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刘易斯与克拉克远征探险是美国历史上一次史诗般的壮举，在美国人心目中的地位可比我国的郑和下西洋。探险队横越当时尚属蛮荒的美国西部，旅途艰险可想而知。然而，这番充满男子气概的功业在很大程度上却要归功于一个年少的印第安女孩，她就是萨卡加维亚：一名才智过人的印第安女探险家，她续写了一段美国西部拓荒的故事……她成为美国历史上的一位传奇人物，她还曾被美国著名杂志评选为影响美国历史的十大女名人之一。
By Jim Garamone and Lara Marks
左云慧 选 冰尘 译 medium
She was a slave, a woman and an Indian. And America might not be what it is today without Sacagawea. Who was Sacagawea? Who has she become? And why does her legend live on? These questions are central to understanding Sacagawea, in her own right, in the context of the nineteenth century, and in today’s setting. Most of what is known of her life is from incomplete records and is therefore imbued with a great deal of legend and hearsay.
So, a near-legendary figure in the history of the American West for her indispensible role on the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Sacagawea has become an enigma for historians seeking to trace her life. The history of Sacagawea’s life is shrouded in mystery and myth.
Sacagawea belonged to the Shoshone Indians. She was born to a tribe of Shoshone in 1788. This tribe lived in what is now western Montana, between the headwaters of the Missouri River and the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains. She was betrothed at an early age to a much older man. However, at about the age of 12, she was kidnapped by a raiding group of Hidatsa Indians, and taken to their village.
This unfortunate occurrence for Sacagawea led to an exciting adventure. She quickly became assimilated to the Hidatsa culture and learned to speak their language. She therefore grew up culturally affiliated with this tribe; her name is taken from the Hidatsa phrase for “Bird Woman”. She was later sold into slavery with the Mandans. She was then sold to a French-Canadian fur trader named Toussaint Charbonneau and he made her one of his plural wives. Sacagawea and her husband lived among the Hidatsa and Mandan Indians in the upper Missouri River area (present-day North Dakota). …
萨卡加维亚是个奴隶，是个女人，也是一名印第安人。没有她，美国也许就不会是今天这个样子。萨卡加维亚究竟是谁？做过些什么？为什么关于她的传奇会历久不衰呢？不管是从她所处的19世纪着眼，还是对照今天的时代背景，要想理解真实的萨卡加维亚，这些问题都至关重要。我们对她生平的了解大都来自残缺不全的记录，其中自然也就掺杂着大量的神话和传闻。
这一来，萨卡加维亚就成了那些打算探寻她生平的历史学家难以索解的一个谜，而她曾在刘易斯与克拉克远征探险过程中扮演关键角色，由此成为了美国西部历史中一个近乎传奇的人物。关于萨卡加维亚的生平记述充满了神秘感和神话色彩。
萨卡加维亚是肖肖尼印第安人，于1788年出生在该族的一个部落当中。她所在的部落生活在今日的蒙大拿州西部，地处密苏里河源与落基山脉东缘之间。年纪尚幼之时，她就被许配给了一个比她大得多的人。不过，大概在12岁的时候，她就被一群前来袭击的希多特萨印第安人绑到了他们的村庄里。
这是一段不幸的遭遇，萨卡加维亚却由此开始了一场激动人心的冒险。她很快就接受了希多特萨印第安人的文化，还学会了他们的语言。就这样，她在希多特萨印第安部落的文化熏陶当中长大，她的名字就来自希多特萨语，意思是“女鸟人”。后来，希多特萨人把她卖给了曼丹人做奴隶。她后来又被卖给一个叫图桑特•夏博瑙的法裔加拿大毛皮贸易商，成了他多名妻子中的一员。萨卡加维亚跟丈夫生活在密苏里河上游地区（即今天的北达科他州），他们与希多特萨和曼丹印第安人生活在一起。……
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