Lewis & Clark Native American Relations

Lewis and Clark’s relationship with Native Americans along their journey was critical to their success. In fact, they would have surely failed without the assistance of their guide, Sacajawea. Sacajawea was a Shoshone woman who served as a guide and interpreter to Lewis and Clark. Her appearance saved the journeymen several times, assuring other Natives that they came in peace. Many tribes would have mistaken the two armed men as soldiers on a mission if not for her. The three travelers successfully encountered over three dozen different tribes on their journey. According to Robert Archibald, Lewis and Clark “…were the first United States citizens to have described the place officially.” Many say that the Missouri River was more of a guide to the travelers than Sacajawea because she hadn’t been near that area since her early years. Regardless, she was an important interpreter, and as a food gatherer. Without her knowledge, the two men surely would have perished. She gathered edible roots that almost all men never knew existed, and her hunting skills were phenomenal as well. She accompanied the men for thousands of miles along the trip, traveling from North Dakota to the Pacific Coast in two years, an incredible feat. No factual image of Sacajawea exists, as there is little information known about her. Sadly, very little accurate, historical documentation pertaining to Sacajawea has been recorded, so everything we currently know is based on the interpretation of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.