Sacagawea has been called an American Heroine and an Indian Princess. What is the nature of this young woman who inspires a nation to honor her in such a way? The journals tell us she was compassionate, cheerful and uncomplaining, accepting life as she found it. She had little choice in her destiny and few freedoms. And yet the men on the expedition respected her bravery.
Members of the Shoshoni and Hidatsa tribes relate the essential skills she would have learned from her mother and other tribal women as she matured.
The Nez Perce also provide insight into Sacagawea’s experiences with the expedition. Their ancestors sheltered the explorers and helped them recuperate from the strenuous journey through Idaho’s Bitterroot Mountains.
“Wouldn’t it be wonderful if she had kept a journal, so we could know from her mind and her heart the story that she had to tell”.
--Barbara Kubik, Historian
Rod Ariwite,
Lemhi Shoshoni
Rose Ann
Arbrahamson,
Lemhi Shoshoni
Keith Bear,
Mandan/Hidatsa
Amy Mossett,
Mandan/Hidatsa
Levi Holt,
Nez Perce Tribal Member
Rod Ariwite is a teacher currently working for the Bureau of Land Management and is close to receiving his PH.D.
Who was Sacagawea?
Like all of us, Sacagawea was molded by her family, her tribal members, and her experiences. To us she represents all that is good about our people, the Lemhi Shoshoni. Some native people criticize Sacagawea for helping the majority culture travel through our lands and eventually dominate us completely. However, we realize Sacagawea was only eleven years old when she was captured. She was a teenager when Lewis and Clark enlisted her and her husband to help them travel to and from the Pacific Ocean. We know from all the words written about her that she was an outstanding human being. Thus we honor Sacagawea for who she was, we know she was a good woman and a fine mother. For these things we proudly want the world to know Sacagawea is Lemhi Shoshoni.
Taken with permission from his message in the book by Ken Thomasma, "The Truth about Sacajawea".
-- Rod Ariwite 
Rose Ann Abrahamson is a descendent of Cameawait. Rose Ann is a teacher and faithful attendant of the traditions of the Lemhi Shoshoni.
What does Sacagawea mean to the Lemhi Shoshoni?
"We are very proud. We realize that everyone has a destiny and that going on the expedition was her path. She was willing to take the risk to go on this rigorous journey and this speaks of her courage. The Shoshoni people take a holistic worldview and Sacagawea stayed true to those traditions. This gives our people hope and encouragement to embrace those traditions. Her family is grateful to have the opportunity to share the stories and awaken people to Sacagawea and the Shoshoni people. We have a very unique experience and the telling of Sacagawea's path experience will help open the hidden stories from the Native American perspective".
-- Rose Ann Abrahamson
Keith Bear, Mandan/Hidatsa Musician
How significant is Sacagawea to the Hidatsa people?
"She is a very important part of our culture, because when most people think about Sacagawea they associate her here first, then they argue about where she came from but they always put her right here first. This is where she made her home, she made her name here, this is where she was loved and she was raised here. So when we talk about her it's not like talking about someone foreign. We speak of her in the most highly decorative ways because this was a young woman who helped open a whole nation".
-- Keith Bear, Hidatsa
Amy Mossett is a Mandan/Hidatsa Tribal Historian. She is a member of the Ft. Bethal Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Council and a Storyteller of Sacagawea.
What values did she take with her from the Hidatsa people?
"She grew into womanhood in the Hidatsa culture. She came here as a young Shoshoni girl and when she lived among the Shoshoni I am sure she learned all the things that young Shoshoni girls learned. And when she came here and lived among the Mandan/Hidatsa she would have learned all the things that young women would learn. And when she grew into womanhood here at these Knife River Villages she would have learned all the same things that young Hidatsa girls learned here. I believe that is what she took with her, that nurturing, that care giving, that calm, quiet ability to cope with crisis. Those are the things that she learned as she grew into womanhood".
-- Amy Mossett, Hidatsa
Levi Holt, Nez Perce Tribal
What roles did women have within tribal life?
"The women in many ways guided the operation and the daily activities of the camps of the tribe. So in a large way the women played significant role, a huge role if you will. Of course the world would not be the world, and it would not go around without the females of our tribe, and of the circles that existed within. So I am confidant that Sacajawea enjoyed perhaps her stay with the Nez Perce, that she was able to reacquaint herself with some of the relationships as women would have and the part that they play within the circles of tribal life, that she was most likely comforted by other women".
-- Levi Holt