Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1906-04-02
"SACAWEA"

0AUAWEA
Different Ideas as to the Proper SPELL
! ing and Pronunciation of the "Bird
Woman's" Name.
! So much discussion has arisen as
to the proper spelling of the uame of
the Shosshone Indian woman, who
successfully guided Lewis and Clark
to the Pacific coast and back that the
following will be of interest:
The Federation of Women's clubs
of this state, who will place a statue
of the famous Indian woman in the
state capitol grounds in this city, has
decided to adopt Sacawea as the
1 proper way of spelling the name.
Prof. Libby has made an exhaustive
study of the subject and concludes
the Mandan Indian word. "Sacawea,'
meaning 'bird woman" is the correst
name of the woman, and the one by
which she should go down in history
as it was by this name he claims she
wa known in her adopted home This
premise the Federation accepted as
correct.
G. A. Perley of Flandreau, S. D.,
sends the Tribune the following ex-
pressions by various persons on this
subject:
| 7 hoI th1
prove that she had the name bird
Woman. Sarah A. Evans, Owego,
Oregon.
sa is Sioux for (red) cafe, pro-
nounced GAIA is Sioux for name and
wea expresses the feminine gender.
Sa-caje-wea Red-woman, Sisseton
Sioux.
"a son of one of the Lewis & Clark
party thinks his father pronounced
the name "Sa-ka-zow-a," hard u.
O. A. Bowlby, Astoria, Oregon.
"sacajawea (Sah-kah-gar-we-a) was
the name of this woman, ~
Lewis and Clark Souvenir, Astoria
Chambers of Commerce, Astoria
Oregon.
There is no Dakota word that fills
the bill.'-John P. Williamson.
/ "Sa.ca-ja-wea pronounced sah-kah-
Jah-Wea with slightly more stress on
1.-THE third syllable and less on the last,
which is nearly two syllables. The
word means "boat-launcher" or liter
ally She who pushes off the boat
N. H. Brown, Postmaster, Lander
Wyo"
This name is composed of two
Shosshoni names "sac' (Which means
boat,) and 'jahwe" (Which means
push Or launch) her name meaning,
therefore, "boat-launcher" These
words are in common use in this tribe
at this time, and there is no doubt as
to her name. This woman died in
1884 at the age of nearly 100 years and
is buried near the agency."-H. E.
WadsWorth, Supt. and Spy Dish.
Agent, shoshoni Agency, iWnd River,
Wyo.
l will return your letter and also
send a slip of paper with the name
written in the Shoshone and English
language. Sa does not belong to the
name neither is it Shoshone. The
shoshones spell the name both ways
and mean the same. They call the
Rocky Mountains the great divide.
When the party came to the high
mountains she said there is no good
divide or crossing. 1t seems she Is
known by this name "Ca-zarweah" or
"Ca-zant-weah" meaning "no4good-
divide. Rev. H. Locke, u. s. Indian
Service, Fort Hall, Idaho.
"Mr. Locke ask me what Caviar.
we-ah means in Shoshone. I told
him as near as could it means M.
good-divide. Thomas Cosgrove, sho
chone Indian, Blackoot, Idaho
MIR. Olin D. Wheeler in an article
on Lewis and Clark route re-iterates
his former theory of Minnetaree
origin and substitutes for i, I be
heVe the original Journal Of Lewis
and Clark just out the woman's name
Is spelled sah-kah-zar-we.a. Comes
on authority of one Matthews and fol
lows Wheeler's theory that 1t means
Bird-woman."--J. @. A. Bowlby, Ore
gon. j. Z. ss..t5
4 CLARK In the journals often has
Il sa-casja-wea. Eva Emery Dye
4 Oregon City, Oregon