Sacagawea,
Carolrhoda Books, 2003.

Erdrich, Liselotte

Lise Erdrich was born in Minnesota, lives in Wahpeton, North Dakota, and has worked in Indian health and education for over twenty years. A graduate of the University of North Dakota and of Minnesota State University-Mankato, she is the author of the children’s picture books Sacagawea and Bears Make Rock Soup. Stories from Night Train, her first collection for adults, have received many awards including the Minnesota Monthly Tamarack Award, the Many Mountains Moving Flash Fiction Contest, and Best of Show at the North Dakota State Fair, where the story “Zanimoo” was exhibited between a pig and the pickles, jams, jellies and preserves. Erdrich’s essays and stories have also appeared in several journals and anthologies including Sister Nations: Native American Women Writers on Community, and Visit Teepee Town: Native Writings After the Detours.

Sacagawea Book Description

This beautifully illustrated biography of the Shoshone girl, Sacagawea, tells of her life from age eleven when she was kidnapped by the Hitdatsa. At age fifteen she married Charbonneau, a much older Canadian fur trapper, and accompanied him on the journey with the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Her skills and knowledge of Native American languages were invaluable assets to the Corps of Discovery. During the expedition she was briefly reunited with her long lost family. The author includes speculation about Sacagawea’s later life about which very little is known. It is known that her son Pomp developed a special bond with Captain Clark and was eventually sent to live with him a few years after the end of the expedition.

Book Review
Erdrich puts Sacagawea's story into perspective, clearly representing her importance to the success of the Lewis and Clark Exploration of Discovery. The lusciously colored oil paintings complement the tale, making it all the more creditable in their historic accuracy. Erdrich's narrative is both straightforward and lyrical-and always interesting. Both the foreword, discussing the oft-maligned spelling of Sacagawea, and the end note and timeline dealing with Sacagawea's life after the completion of her part in the voyage, help readers pull all of the other information about this brave and intelligent explorer into a cohesive whole with the events of the time. Absorbing, interesting, beautiful-with all the makings of a classic. (Picture book/biography. 6-12)

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