It's difficult to answer questions that ask about an individual's motivation, especially when that person left no written record of their thoughts that survived to the modern era. Virtually everything we know about Sacajawea is from the journals of the Lewis and Clark party, and they couldn't even agree on the spelling of her name or described her as "our interpreter's wife."

It's very tempting to speculate about why she did what she did - it's possible she made decisions that she felt would best benefit her and her child. It's possible she had an adventurous nature and was personally curious about what was over the next rise. It could be both, it could be neither.

If you're interested in learning more about the role of women in Indigenous tribes in North America, this piece provides examples from a variety of communities and speaks to how the nature of the research has changed. For generations, the history of Indigenous tribes was told by mostly by white men who crossed their paths. As more women, especially Indigenous women, enter the academy, the focus is shifting from positioning Indigenous women as passive players in historical events to active participants will fuller stories.