Sacajawea was a Native American woman from the Shoshoni Tribe who was born in eastern Idaho and, at age ten, was kidnapped and later sold to a French-Canadian fur trader. She became a valuable part of the Lewis and Clark Expedition because she knew the territory, how to talk with native tribes, and how to gather food. Lewis and Clark named a river in her honor, and she was responsible for raising Native American women to a new level of respect and admiration.