Sacagawea

Sacagawea was a Lemhi Shoshone or Hidatsa woman who helped the Lewis and Clark Expedition as an interpreter and cultural intermediary in the early 1800s.

Sacagawea was a Lemhi Shoshone or Hidatsa woman who served as an interpreter and cultural intermediary for the Lewis and Clark Expedition in the early 1800s. She is widely remembered for helping the expedition cross the western United States and for her later status as a symbol of Native American women in U.S. history.

What it is

Sacagawea is best known for accompanying the Lewis and Clark Expedition from 1804 to 1806. She acted as an interpreter and guide, using her local knowledge and language skills to help the expedition communicate with Indigenous nations and navigate unfamiliar territory across the northern Great Plains to the Pacific Northwest.

Key details

Born around 1788, her early life is not fully documented, and sources differ on whether she was Lemhi Shoshone or Hidatsa. Her name appears in several spellings—Sacagawea, Sacajawea, Sakakawea—with varying meanings. She died in December 1812 at about age 24, though later claims of a longer life exist in some traditions.

Why it matters

Sacagawea's role highlights the contributions of Indigenous women to North American exploration. She is commemorated in U.S. public memory, including the Sacagawea dollar coin, and her story connects to transborder histories relevant to Canadian readers, as the expedition influenced Indigenous and western North American histories.