Sacajawea
Character List
Sacajawea
Chronology
Chief No Retreat was the chief of a Shoshoni tribe. One day he got up early and went to a great circle of stones put there by a tribe that lived there before them. His daughter, Grass Child, went with him. She asked him many questions about the stones and the people that used to live there, and he told her that it was not good for a girl to ask so many questions. He said she should listen rather than ask questions. Grass Child kept asking her father questions on their way back to camp, some of which No Retreat apologized for not knowing the answer to.
They knew that they would soon have to move because the buffalo were moving away from them, and they would have to follow to stay alive. Everyone loved Old Grandmother which was Fragrant Herbs’s mother. Fragrant Herbs was No Retreat’s wife. One day, Old Grandmother said that she would soon have go to the Great Spirit. Grass Child, Rain Girl (her older sister), and Willow Bud (her friend) all started crying and telling her she couldn’t go because they needed her. Old Grandmother told them that she felt an omen that Rain Girl would never have the joy of being a grandmother. She also said Grass Child would be a great leader and would be remembered by many for a long time.
The next day, the three girls went to the edge of the camp to gather asters. While they were out, a mother black bear came upon them. Luckily, they got away before she attacked them. Old Grandmother had decided to stay behind as the others moved on because she was old and slow and could only cause them trouble. No Retreat was very upset. They made a lean-to for her and gathered food for her to live on for a little while. After a few days of traveling, the tribe decided to stop and camp for a few days. Grass Child decided she wanted to go back to see Old Grandmother, so she gathered some food and supplies and was on her way. When she finally got to their old camp site after a few days of traveling, she found Old Grandmother’s body slashed and partially devoured by wolves. It was customary to cut off the first joint of one finger to honor someone who had died. Grass Child sharpened a stick and shoved her finger up against it and a rock to do the task. She then burned the end in a fire. She later pulled her grandmother’s body, wrapped in animal skins, onto two poles she had set up in trees. She then set off for her journey back.
Going back, she followed the same route she came. She saw smoke coming from a camp, but knew it was not hers and decided not to go through it because its occupants might be hostile. When she got around, it was hard to find the travois tracks because they had been washed out by rain. She wasn’t even sure if she was following the right trail. One morning after just waking up, she saw Willow Bud riding at her. Grass Child told her about Old Grandmother, and together they rode back to the camp.
Just a little after the camp started moving, the snow and ice started coming, and they had to settle down for the winter. The men got good buffalo and other animals, but they only lasted so long. After that, the people lasted through on the grass seeds that Fragrant Herbs and her daughters had collected. When winter passed, the tribe thought they were very fortunate to have only lost one old grandfather. The weather was starting to warm up, and the men began going out hunting animals again.
Soon, word came that buffalo were close and all they had to do was go on the hunt. They prepared to do this, but right after the hunt started, another tribe of Native Americans rounded the crest of the hill. They attacked and killed many people, including Grass Child’s mother, whom she saw die. Some of the women and children were then taken hostage. They rode with their captors for a few days. They were not allowed to speak. One night Willow Bud escaped, and Grass Child was beaten because she couldn’t and wouldn’t tell the man she called Buzzard Beak where her friend had gone. When they finally got to their captors’ camp, Grass Child had found out that they were Minnetarees. They were led through camp where they were spit on and hit with balls of dirt. When they got to the center of camp, Black Moccasin, chief of all the Minnetarees, called up each woman or child and gave him or her to one of the people in the village as a slave. Grass Child was given to Buzzard Beak, who she later found out was named Catches Two because he had two women, Antelope and Talking Goose. Two other people also lived with Catches two. They were Old Mother and Old Grandfather, Catches Two’s parents-in-law. Catches Two and Old Grandfather sexually molested Grass Child and she was very scared and uncomfortable when she was around them. One day, Grass Child and Antelope went to take baths, and Antelope said Grass Child looked like a bird diving into water, so she should be called Sacajawea, which meant "bird woman." Sacajawea was a good hard worker and tried to be nice to everyone. Old Grandfather soon found a friend in her. From that point on, he could never touch her in a sexual manner again.
