It turns out that Sacagawea’s original name was not actually Sacagawea. It was a Shoshoni interpretation of the name she received when she was held captive by the Hidatsas people, tsaka’aka wi’a, which translates to “bird woman” (the reason behind this association remains unknown). When she rejoined the Shoshone tribe, they reinterpreted her name as Sacajawea, meaning “boat puller”. This confusion likely led to the change from a k/g pronunciation in the middle of her name to a j. Lewis and Clark did not provide much clarity on the matter, as they recorded her name with various inconsistent spellings and referred to her as “Janey”. According to Google Ngram Viewer, the usage of the name Sacagawea saw a significant increase in the late 1990s, peaking in 2004. This surge in popularity can be attributed to the US Mint issuing a coin featuring her image in 2000, sparking conversations and raising awareness about her historical significance.
