Local woman publishes children’s book about Sacajawea, told through Shoshone stories
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FORT HALL — Some may recognize Randy’L He-Dow Teton as the model used by the United States Mint to make the Sacagawea Golden Dollar. But she also spent several years as the spokeswoman for the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes and is now the public affairs and tribal affairs specialist for the U.S. Forest Service.
Later this month, she will also be a published author.
Teton’s book, “It’s Her Story: Sacajawea.” will be released by the Arizona-based publisher Sunbird Books on Sept. 21.
As Teton explained to EastIdahoNews.com, her book will join Sunbird’s “It’s Her Story” series, which is as a biographical series about the many women who have left a lasting mark on history.
“(Sunbird) reached out to me, and I was excited because I’d been wanting to do this for the past 23 years. Finally, we have a book that is nationally promoted. My hope is to get it into every classroom in the state of Idaho,” Teton said.
“I’m excited just to be part of being able to tell her story, because her voice is often missed — the tribe’s perspective is often missing.”
Many written accounts of Sacajawea’s life lean heavily upon the Lewis and Clark journals and focus primarily on her time as the guide of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Teton said. But this book takes a different perspective — that of the Shoshone Tribes.
Teton relies on stories shared orally by family members and tribal elders, passed down through generations. The book welcomes readers to “walk in (Sacajawea’s) moccasins.”
It includes a glossary of Shoshone words and phrases and their definitions, starting with the tribe’s accepted spelling of the name Sacajawea — with a “J” and a hard “E.” The different spellings and pronunciations of her name are proof, Teton said, that Sacajawea’s story has been blurred in the 211 years since her death, at just 24 years of age, in 1812.
Teton has scheduled numerous speaking engagements during which she will share some of the Sacajawea stories she has gathered from elders and during her time working at the Fort Hall Tribal Museum. More information can be found at Teton’s website — here — and Facebook page — here.
While the book is scheduled for a wide release on Sept. 21, at Sunbird Books, Barnes and Noble, Target and Amazon, it is available now for pre-order on the publisher’s website — here.
“I’m honored to be able to continue to be a voice for Sacajawea and tell her story from an Indigenous perspective,” Teton said.