Liberty Hall Book Club: The Lost Journals of Sacajewea

By

Education Specialist, Elizabeth Bowling

Wednesday, December 17th, 2025

Filed Under

Last week the Liberty Hall Book Club met to discuss Debra Magpie Earling's The Lost Journals of Sacajewea. The novel retells Sacajewea's story from her own point of view rather than that of Euro-American historians. It was a challenging and impactful read that I would recommend to anyone interested in American History.

The Liberty Hall Book Club had a fruitful discussion exploring topics like memory and gender as well as reflecting on colonialism and how the past impacts the present on the eve of America 250. In the new year, if any book clubs are looking for a unique and thought provoking novels to explore the founding of the nation The Lost Journals of Sacajewea would be a great choice. Milkweed Press, the publisher, describes the novel as follows:

"Among the most memorialized women in American history, Sacajewea served as interpreter and guide for Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery. In this visionary novel, acclaimed Indigenous author Debra Magpie Earling brings this mythologized figure vividly to life, casting unsparing light on the men who brutalized her and recentering Sacajewea as the arbiter of her own history.

Here, the young Sacajewea is bright and bold, growing strong from the hard work of “learning all ways to survive.” When her village is raided, Sacajewea is kidnapped and then gambled away to Charbonneau, a French Canadian trapper. Heavy with grief, she learns how to survive at the edge of a strange new world. When Lewis and Clark’s expedition party arrives, Sacajewea knows she must cross a vast and brutal terrain with her newborn son, the white man who owns her, and a company of men who wish to conquer and commodify the world she loves.

Written in lyrical, dreamlike prose, The Lost Journals of Sacajewea is an astonishing work of art and a powerful tale of perseverance—the Indigenous woman’s story that hasn’t been told."

In preparation for the club's meeting I tried to find a discussion guide so that folks could have more context to the novel and come to the discussion with an idea of what we could talk about. No such guide existed so I put one together myself and it is available below! I hope that it is helpful to any book clubs or anyone who decides to read The Lost Journals of Sacajewea.

Lost Journals of Sacajewea Discussion Guide

Download a copy here or return to this post!

Lost Journals of Sacajewea Discussion Guide.pdf

Historic Contexts:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacagawea

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_and_Clark_Expedition

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York_(explorer)

Discussion questions

What did you know about Sacajewea and the Lewis and Clark Expedition before reading this novel?

Has how you think about Sacajewea changed since reading?

How does Earling challenge our preconceived notions about Sacajewea? Is she successful?

What were your reactions to Earling’s style of prose? Why do you think Earling chose to write this story in this way?

Earling plays with the idea of time in her writing by including events that hadn’t happened yet in the narrative. How does this impact the novel and its goals?

Earling originally wrote some of The Lost Journals of Sacajewea in collaboration with the Missoula Art Museum in response to the Lewis and Clark bicentennial. What was it like to read her novel and reflect on the events described as we approach the 250th Anniversary of the U.S.?

Were there any chapters/vignettes that stood out to you? Why?

Were there any characters that made an impression on you?

What were your thoughts and reactions to The Many Spirt People like Too Ott Lok and |He is Man|He is Woman|He is now Many| (pages 136- 140)?

What were your reactions to how the Lewis and Clark Expedition was represented?

Sexual violence—against Sacajewea, York, and others— was frequently depicted in the novel. What were your reactions to that? Why do you think Earling chose to include it in the way that she did?

In the end Sacajewea chooses to go to the Pacific Ocean with the rest of the expedition. What did you think about this and why do you think Earling did this?

Further Reading

Book Review:

https://chireviewofbooks.com/2023/05/30/impression-and-expression-in-the-lost-journals-of-sacajewea/

Interviews with Earling:

https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/books/the-lost-journals-of-sacajewea-combines-factual-accounts-with-a-first-person-narrative/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUtA97OwySg

Mentions of Sacajewea and some events in the novel in the Lewis and Clark Journals:

https://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/item/lc.jrn.1804-10-15#lc.jrn.1804-10-15

https://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/item/lc.jrn.1804-10-20#lc.jrn.1804-10-20.06

https://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/item/lc.jrn.1804-10-27#lc.jrn.1804-10-27.05

https://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/item/lc.jrn.1804-10-29#ln08102908

https://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/item/lc.jrn.1804-11-04