About this episode

This episode explores the life and legacy of Sacajawea, reimagined as a superhero in the animated drama 'Bird Woman: Sacajawea'.

America’s first Native American superhero isn’t another comic-book creation. She is Sacajawea, and she is taking flight as Bird Woman. The 12-time award-winning animated drama Bird Woman: Sacajawea reimagines her as a navigator, warrior, and shapeshifter. She is part woman and part eagle. Caught between two worlds, Bird Woman battles danger, confronts painful choices, and discovers her strength, her powers, and her destiny. Her supernatural powers may be imagined. Her courage was not. Long before Wonder Woman took flight, the real Sacajawea crossed thousands of miles of dangerous and unfamiliar territory while carrying her infant son and helping the Lewis and Clark Expedition reach the Pacific. The expedition would have failed without her. She was only 16, with knowledge well beyond her years. Sacajawea was far more than the guide many history books briefly mention. She was a Lemhi Shoshone woman, interpreter, navigator, cultural bridge, diplomat, mother, and survivor. Her knowledge helped the expedition find food, obtain horses, communicate with Native nations, and navigate a landscape its members did not understand. Her presence with a baby also signaled that the group was…

People in this episode

Hosts: Shelley Johnson, Kathy Tuccaro

Guest: Lynn Rogoff

Topics covered

• Native American history
• female empowerment
• cultural representation
• exploration
• animation
• heroism

Keywords

• Sacajawea
• Bird Woman
• Lewis and Clark
• Native American
• female hero
• animation
• exploration
• courage
• history

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Lewis and Clark Expedition

Books & works: Bird Woman: Sacajawea

Places: America, Pacific, Lemhi Shoshone

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