While Sacajawea was at that camp, she became friends with a dog which followed her around and she gave food to. It saved her life by keeping her from going into a bear’s scent path, by helping her get out of a river when she had fallen into the rushing water, and by biting or scaring off attackers or molesters. One time the dog was left alone by Antelope’s newborn baby. When Antelope returned, she found the dog with blood all over it. She started screaming, and Catches Two took a knife and shoved it into the dog. Then, beside a close tree, lay the body of a dead coyote. From under a nearby, overturned boat came the sound of a baby’s cry. Antelope went to look, and under the boat lie her baby. The dog had saved it. After that, Sacajawea mourned the death of the dog as if it had been a relative. This was bad for Catches Two and his image, so he was going to kill her. On the day before the night he was supposed to kill her, though, Old Grandfather took her to the trading fair and traded her for a caged crow. She was then won from that man in an arrow-shooting contest by a Minnetaree brave named Fast Arrow who lived in the village of Metaharta .
Sacajawea was accepted with open arms by Fast Arrow’s family. Living with him was his wife, Rosebud, her parents, Redpipe and Grasshopper, his sister-in-law, Sweet Clover, and his children, Sucks his Thumb, Half Moon, Hungry Horse, and Chickadee. Grasshopper wanted Sacajawea to become her adopted daughter, so when she returned from a women’s retreating lodge she had gone to, they had a "Coming Into Womanhood" ceremony to show off their daughter. At the ceremony, the evil Chief Kakoakis gave a weasel-tail necklace to Redpipe to give to his daughter, Sweet Clover, who was now mentally unstable because he had taken her to his lodge and molested her. Grasshopper hated him for this and took the necklace and threw it on the ground as he left. After the ceremony she decided to go back and get it, but another woman who was rummaging through the trash pile took it and left before Grasshopper could get to her. The next morning, Sacajawea was walking through the woods playing when a white trapper spotted her and started chasing her so he could molest her. She reached the gate where Redpipe was and the man jumped on Redpipe, who started having convulsions. Fast Arrow came over to see what had happened and got the man to leave.
Soon, they all went to the village of Mandan to trade. While Sacajawea was looking at some great relics of the Mandans’ (which women were not supposed to do), she was encountered by Four Bears, one of Redpipe’s old friends. He thought she was going to try to steal one of the relics. She assured him that she wasn’t and he left her alone. That night, Redpipe left the dance early to go to the lodge of Four Bears. Four Bears told him he thought Sacajawea was the woman he had heard about who loved a dog. Redpipe told him that it was in the past and he was not going to worry about it. Four Bears then asked if they would all come back to their Okeepa Ceremony and Fast Arrow would put himself in the Bull Dance as his son. Redpipe agreed and said that it would be an honor to have the man of his daughter be the foster son of Four Bears.
They went home for a few days and then returned for the Okeepa. The Okeepa was a sacrificial ceremony where men were put through great torture and pain, and if they survived, it was a great honor. Fast Arrow was one of the men participating in this ceremony. After four days of no sleep, no food, and horrendous torture, in which one part the participant was lifted up by knives stuck in his breasts and had knives stuck in his arms and legs from which weights were hung, he came out, bloody and torn up, but alive. Four Bears then cut off the last joint of Fast Arrow’s little finger as a sacrifice to the Great Spirit for sparing his life and permitting him to be the adopted son of Four Bears. When they got him back to the lodge, they cleaned off his wounds, and as he slept, they preyed for his muscles to heal correctly and for him to be okay.
Sacajawea was claimed by Kakoakis during a game of hands. There was really nothing Redpipe or Four Bears could do about it. Then, Toussaint Charbonneau won her from Kakoakis. Sacajawea soon becomes pregnant by Charbonneau. She is not does not have bad morning sickness and is told she is lucky. While Charbonneau is out trapping, the Lewis and Clark expedition stops in the Mandan village. Lewis and Clark stay in the village for a while and talk to all the people. They talk to Sacajawea, and she helps them do some translating. Clark takes a special interest in her. He believes she is very intelligent. Lewis and Clark ask Charbonneau to join their expedition. Clark says he can bring only one of his squaws and requests that it be Sacajawea. Charbonneau gets angry because he wants to bring Otter woman, but eventually he accepts and brings Sacajawea. Lewis isn’t sure about bringing a woman on the expedition, but Clark assures him that she will be an asset because Indian tribes will not think they are looking to fight if they have a woman with them. Before they leave, Sacajawea gives birth to her child. Charbonneau names him Jean Baptiste, but Sacajawea calls him Pomp. They leave the Mandan village.
