Sacajawea: America’s First Native American Superhero

Women Road Warriors

This episode of Women Road Warriors explores the legendary life of Sacagawea through the lens of the award-winning animated series 'Bird Wom

Key takeaways

Sacagawea's knowledge of terrain and survival skills was essential to the success of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Her ability to navigate between cultures helped secure vital resources like horses and safe passage from Native tribes.

Main topics

Sacagawea's historical journey with Lewis and Clark
The cultural significance of Sacagawea in American history

Notable quotes

"Long before Wonder Woman ever took flight, the real Sacajawea crossed thousands of miles..." - Kathy Takaro

Conclusion

Sacagawea's story, once reduced to a footnote in history, is being reclaimed and reimagined through the

Transcript preview

Speaker 4 (0:01) This Speaker 1 (0:01) is Women Road Warriors with Shelly Johnson and Kathy Takaro from the corporate office to the cab of a truck. They're here to inspire and empower women in all professions. So gear down, sit back, and enjoy. Speaker 2 (0:23) Welcome. We're an award-winning show dedicated to empowering women in every profession through inspiring stories and expert insights. No topics off limits on our show. We power women on the road to success with expert and celebrity interviews and information you need. I'm Shelley. And Speaker 3 (0:43) I'm Speaker 2 (0:43) Kathy. Long before Wonder Woman ever took flight to become a superhero. A teenage Native American woman traveled thousands of miles across an unfamiliar and often perilous landscape, carrying her infant son and helping one of the most famous expeditions in American history reach the Pacific. Sacagawea was a Lemhi Shoni woman, an interpreter, a cultural bridge, and an essential member of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Her importance was not emphasized enough in history books. Nearly a century later, American suffragists adopted her as a symbol of women's worth and independence. Yet despite the monuments and even a dollar coin bearing her image, most Americans know her name but very little of her remarkable story. Now she's taking flight in an entirely new way. The 12-time award-winning animated drama Bird Woman Sacagawea reimagines her as America's first Native American superhero, a shapeshifter. who's part woman, part eagle. She's a navigator and a warrior. She battles blizzards, starvation, danger, and the wrenching choices of a woman caught between two worlds as she discovers her strength, her powers, and her destiny. The series combines Native American actors, musicians, historians, and cultural advisors with AI-enhanced animation to introduce this indigenous heroine to a new generation. Its creator, Lynn Rogoff, from AmeriKids Productions, has over two decades working to bring Sacagawea's story to the screen. Lynn is a Writers Guild of America-nominated writer and the filmmaker behind No Maps on My Taps, which received two Emmy Awards. She's also an adjunct associate professor at the New York Institute of Technology. Today, we're going to talk about the woman behind the legend, the making of Bird Woman, and the first Native American superhero series. Kathy and I are thrilled to welcome Lynn Rogoff to our show. Lynn, this is such a pleasure. Welcome to our show. Speaker 4 (2:45) I'm really pleased to be here and support women warriors all over the world. Speaker 2 (2:51) Yes, we're so excited to have this conversation. We need more warriors, no doubt about that. Before we talk more about your incredible series. I was thinking maybe could you give us some background about Sacagawea? I know people have heard her name, but I'm not sure they know who she was and what she did. Speaker 4 (3:09) She lived in the early turn of the century, 19th century. She was born, they think, around in the 1780s, the late 1780s. And she was actually born in the Rocky Mountains. When she was 11 years old, she was stolen, kidnapped by another tribe and brought east. And then another tribe, they kept her in that tribe. And then she was sold in a gambling game to a French-Canadian trapper. And he married her and impregnated her at 16. And he was caught. almost 40 years old and she was 16. And so she was living in what is now South Dakota and pregnant. And Lewis and Clark, who were sent to discover what was in the Louisiana Purchase that Thomas Jefferson had just acquired from... Speaker 4 (4:23) Napoleon, because Napoleon was losing his war in Europe and needed money. So he sold America what became most of the new continent. It went from the Mississippi River almost to the Oregon. And so they needed to figure out how to find a water passage. all the way to the Pacific Ocean. So when they wintered in North Dakota's Mandan tribe, the tribal elders told Lewis and Clark there is no water route and that you're going to have to take horses across the Rocky Mountains and it's going to take you at least 18 months. And so they were quite shocked because they had expected... It would only take six months. They thought the Rockies were like the Appalachian Mountain Trail. They had no idea how wide and steep and dangerous the Rocky Mountains were because nobody had ever crossed them completely all the way to the Pacific and back. So the tribal elders recommended that they take Sacajawea because she knew the Rocky Mountains and she knew the path. because she had been brought east from the Rockies to what is now North Dakota. And so Lewis and Clark met with her, and they thought