Sacajawea

A young Sacajawea confronts the foreboding spirits of the forest and uses their guidance to navigate first contact with white explorers. Confused by prophecy and puberty, she must learn to discern enemies from friends.

Sacajawea lives in the Mandan villages, away from her home with the Shoshone and alongside her pigheaded husband Charbonneau. But everything changes when the Discovery Corps arrive. Men of white skin, beards on their faces, they bring promises of the Great White Father. With winter coming, these men build a fort and break bread with the tribe. Meanwhile, Sacajawea is visited by the spirits of the forest. They foretell a great prophecy, but gift her with dreams of the future. Therein she learns of her pregnancy, and the importance of her role in the journey to come. Because of her skills of translation, she is hired to aid in the expedition to the Pacific Coast. Entangled in relationships, she must navigate the power of Lewis and Clark, her husband’s stupidity, and find allies in others amongst the Corps. These relationships all come to a head on the eve of the Buffalo Dance. Men trade partners, believing intercourse imbues their women with power. Lost in the milieu, Sacajawea must decide for herself what is right, what is wrong, and what she wants for the future of her and her child.

coming-of-age, drama, period, pilot, supernatural