Cameahwait and Sacajawea
The story of Sacajawea's reunion with her family and tribe during the Lewis and Clark Expedition is a familiar one, told from her vantage point. However, her brother, Cameahwait, by this time chief of the Salmon Eater band of the Lemhi Shoshone would have also had feelings in the matter. Little is known of Cameahwait's life or how he rose to a position of authority among his people. Apparently, he was several years older than Sacajawea. In their society, siblings and cousins are often considered the same relationship and spoken of in the same words. Some sources suggest that they may have been cousins, or even half-siblings. No matter what the exact familial rank, their actions when they met up again suggested a close family bond. When Sacajawea was 12 and her brother much older and already an established warrior, the Hidatsa raided their hunting camp. Four men, four boys and some elderly and children were killed. Sacajawea and some othe...