"The challenges she was willing to face will show young women of today that we are capable of facing hardships. We've come along way from that time period but in many ways we are faced with similar challenges. Her most important value to me as a woman, as a Native American teacher, is that she stayed true to her traditions."
— Rose Ann Abrahamson, Lemhi Shoshoni
— Rose Ann Abrahamson, Lemhi Shoshoni
| Sacagawea's Importance to Feminist History | |
In the hundred years or so after the expedition, Sacagawea was nothing like the icon she has since become. The journals languished mostly unread, and there was little to remind Americans of Sacagawea's contributions to a party of discovery that had, in any case, been overshadowed by the legends of other 19th century frontiersmen. It was the suffragists, on the lookout for a folk heroine, who rediscovered her. In their portrayals Sacagawea was both an Indian "princess" and a patriotic American. With a little rhetorical exertion, her services to Thomas Jefferson and his vision could be fashioned into an argument for rewarding all American women with the vote. Learn More: Learn more about Native American women, including Pocahontas, Zitkala-Sa, and Wilma Mankiller. To learn more about other famous women in American history, visit the Women's History section at About.com. |
