sacagawea; breaking the mold
...e learned of the independent Sacagawea, the only woman to accompany the Lewis and Clark expedition all the way to the Pacific. Not only was she revered because she was a woman, but also a native woman. In my youth, somewhat due to Sacagawea, I had an entirely different view of native women in the fur trade. In reality, the rest of the native women were experiencing a suppression of their rights and a subjection of their minds and bodies. The fur traders were often times at fault for the subjection and suppression of the women. Countless women were enslaved and sold to fur traders as slaves and were often times turned into wives. In this time it was beneficial for a fur trader to have many wives for then he had more free labor. In order to tan a hide for trade it took three days of intense labor, and the more wives a trader had, the more hides he could tan. Also, the women completed a host of other duties that served the fur trader. The American image of Sacagawea is also that of a free woman that helped lead the Lewis and Clark expedition with pride and strength. Yet, at this same time back in the native communities, the women were being provided as "bedfellows" for the fur traders if they had any property to trade. The women were being thrown into prostitution and were losing control over their bodies. Even members of the noble Lewis and Clark expedition were perpetrators of the subjection when they eagerly stepped into the "buffalo-calling ceremony" that practiced ritual intercourse. Overall, the image of Sacagawea tha...