He Called Her Janey

Linda Burton posting from Bismarck, North Dakota – Is it Sacajawea? Or Sacagawea? I’ve seen it spelled both ways as I have been bumping into Lewis and Clark of late. And now, here in Bismarck, the statue near the capitol honoring the “Bird Woman” has a spelling of “Sakakawea.”(pronounced Sa KAH- kah-we-a.) I was told at the Heritage Center that North Dakota chose this spelling and pronunciation because it more closely matches the Shoshone sound of her name. Yet, when I traveled north to the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center in Washburn, North Dakota, I found exhibits there use the spelling of “Sacagawea.” The Bismarck statue, erected in 1910 by the Federated Clubwomen and the Schoolchildren of North Dakota, bestows great honor on the young woman; the plaque reads: The Shoshone Indian “Bird Woman” who in 1805 guided the Lewis and Clark Expedition from the Missouri River to the Yellowstone. The exhibit in Washburn, just completed this year, grants her a smaller role; presented in terms of “Legend” and “Fact,” it states she was not a guide, but an interpreter; and that William Clark, though fond of her, was not a romantic relationship. But, it is acknowledged, he called her Janey. » read more