that this was a ridiculous idea to take a young pregnant woman who would give birth shortly and be traveled with a newborn on a military expedition. But they were convinced that she might be able to help them find horses and survive the route, which they had no idea where exactly they were going. So they decided to take her along after much consternation by the other members of the expedition. And so she gave birth and they took her and her newborn. on this expedition up the Missouri and then across the Rocky Mountains. And lo and behold, they got stuck in a blizzard in the Rockies and they almost died. And because she was Native American and because she was traveling with an infant, the Native tribes all along that route helped them. So not only was she... capable of helping them find her brother, who had become the chief in the Rocky Mountain tribe, the Shoshone tribe, which she found. And so even in the Lewis and Clark journals, they say that only a dramatist could have made this up, that they would actually find her tribe and he would become the chief. her brother would become the chief. So it was quite a dramatic moment. And so she helped negotiate with her brother to give them horses. And she was betwixt and between whether to stay with the tribe, because that's where she had hoped to return to, and only to discover that Her whole family, except for her brother, had been killed during one of the many times that other tribes would attack the Shoshone tribe. So she was persuaded to keep going by the women in the tribe to keep going, that her child would not survive living in that conditions that they were living in because they couldn't. They needed guns. She got them guns from Lewis and Clark in exchange for the horses. So she was not only did she help find the pathway and not only did she know from Native American experience where all the roots and berries and vegetables could be found along the pathway and she was able to help. negotiate for guns and horses. And as they traveled across the Rockies, many other tribes helped them survive the winter because they were starving and they were sick. And then as they went down the Columbia River, the tribe saw a woman and a baby, and they knew that they were not coming as warriors. She convinced them to help them get to the Pacific. And then, of course, they were hoping when they got there to the Pacific that President Jefferson would have sent a boat or ship. to the Pacific to save them from having to go back across the Rocky Mountains. But no ship ever arrived. And they had to go back across the Rocky Mountains again. Speaker 2 (9:57) That really is amazing. Stay Speaker 1 (10:03) tuned for more of Women Road Warriors coming up. Speaker 2 (10:11) Industry movement Trucking Moves America Forward is telling the story of the industry, our safety champions, the women of trucking, independent contractors, the next generation of truckers, and more. Help us promote the best of our industry. Share your story and what you love about trucking. Share images of a moment you're proud of. And join us on social media. Learn more at TruckingMovesAmerica.com. Speaker 1 (10:41) Welcome back to Women Road Warriors with Shelly Johnson and Kathy Takaro. Speaker 2 (10:49) If you're enjoying this informative episode of Women Road Warriors, I wanted to mention Kathy and I explore all kinds of topics that will power you on the road to success. We feature a lot of expert interviews. Plus, we feature celebrities and women who've been trailblazers. Please check out our podcast at womenroadwarriors.com and click on our episodes page. We're also available wherever you listen to podcasts on all the major podcast channels like Spotify, Apple, YouTube, Amazon Music. Audible, you name it. Check us out and bookmark our podcast. Also, don't forget to follow us on social media. We're on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube, and other sites. And tell others about us. We want to help as many women as possible. Sacagawea was a legend for a reason. While she was still a teenager and carrying her infant son, she helped guide the Lewis and Clark expedition through thousands of miles of unfamiliar and very dangerous territory. She was an interpreter, a cultural bridge, and an essential part of that historic journey. Yet her contributions were too often reduced to a footnote. Today, we're discovering this remarkable woman behind the familiar name. with our guest, Lynn Rogoff. You know, Lynn, traveling with Lewis and Clark and navigating everything the way Sacagawea did was not an easy task. They wouldn't have survived without her. It was a long journey. Speaker 4 (12:14) It was a two-year expedition. And so she got very close to the expeditioners. Oh, and they got close to her and they ended up being very attached to her and her baby. And Clark wanted to bring the baby up. And she travels after the return to the man dance. She decides that she's going to allow Clark to bring the baby up. And the story continues from there. So it's a big adventure story. And it's a big story of a hero's journey. And the hero's journey is one in which you start from. being an oppressed person to discovering your strength, just suffering through trials and tribulations, only to end up becoming a leader and a great woman of valor. And so that is what happened to her. But at that time, when the Lewis and Clark returned from the expedition, she really wasn't much thought about. when they came back in 1806. But it was until the centennial, like you said, in 1905, when the women's suffrage movement