sacrifice, loss, and the distant promise of redemption.[2]

Reviews

According to Publishers Weekly:

“Playwright Sargent’s debut novel is a stylish look at the fate of Sacagawea’s baby son, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, the first Native American to tour Europe—as a curiosity and entertainment, of course. Twenty-four-year-old Sacagawea, though married, becomes William Clark’s lover while helping guide the Lewis and Clark Expedition; after she dies on the trail, Clark adopts her son, Baptiste. Soon, Clark establishes his home in St. Louis, as well as a garish museum dedicated to his expedition, and sets to educating his new son. Soon, Baptiste is traveling Europe under the protection of Duke Paul, a cruel man who, when he isn’t exhibiting the boy to royal courts, repeatedly rapes young Baptiste. Six years later, Baptiste returns to America (astonishingly, still accompanied by Paul), where he confronts Clark over his mother’s mysterious death; unsatisfied and restless, Baptiste heads west and finds work as a fur trapper, an Army scout and gold prospector. Increasingly haunted by his mother, Baptiste revisits her in memories and visions that lend themselves nicely to Sargent’s lyrical prose. With historical cameos (Beethoven, Kit Carson, Washington Irving) and an impressively rounded portrait of the laid-back, introspective, nomadic Baptiste, this novel will satisfy fans of American history.[1]

Meanwhile, Andi Deihn makes note of how the author's "sophisticated use of language permeates this tale."[3] Melody Ballard reviewing for Library Journal comments, "This memorable novel will captivate all who read it."[4]

Notes

The expedition papoose Charbonneau appears on the front of the Sacagawea gold one-dollar coin (2000 to 2008) and remains in circulation in the United States today.[5]

The author participated in a public reading at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian in December 2008 as part of the "Views From the Field" series dedicated to authors who write about Native American history and issues.[6][7][8]

Duke Paul of Wurttemberg's journal Erste Reise nach dem nordlichen Amerika in den Jahren 1822-1824, translated by W. Robert Nitske and edited by Savoie Lottinville as Travels in North America, 1822-1824, includes individual entries documenting the botanist nobleman's taking the precocious young Charbonneau, whom Clark had adopted and educated in St Louis, to Germany with him with the promise of further education, departing New Orleans aboard the brig Smyrna in January 1824. Adept at languages including Mandan, French, Latin, English, German, and Spanish, the young Charbonneau spent over five years at court. In the novel, young Baptiste travels across the Levant with Duke Paul and the prince's painting companion Vogelweide, and performs piano in the presence of Beethoven.

The Museum of Human Beings in the title alludes to the notorious museum that General William Clark built beside his home in St Louis after he returned from the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Inside, Clark kept relics and specimens related to his various American Indian affairs.

Further reading
  • Wilhelm, Duke of Württemberg, Paul (1973). Erste Reise nach dem nördlichen Amerika in den Jahren 1822 bis 1824 [Travels in North America, 1822-1824]. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. OCLC 1127301672.

References
  1. "Museum of Human Beings by Colin Sargent". Publishers Weekly. 255 (35): 36. 1 September 2008. Archived from the original on 1 December 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  2. "Museum of Human Beings". mcbooks.com. Mcbooks Press. Archived from the original on 1 December 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  3. Diehn, Andi (May–June 2009). "Debut Fiction: Different Worlds". ForeWord. ISSN 1099-2642. Playwright and poet Colin Sargent resides in Portland, Maine, where he founded Portland magazine. His sophisticated use of language permeates this tale. For example, the color blue is used to create a path and stimulate memory: from the descriptions of the first sighting of the Pacific Ocean to the final viewing of an arrowhead around a babys neck, the color travels alongside Baptiste.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: date format (link)
  4. Ballard, Melody (1 December 2008). "Sargent, Colin. Museum of Human Beings". Library Journal. Vol. 133, no. 20. From the beginning to the novel's spellbinding conclusion, playwright and poet Sargent allows us an intimate glimpse into what could have been the heart of Jean-Baptiste. This memorable novel will captivate all who read it. Highly recommended for all public library historical fiction collections.
  5. "Sacagawea Golden Dollar Coin | U.S. Mint". United States Mint. Archived from the original on 27 November 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  6. "Education Programs". Anya Montiel, PhD. 7 September 2014. Archived from the original on 1 December 2022.
  7. Gardner, Jan. "Shelf Life". Boston.com. Archived from the original on 1 December 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  8. "DECEMBER 2008 - NEWSLETTER FOR THE TOWN OF CHEVY CHASE". www.townofchevychase.org. December 2008. p. 9. Archived from the original on 17 July 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022. At the same event, longtime Writer's Center member Colin Sargent reads from his first novel, Museum of Human Beings, at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian
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