Sacajawea Native Woman In History

Most of us learned about Sacajawea in our lessons of history when we were in school. She was the Native American woman who led Lewis and Clark on their expedition of the west.  So, for my last March post I decided to talk a little more about this remarkable woman of history.  Not many women would have been selected as a scout to go on an expedition back then. Why this woman? What was so special about her that she would be chosen to journey west with these men? Did she go on her own free will?

I did some digging around and found an interesting article written by EveryDayMiracles about The Survivor: Sacagawea. The author tells some interesting facts about this remarkable and brave woman that I didn't remember learning all those years ago in the history classes that I took. For instance, did you know that most probably Sacajawea didn't choose to go on this historical journey? Lewis and Clark were pretty smart men and knew that they couldn't actually hire a Native woman to be their scout. So, they did the next best thing! They hired her husband who was a French Canadian trapper. They needed someone who could translate for them and to guide them along their way. That would not have been the abusive man who was married to this Shoshone woman but he would definitely take her along on the trip. Lewis and Clark needed her so they hired her husband.

Sacajawea was four months pregnant when the journey started and she actually gave birth while they made this historic trek across uncharted lands. Actually, they were uncharted by the white men; the indigenous peoples knew the land quite well. Many tribes of Native Peoples had what were known as Singers. The singers were people who had a gift of learning how to find their way around the land by singing directions of navigation. Sacajawea was a Singer in her tribe. It was her status as a singer that not only helped the men along their journey but also what kept them from being attacked and probably killed when they encountered Native Peoples. This remarkable woman could speak with the other singers and teach them her songs while she learned their songs about the journey ahead. I invite you to read the article about this courageous woman of our history. It is a pretty fascinating read!

Visit The Survivor: Sacagawea

Image Credit: Native American Woman by nancycalcuttstudio