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SACAGAWEA The life story of Sacagawea is a testimony to the potential of one woman to influence the course of history, and to a woman’s abilities to navigate difficult territory with grace and intelligence. However, her story also reflects the oppression and mistreatment women so commonly endured as property rather than people prior to the twentieth century in the United States. Sacagawea was born in 1788 or 1789 in the northwestern Rocky Mountains in what is now the state of Idaho. Her Shoshone name was “HeToe” or Huichu” which means “Little Bird.” (Rowland, 1989, p.1) The Shoshone Indians were a nomadic tribe, and in the winter of her twelfth year, Sacagawea was captured by an enemy tribe, the Minnetaree, and taken as a slave. The Minnetaree lived in “large, round, earthen houses, made pottery, and built boats for travel on the Missouri River.” (Adler, 2000, p. 5.) She was renamed Sacagawea by the Minnetaree, an name which roughly translates to “Bird Woman.” As a teenage slave, Sacagawea was sold to a white Frenchman/fur trader named Toussaint Charboneau who was in his forties. She became his second wife, an accepted practice among some Indian tribes at the time. They both lived near Fort Mandan in North Dakota. In the fall of 1804, Lewis and Clark’s exploration party, the Corps of Discovery, arrived at Fort Mandan. They decided to hire Charbonneau to help as a translator, and although Sacagawea was pregnant, Lewis and Clark realized the value of having an American Indian with them on the journey. At the age of sixteen, in the month of February, Sacagawea gave birth to a healthy baby boy. Two months later, on April 7, 1805, at 4:00 in the afternoon, the Lewis and Clark expedition left Fort Mandan. Sacagawea and her son, Pompey, accompanied them. For most of the journey, Pompey would be carried in a cradleboard on her back. From the journals of Lewis and Clark, it is clear that Sacagawea’s presence on the trip was greatly valued and that she was "superior" to her husband, Charbonneau in both her character and contribution to the team. Once when the team’s boat nearly capsized due to Charbonneau’s foolishness, Sacagawea saved the important tools and items that had gone overboard. (Adler, p. 15) When the team reached Shoshone territory, it was Sacagawea’s skills in translation and also being reunited with her lost brother, who had by then become chief, that allowed Lewis and Clark to secure the horses necessary for the remainder of their journey. In addition, she knew the territory herself, and in several instances helped them to navigate on their journey. (Rowland, p. 81) There has been speculation about a possible romantic interest between her and Captain Clark. In Scott O’Dell’s Streams to the River, River to the Sea: a novel of Sacagawea he explores this possibility in a fictional account of the journey. Clark was clearly very fond of both Sacagawea and her son, and several years following Clark’s return to Washington, DC, Pompey joined him in the capitol and was given an American education. Currently, the image of Sacagawea on the 2000 dollar, a woman with a child on her back, is a positive step in acknowledging the contributions women and mothers have made to our country. However, the use of Sacagawea and her baby on this coin seems somewhat ironic. Sacagawea truly was her husband’s property, and when it came time for payment, he was given over $500.00 but she received nothing. (Rowland, p.89) Clark’s kindness to her, and his commitment to educate her son, clearly was a form of payment. However, if she had been given financial compensation, and had the power and knowledge to use the money, perhaps it would have been easier for her to leave her abusive husband, who was known to have beaten her on more than one occasion. History is unclear about Sacagawea’s fate. Some historians say she died from “putrid fever” on December 20, 1812. Others claim she eventually escaped Charbonneau and returned to the Shoshone tribe where she died on April 9, 1884. If the later is true, then she would have outlived her successful son, who died in 1866 after traveling through Europe and also becoming mayor of mission San Luis Rey in California.
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| BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR SACAGAWEA Adler, David. A and Brown, Dan. A Picture Book of Sacagawea. New York: Holiday House, 2000. Markovitz, Hal. Sacagawea: guide for the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, c. 2001. Rowland, Della. The Story of Sacajawea. New York: Bantam Double Day Dell, 1989. St. George, Judith. Sacagawea. New York: Putnam, 1997 White, Alana. Sacagawea, Westward with Lewis and Clark, 1997. Fiction recommendation: O’Dell, Scott. Streams to the river, river to the sea: a novel of Sacagawea. New York: Ballantine Books, 1986.
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Picture book biographies about Sacagawea:
Addler, David. A and Brown, Dan. A Picture Book of Sacagawea. New York: Holiday House, 2000.
The illustrations in this picture book biography are vivid and engaging, and it’s wonderful to have a biography of Sacagawea with four-color art; however, there are much better renderings of Native Americans in picture books than those on the pages of this biography. That is somewhat disappointing, given that one hopes the images will be authentic in a biography.
Given the illustrator does not have photographs to work from, creative license may be granted. However, he does not show the difference between the Minnataree homes, which were round and earthen and the tee-pees of Sacagawea’s native Shoshone tribe. This is a serious flaw, in my opinion, as it promotes the stereotype of all Indians living in tee-pees.
Moreover, on page 9, the color of York’s skin, the black slave on the expedition, appears a shade of grey in my book and I found that a bit offensive.
The expressions on all the faces are highly dramatized, and while it makes the illustrations lively, I felt it also seemed a bit cartoon-like and would have preferred if the illustrator had proceeded more in a Paul Goble style. I think this book is a step in the right direction in terms of putting a biography into a standard 32-page picture book format, but the illustrations could have been much better!~
Other juvenile biographies about Sacagawea:
Markovitz, Hal. Sacagawea: guide for the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, c. 2001.
Although this is not a picture-book biography per se, it has wonderful, authentic images. Photographs, as well as richly detailed illustrations appear throughout the seven chapters. York is portrayed in an empowering and authentic light, as opposed to his image in the Adler and Brown biography. Unfortunately, the personal details about the expedition (for example, how Sacagawea reached over from the nearly capsized boat to save many of Lewis and Clark’s instruments and supplies) are not rendered in any concrete way as in the picture book. While the images are authentic, it has the depersonalized history book feeling of so many biographies.
Rowland, Della. The Story of Sacajawea. New York: Bantam Double Day Dell, 1989.
No pictures, but very empowering narrative with much detail that is certain to inspire and appeal to middle-grade readers.
St. George, Judith. Sacagawea. New York: Putnam, 1997.
Young Adult Biography, no illustrations. 108 pages.
White, Alana. Sacagawea, Westward with Lewis and Clark, 1997.
128 pages for young adult readers. Excellent photographs of time-period paintings gives the book an accurate and authentic feelings.
Fiction recommendation:
O’Dell, Scott. Streams to the river, river to the sea: a novel of Sacagawea. New York: Ballantine Books, 1986.