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Prairie turnip research focus of Sunday program (July 7, 2008) – The Center will present a program about potential health benefits of the native plant known as the “prairie turnip” at 2 p.m. Sunday, July 13. Admission will be free. Dr. Paul Weber, professor of chemistry at Briar Cliff University, along with BCU chemistry majors Sonja Christensen and Adam Kavan, will discuss the plant which is found in undisturbed prairies throughout the Midwest, including Siouxland. “The prairie turnip has a rich history that includes use by Native people who regularly harvested the root of the prairie turnip for its nutritional content,” says Weber. “Lewis and Clark discovered the prairie turnip for the white man and recommended it ‘in their ragouts and gravies instead of the truffles’ as a crop cultivate.” The program is presented in conjunction with “Lewis & Clark and the Indian Country,” a traveling exhibit made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The exhibit will run through Aug. 8 at the Center. The prairie turnip also was called the “white apple” or “breadroot.” Native people usually prepared it with meat, buffalo fat or berries. Though Meriwether Lewis found the “white apple” to be relatively flavorless, he described it as a “very healthy and moderately nutritious food.” Now, the prairie turnip is showing possible applications for estrogen replacement and treating certain cancers, heart disease and osteoporosis. Weber is conducting research on the plant, assisted by Christensen and Kavan. “We’ve uncovered a fascinating new aspect of the plant,” says the chemistry professor. “It appears to contain extremely large amounts of a compound called ‘genistein’ which is a member of a group referred to as ‘isoflavones.’” Genistein is also found in soy products but in much smaller amounts than the prairie turnip. “Lewis and Clark and the Indian Country” is based on a major exhibition of the same name created by The Newberry Library in Chicago. It tells the story of the explorers’ 1804–1806 expedition from a different point of view - that of Indians who lived along the route. The Center is one of 27 sites in the nation selected for the exhibition. It is presented in cooperation with Briar Cliff University’s Bishop Mueller Library. “Lewis & Clark and the Indian Country” was organized by the Newberry Library in cooperation with the American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office. The exhibition is made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Additional support came from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Sara Lee Foundation is the lead corporate sponsor; Ruth C. Ruggles and the National Park Service also supported the exhibit. “Lewis & Clark and the Indian Country” draws from original documents in Native American collections of the Newberry Library; the Washington State Historical Society; Minnesota Historical Society and other institutions. Photographs of handwritten documents, maps, paintings and drawings provide a colorful background for the story of encounters. The Blackfeet, Nez Perce, Umatilla, Mandan and Walla Walla are among the nations encountered by Lewis and Clark who continue to live in the same areas but on greatly reduced tribal lands. These tribes are committed to carrying on lifeways and values of their ancient cultures, and to preserving their languages and traditions. “We are still here,” they often say. The Betty Strong Encounter Center is a private, non-profit institution connected to the Sioux City Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center on the Missouri Riverfront, exit 149 off I-29. It was built and is sustained by Missouri River Historical Development, Inc. (MRHD). For more information, visit www.siouxcitylcic.com or call 712-224-5242.
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