Discovering Sacagawea

Fifteen years ago Amy Mossett began a personal quest to discover the truth in the conflicting historical accounts of Sacagawea, the young American Indian woman who served as an interpreter in 1805 for Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on their epic journey to the Pacific Ocean.

“In grade school, our non-Indian teachers couldn’t teach us that Sacagawea grew up at one of our Hidatsa villages one hour away from our school,” explains Mossett of New Town, N.D. (pop. 1,367). “They didn’t know enough about our culture or our local history to supplement what they were teaching us out of the written social studies books. I wanted to know more.”

Mossett delved into both oral and written histories of tribes that claim Sacagawea as a member. Now, with the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition being observed, and renewed interest in Sacagawea, Mossett finds herself “on an incredible journey” of her own.

Dressed in deerskin leather and moccasins adorned with beads and porcupine quills, Mossett travels the country sharing her perspective on Sacagawea’s life. “There is such fascination with Sacagawea’s story,” she reflects, stroking the otter skins attached to her black braids. “Sacagawea, a teen-age Indian woman, has become the most celebrated woman in American history.”

Still, it’s the broader message about her American Indian heritage that Mossett most values. “This is the first time we’ve been asked to present our point of view to an international audience from our Native American perspective,” she declares. “I hope that what we are doing might help break down some barriers between cultures.”

People often are surprised to learn that the Mandan and Hidatsa were peaceful, agricultural-based tribes, and that when Sacagawea, a Shoshoni, lived among them, they inhabited a large network of villages, which functioned as a major trading center on the upper Missouri River.

Like her ancestors, Mossett plants a traditional garden with old seed stock handed down through the generations. She is teaching her daughters—Cedar, 20, Nicole, 18, and Jenna, 15—traditional tribal customs such as gardening, basket weaving, and quillwork.

“Everything we needed for survival and sustenance was here on the prairie, and it still is around us,” reflects Mossett, whose Indian name is Squash Blossom. “I want my daughters to develop a greater sense of respect for the Earth and living things.”

In 1999, Mossett, a former marketing instructor at Fort Berthold Community College in New Town, was appointed to the board of directors of the National Council of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial. She now is employed as the council’s tribal involvement coordinator, working with 35 tribal delegates who represent most of the tribes that Lewis and Clark encountered.

Mossett works from her home on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, where the Three Affiliated Tribes (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara) are headquartered. She also has undertaken another project with links to history and heritage. She is recording tribal elders, translating President Thomas Jefferson’s 250-word “Indian vocabulary,” into the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara languages.

Mossett’s knowledge of Sacagawea has opened doors for her to teach audiences from coast to coast about her heritage. But she still believes the most valuable lessons she teaches are the ones she learned from her elders and is passing down to her teen-age daughters.

Candi Helseth is a freelance writer in Minot, N.D.

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