Sacajawea, Sacagawea or Sakakawea (1787?–1884?), a Shoshoni Indian woman who served as an interpreter and a guide for the Lewis and Clark expedition. Her name is usually translated as “Bird Woman.”. She was raised in what is now Idaho, but was captured and brought to Wyoming by Hidatsa Indians about 1800. Later she was sold to a French Canadian, Toussaint Charbonneau, whom she married.
In 1805, with her infant son, Sacajawea accompanied her husband on the exploratory journey of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark from Fort Mandan (in present North Dakota) to the Pacific Ocean. Her knowledge of parts of the region to be explored proved invaluable. During the journey she was reunited with her brother, a Shoshoni chief, who provided the expedition with badly needed horses. For many years, it was believed that she died in 1812 at Fort Manuel, in Wyoming. Evidence found later, however, indicated that Sacajawea may have lived to be nearly 100 years old and spent her last years on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming, where she is buried.