Sacajawea is quiet and helpful on the journey. York, Clark’s black manservant, helps her take care of Pomp. Charbonneau’s cockiness and clumsiness are soon shown off when he tries to pole a boat and loses control of it. They then find out he can’t even swim. The men give Sacajawea the nickname Janey. The men on the journey name rivers and other natural landmarks after people and things they know. Clark named a river the Judith River after his girlfriend name Judy Hancock in Virginia. Sacajawea becomes jealous because she desires Clark’s attention. Sacajawea helps the men choose the correct way to go on their journey. Charbonneau makes Sacajawea ill, and Clark has to nurse her back to health. She feels bad that he has to take time out to look after her. Clark says he doesn’t mind.
Lewis took some of the men and traveled ten miles ahead of Clark, Sacajawea, Charbonneau, and the others. When Clark’s party gets to the great waterfalls close to where they should meet Lewis, a great storm arises. Charbonneau is on a rock that is semi-safe. Clark yells at him to help the baby, and he extends a shaking hand to do so. He then does the same for Sacajawea but is no help. Clark pushes her up by himself. Then Sacajawea extends her hands and barely pulls Clark from the rushing water. Charbonneau’s cowardice is openly exposed. Clark’s party met back up with Lewis.
Soon after that, the expedition encountered the Shoshonis, Sacajawea’s original nation. The expedition was treated very well by the Shoshonis. They were hungry and didn’t have much food to give, but they shared what they could. Sacajawea met up with Willow Bud, who escaped from the Minnetaree camp after they were captured as children. They were ecstatic to see one another. They went into a teepee to talk and were followed by many of the tribe’s women. They all looked at and cooed over Pomp and said he was beautiful. Sacajawea soon realizes that Chief Cameahwait is her brother, Never Walks. He tells her all about the deaths that have occurred and the hardships the Shoshonis have endured. Lewis and Clark seek help from the Shoshonis over the mountains in exchange for sending traders with food and guns. Cameahwait agrees and gives Clark (who they call Chief Red Hair) his name. Cameahwait is then known as Black Gun. Sacajawea feels out of place because she wants to go with Lewis and Clark but also wants to stay with the Shoshonis. Traveling through the mountains is very hard on the men. There is much snow, and everyone has to fight the cold and try to avoid frostbite. There is very little food, and they have to live off small rations. Everyone suffered from diarrhea and dysentery. One night, they finally stop and set up camp for two days, where they all warm up and rest. This helps very much. Massive clouds of flies also plagued Lewis’s group.
After the groups meet back up, the weather has calmed down a bit. They often meet Nez Perce tribes with which they stay the night. The Nez Perces’ diet consists mostly of salmon, which is okay at first, but the men tire of it very fast. Also, they are very weak and realize that they need red meat in their diet. Soon, whenever they stop in a village, they trade for dogs and kill and cook them. Sometimes, if a horse comes up lame, they eat it, too. No one has any major problems with this except Sacajawea and Clark. They refuse to eat dog meat and try to just live off salmon and any scraps of dear or other red meat they can trade for. Clark attributes the friendliness of the Indians to Sacajawea because she lets the Indians know about their non-violent intentions. Also, a women with a party of men is a token of peace. They soon reach the Columbia River and use dugout canoes to make their way. Soon, they sight the Pacific Ocean. Everyone is very excited that their goal has been reached. Christmas also arrives soon after that. Sacajawea gives Clark two dozen white weasel tails that she collected earlier on the expedition. Clark had a cradle made for Pomp as a gift for Sacajawea.
Word goes around camp that a beached whale has been sighted and some of the men are going to go check it out. Sacajawea would never have another chance to see something like this again and convinces Clark to let her accompany them when they go see the whale. She is very excited when they see it, and she can hardly believe her eyes. She says it is as big as two lodges. Pomp soon becomes very ill, and his jaw and throat are very swollen. Clark takes good care of him and applies all the medical knowledge he can. Pomp gets better but will have a large scar a little below his ear as a permanent reminder of the illness. Lewis and Clark decide they have gathered all the information they need and decide to turn around and make the return trip home. The return trip is much easier than the first one and goes on without much trouble. There is some cold, snow, and lack of food, but the expedition made it through without any major losses. Lewis and Clark split up and took parties two separate ways, and when they met up again, Lewis had been hit with an arrow by one of his own men who was nearsighted. He was okay, but it gave Clark a scare. They made it back to the Mandan village with no further troubles. Sacajawea had trouble saying goodbye to Clark. She had deep feelings for him and would miss him greatly. Clark tried to get Charbonneau to take his squaws and come with them to St. Louis, but Charbonneau refused. The expedition left the Mandan village for St. Louis.
