I am Sacagawea

welcome back boys and girls today's read aloud is I am Sacagawea this is by Brad Meltzer this is similar to that I am Jackie Robinson book where it has kind of like a comic strip effect in it and I hope you enjoy I am Sacagawea by Brad Meltzer illustrated by Christopher iliopoulos I am Sacagawea what do people expect of you your family your teachers your friends do they expect you to be a good person to do well in school to keep your room clean people had different expectations of me in fact they didn't expect much at all why it was a different time in America back then they didn't think much of people who looked like me someone who was a girl someone who was young someone who was Native American when I was born the United States was still a brand-new country George Washington was just becoming president but my people my tribe which was called the Shoshone had already lived here for thousands of years when winter came the women of our village would pack up our lodges our homes made of brush we lived in during certain times of the year in spring and summer the whole village would move to an area where there was better fishing in fall or winter we moved to different areas for different food this is my father he was chief of our village and this is my brother we lived in what is now called Idaho the United States was so young that Idaho didn't exist yet the snow is arriving it is time to move on when I was around 12 years old our Shoshone tribe was attacked by another tribe they captured me and took me back to their village from there I was given to a french-canadian man and became his wife that's when I was given the name you know me by Sacagawea so no one knows her real name that's right and she was only 14 when she married that's how life was back then war captives were treated like property something that could be given away but lucky for me [Music] my life was about to change I'm Meriwether Lewis I'm William Clark we're explorers and we need an interpreter someone who can help us speak to other Native American tribes like the Hidatsa and Shoshone I speak Hidatsa my wife speaks Shoshone at the time I was pregnant when the baby came it would be hard to travel but I didn't have a choice that's how things were back then besides Lewis and Clark had a mission a mission from President Thomas Jefferson today the United States looks like this back then the US only had seventeen states only the blue part Thomas Jefferson had just made a deal called the Louisiana Purchase where he bought the big yellow part in the middle from France the whole area had never been explored by the US government there were so many mountains we didn't know if we could even get through so our goal was to examine the land open trade relations with the Native Americans and find a safe path from here to the Pacific Ocean but the only way to make it happen was with a translator who could help speak to the Native Americans who were already living there it was harder than you think to talk to a Native American I would translate what they said into Hidatsa a tribal language that my husband spoke then since he didn't speak English he would translate the Hidatsa into French then a member of the team would translate the French into English for captain's Lewis and Clark What did he say he wishes you harmony on your journey by the time we were ready to leave my son was born Clark gave him the nickname pomp after a Roman general it was meant as a joke like calling a child commander was it dangerous to take a newborn baby into the wilderness of course it was but we didn't have a choice I wasn't even considered an equal part of the team that's how things were back then in April 1805 the Corps of Discovery set out from my village to explore this great uncharted land Lewis and Clark thought it would be a one-year trip they had no idea what they were getting into there were a few dozen men I was the only girl the only female teenager the only one with a baby and the only Native American today people say I was a guide but my real job was an interpreter soon enough though Lewis and Clark realized I had many other skills my people lived on this land I knew its secrets with a sharp stick I'd find wild artichokes that mice had buried in the ground I'm hungry there is nothing to eat out here wait the girl why is she pointing she's saying these roots and fruits are safe we can eat them we can eat these too look at these berries she found these are amazing it wasn't just food though this was my land my people lived here for centuries I understood its passageways which turn should we take she says that one how does she know she recognizes that mountain the one that looks like a beavers head that means her tribes been here before this is the right path in their journals Lewis and Clark spelled my name eight different ways Sacagawea Sacagawea Sacagawea Sacagawea Sacagawea Sacagawea Sacagawea and Sacagawea sometimes they called me snake woman or bird woman but over time they learned exactly who I was one day during a sudden storm my husband lost control of our boat the vessel nearly flipped the men panicked and fought no our supplies are medicine and papers this applies there floating away in the middle of this pioneering journey our supplies which could not be replaced and were needed for our survival we're about to be lost someone help us hurry do something stop panicking careful you're gonna tip the boat only one person stayed calm carefully balancing myself with my infant son strapped to my back in a boat that was about to flip I was the one who gathered