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The city of Cahokia?near St. Louis?is the hearth of the complex Indian culture of the Mississippi valley, with its different components. That is where Zebulon Pike started his journey in search of the sources of the Mississippi in 1805. Pike was neither a scientist nor a surveyor: he was a mere lieutenant. Jefferson had instructed him to show to American natives the symbol of a new hegemonic power: the flag of the United States. A close examination of his Account of a Voyage Up The Mississippi River from St. Louis to Its Source reveals an Indian universe with the various local tribes in a permanent state of war, for whom Americans are ?a warlike people.? The newcomers were to force Indians onto reservations, turning the Mississippi (?Father of the Waters?) into a polluted area where a tradition of respect for ?Mother Earth? is now lost and meaningless.