Sacagawea, known to all as an Native American icon and heroine that aided Lewis and Clark on their Discovery Expedition in the early 1800s. Before her story would be told amongst schools and praised by people of all ages and races, she had a beginning. Her early years unfortunately cut short with her tribe-the Shoshone- after being kidnapped by the Hidatsa, another Native American tribe who considered the Shoshone to be rivals. They sold her into slavery where she later fell into the property of a French-Canadian fur trader by the name of Toussaint Charbonneau.
Together they found themselves partnered with Lewis and Clark whom at this time had the task of exploring newly purchased unexplored territory. Due to Sacagawea’s profound language skills, Lewis and Clark found her crucial to their expedition. With Sacagawea as an addition to Corps members, she played multiple roles throughout the two year journey across western unexplored territories. Her language skills were put into use quickly as the group came across members of the Shoshone tribe. Utilizing Sacagawea as a translator, the captain was able to fulfill his desire of purchasing horses for their expedition.
Sacagawea’s naturalist knowledge played an important role just as much as her language skills. Her ability to recognize various plants, fruits, berries, and roots aided highly throughout the rough journey that they embarked. Having the knowledge to identify wether these natural items carried poison, aided in healing, or good for consumption played an important role in not only her survival, but the survival of everyone else. This alone credited Sacagawea with the role keeping everyone alive through her advanced knowledge.
Even though Sacagawea had many skills useful to survival, her biggest contribution to the expedition came from her presence alone. With Sacagawea traveling amongst men as the only women, this benefited the Corps heavily throughout their journey. Due to her not only being a woman, but a Native American woman with child, she made the Corps appear to be not as much dismaying in appearance. Native Americans that came across the Corps did not feel threatened or at risk due to Sacagawea taking part in their expedition. This relieved any hostile energy that had possibilities of formulating between the Crops and Native Americans, which would then turn into disobliging or even brute force.
At the end of it all, Sacagawea returned back to the Hidatsa-Mandan settlement where Charbonneau received a reward of land and money as compensation for completing the expedition, while she received nothing at all. Although she aided heavily on keeping the Corps alive through harsh weather, shortage of food, illness, and natural causes; her efforts unfortunately went unnoticed. Little would she know, Sacagawea would give women the fuel needed to make a difference in history in years to come.
Without her language skills, advanced naturalists knowledge, and female presence it possible to argue that the Corps would not even make it through the entire expedition. Her role in the expedition of exploring the western territories is partially the reason why the present day western states exist. Her story describes her as a Native American woman that got a group of colonizers through the Northwest Passage, but he held more value than that.
In later years, she and her French-Canadian husband, Charbonneau journeyed to St.Louis. Here her husband would make an offer with Clark that created its own way or working out. Clark would provide the family with land if his parents allowed him to educated Sacagawea’s son, Baptiste. After the birth of two children, Jean-Baptiste and Lisette, Sacagawea passed due to a decline in health. Her children later adopted and cared for by Clark in her absence.
In the early 1900s Eva Emery Dye fictionalized Sacagawea as an Indian princess, and this spread widely in these early years. Her depiction of what took place during Sacagawea’s expedition did the Native American woman no justice. Dye successfully rewrote history once she decided to omit certain facts about Sacagawea in order to conjure up this “Indian Princess” she wanted her to with hold. Regardless of the fictionalized depiction of Sacagawea in many novels, she would forever standout as a woman that got the Corps through the expedition as her actions would speak volumes for generations to come.