After not being received too well by the Mandans, Charbonneau decided to take Clark up on his offer and move to St. Louis where Clark would have his sons educated. Clark really only said he would have Pomp educated, but Charbonneau thought that if he brought his other child, Little Tess, also, there would be no way he could refuse educating him. When they get to Saint Louis, they are received very warmly by everyone they see from the expedition. Sacajawea meets Clark’s new wife, Judy (Julia) Clark. Because Sacajawea has such strong feelings for Clark, she feels jealous of Judy at first. Eventually, though, she stops feeling strange around her and thinks of her like a sister. Lewis starts to have health problems and begins to continually take pills and medicines, along with heavy drinking. While Clark is gone, Sacajawea learns of Lewis’s death from Judy. While Sacajawea and Otter Woman are on a beaver-trapping trip with Charbonneau, Otter Woman develops a cough, which eventually turns into a bad illness. She becomes extremely sick and wishes to return to her native people, a tribe of Shoshonis. Charbonneau decides to take her home, partly because he is tired of civilized life, and leaves Sacajawea with Pomp and Little Tess.
Sacajawea is involved in an earthquake, but she manages to make it to Clark’s house, where she is nursed back to health by Rose, York’s mother. Pomp, now called Baptiste, and Tess return from school, where Baptiste tells Sacajawea some things he has learned, such as the earth is round. She does not believe him. Clark brings news that Otter Woman died and wants Sacajawea to raise her child, Lizette. He also said that a clerk said that Charbonneau was with a group of Northwesters and never came back. The clerk suspected that he was killed in a raid by the Sioux. Sacajawea and Clark serve as makeshift parents to Lizette. Judy’s health soon begins to fail, and despite Clark’s efforts of taking her to the sulfur springs, she dies. Clark then marries Harriet, Judy’s cousin. One day, out of the blue, Charbonneau returns with another squaw named Eagle. Sacajawea is upset because she was doing just fine without him, and she does not like him or his ways. Charbonneau soon takes another wife, named Kitten, who is and thief and causes much strife in the household. Charbonneau beats Sacajawea badly whenever Kitten was the one who deserved it. After this, Sacajawea is tired of dealing with Charbonneau’s harsh and stupid ways. She decides to leave and not tell anyone where she is going. After leaving, Sacajawea is out in the woods trying to survive on her own. She does not really know where she is going or what she is going to do. All she knows is that she wanted to get away from Charbonneau. She is malnourished and tired. While she is out one day, a Comanche named Jerk Meat finds her and takes her back to his village. Eventually, after one other person asked her to be his woman, Sacajawea was asked to become Jerk Meat’s woman. She accepted, and they were married. She deeply cared for Jerk Meat. They shared many thoughts with each other. Sacajawea did not know she could ever care for any man like this. The tribe respects Sacajawea for her knowledge, and she eventually is thought of as a sort of female leader, almost a chief. Sacajawea has problems with Gray Bone, an old squaw of the brave who asked Sacajawea to marry him. She is always starting trouble with Sacajawea, and Sacajawea almost kills her once. Later, Sacajawea meets Gray Bone again, and Gray Bone has rabies. Sacajawea slams a rock over Gray Bone’s head many times and kills her. While Jerk Meat is out with the other braves, he is shot by Mexican soldiers and killed. Sacajawea decides to leave the tribe.
Sacajawea travels between a few American forts and looks for her son, Baptiste. A man comes to the fort, claiming to be Baptiste, but it is really Tess pretending to be Baptiste. He got tired and jealous of hearing about all the good Baptiste did. He decided to pretend to be Baptiste so he, too, could have praise. Tess complains profusely about everything and is very similar in his whining and complaining to his father, Charbonneau. Sacajawea eventually returns to the Shoshonis. Sacajawea becomes very close to her nephew, Shoogan. She loves him very much. There, Chief Washakie, holds council meetings about whether he should sign a treaty to make an Shoshoni Reservation. Sacajawea attends these meetings and gives her input on the subject. Washakie eventually signs the "Great Treaty," and the Shoshoni Indian Reservation in Wyoming is created. Sacajawea is asked to attend church by an Episcopalian minister the next Sunday. She says no because she will be gone by Sunday. He advises her not to go anywhere because of the incoming weather, not realizing she means she is going to die. She cleans up her lodge and goes to sleep, never to awaken in that world again.