This painting depicts Sacagawea and her son Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, nicknamed by William Clark “Pomp”, starting a cookfire. This scene explores how Sacagawea might have appeared not long after the Lewis and Clark Expedition. She has just started a small fire which will be allowed to burn down to coals for cooking. In preparation for cooking she has laid out a wooden bowl with maize and perhaps some chokecherries next to her burden basket woven of bark on a willow frame. A well used copper kettle, of a type common to early traders, stands ready behind the bowl. Sacagawea has on a very plain, two hide dress, of elk hide. This early plains pattern was widely adopted at this time by many tribes after replacing the older, side seam dress. Her belt and moccasins are decorated more elaborately with quill and beadwork in traditional Hidatsa patterns. The dyes used by the Hidatsa in their quillwork allowed for some intense and unusual colors. Blue beads were extremely popular and therefore valuable. Sacagawea’s jewelry selection for this day is very simple with shell earrings and trade metal bracelets and rings. Her braids are bound with strips of red tradecloth and vermilion has been applied to the part in her hair. I’ve attempted to portray Sacagawea as she may have dressed for a typical days labors.