all our supplies that's right it was I a young girl surrounded by soldiers and frontiersmen who saved us all I didn't wait for someone else to come to the rescue I came to the rescue you see what she's doing our instruments are maps she's actually getting them and all the while I also did my job as an interpreter helping Lewis and Clark speak to other tribes in Shoshone we say you are not human until you learn your language these are some of the real words from my tribe there are no words for hello or goodbye we don't want to say goodbye forever so we say something that is closer to I will see you later for our expedition the word bungu was one of the most important of all if we wanted to cross the Rocky Mountains we needed horses who had them the Shoshone my tribe I led the way be careful they might attack I had no idea what to expect that day it had been years since I was taken from my tribe our expedition had never seen a Shoshone war party a battle could have started fighting both sides began to talk sometimes even without words you can communicate peace soon after they invited us to meet their chief that's when I saw my brother my sister it was wonderful to see my people again we traded with them giving them supplies and even a medallion from Thomas Jefferson in return they gave us horses helping us prepare for our journey through the mountains eventually though it was time to leave the next part of your trip will be difficult you'll be going to places where you won't know the land you'll meet tribes where you won't know the language Lewis and Clark really don't even need you anymore so may I ask sister why are you going with them why not stay here with your family to this day no one knows the answer some say it was because we still had more to explore some say it was because I felt like I was a part of the team some even say I was inspired by the adventure one thing was certain the mission wasn't done so what would you do the trip was never easy we faced grizzly bears we were hit by hail and flash floods we ate candles to keep from starving I even got extremely ill she's sick she's a fighter that winter our Corps of Discovery had to decide where to build our camp usually that decision was made by the men in charge but for once the final decision rested with Lewis and Clark but on that day my vote was cast like everyone else on the team we'd like to know what you think we need everyone to vote including me yes Sacagawea including you did our expedition ever reach the Pacific yes it did part of our group hiked to the water earlier than the rest and sent word back they say they saw a whale I want to go to see the whale not just the whale I wanted to see the ocean which I've never seen before eventually I did in the end our Corps of Discovery traveled over 2,000 miles it took a year and a half by boat horse and foot I was the only girl the only teenager the only one with a baby and the only Native American in my life people underestimated me since I was a girl they expected me to be weak since I was young they expected me to be inexperienced and since I was Native American they expected to treat me unfairly that's how things were back then but that's not how they should ever be Native American people define themselves by their stories you know my story now it's time for you to write your story don't let someone else limit you as chief min anak of the Yakama tribe says we can only be what we give ourselves power to be at the end of the expedition sacagawea's husband was paid five hundred and thirty three dollars and thirty cents and given three hundred and twenty acres of land as his wife Sacagawea was paid nothing that's not fair today there are dozens of parks landmarks poems songs and even rivers named after her all across the country remember when she saved all the supplies during the expedition when it happened they named the river after her today in Montana it's still called the Sacagawea River she's the first Native American woman to have her own statue in the US Capitol she even got her own cooling the Sacagawea dollar but since there are no pictures of her the picture on the coin is of a woman from sacagawea's tribe did she really make that whole trip with her baby look at the coin and a statue baby pump is on both without sacagawea's bravery and knowledge the Lewis and Clark expedition might not have ever been completed thanks to her they were able to create Maps engage other Native American cultures and find a route to the Pacific do you know what it means to navigate something it means finding your way wherever you go in life whatever mountains you climb and challenges you face find your own way make your own path shatter expectations that's what I've always done I am a girl I am a teenager I am a mother I am Native American and I am powerful I am Sacagawea and I will blaze my own Trail the Indian woman to whom I ascribe equal fortitude and resolution with any person on board at the time of the accident caught and preserved most of the light articles which were washed overboard Meriwether Lewis writing in his journal about Sacagawea after she saved the supplies on the famous boat ride on these two pages are pictures in a timeline of sacagawea's life take a moment to view both the pictures and the timeline to learn a little bit more I hope you enjoyed our read aloud of I am Sacagawea

Channel: Kelley Hoover

Views: 33,414

Rating: 4.4913297 out of 5

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Id: FDb-3TnKmXg

Length: 16min 40sec (1000 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 17 2020