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She is one of the most well-known—and unknown—figures in U.S. history. A river, two lakes, and four mountains are named for her. But no one is sure how to pronounce or spell her name.
Every child in the United States learns about Sacagawea (sa-CA-ga-we-a). But what does anyone actually know about her? We know for sure that in 1805 and 1806 she traveled with the Lewis and Clark expedition. She was with them as they explored what would later become North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. We know that she was of the Shoshone people. We also know that she was around 15 when she and her two-month-old infant joined a group of mostly white men whom she had never met before. What little is known of Sacagawea’s life before and during that time is found in the journals of Lewis and Clark. By all accounts, Sacagawea earned their respect and gratitude soon after she set out with them. How did this teenage mother fit in with a group of rough-and-ready soldiers? How did she earn their admiration? Read on as Kids Discover explores the life and legends of the Bird Woman.
▲ Has Kids Discover misspelled Sacagawea’s name? We are using the official spelling of the U.S. Geographic Names Board, the U.S. National Park Service, and the National Geographic Society, among others. In the original journal entries of expedition members, Sacagawea’s name is spelled many different ways. However, the third syllable always starts with a hard g sound, as in grass. There is no soft g in the language of the Hidatsa, with whom Sacagawea lived just before joining Lewis and Clark. In Hidatsa, sacaga means “bird” and wea means “woman.” Some North Dakota Hidatsa believe that the name should be spelled Sakakawea. For some unknown reason, an edition of the journals published in 1814 changed the spelling to Sacajawea and that became the spelling most people used. Many modern Shoshone, the tribe of Sacagawea’s birth, support that spelling. In Shoshone, her name means “boat launcher.”
▲ In 2000, the U.S. Mint introduced the Sacagawea dollar. One side of the coin has an image of Sacagawea and her son, Pomp. People across the nation had nominated 17 American women for the honor of appearing on the coin, including Betsy Ross, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Rosa Parks. However, Sacagawea was the huge favorite. The young woman who posed for the image is of partial Shoshone heritage. It is the first circulating U.S. coin to show an image of a child.
◀ Sacagawea is mentioned some three dozen times in the journals of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Few of the entries refer to her appearance, her actual words, her personality, or her feelings. She herself didn’t write a journal or any letters. She didn’t leave an oral record of her experiences, either. Shown here is a typical page from the journals.
