Author and Model Randy’L Teton speaks at Library

Around 25 years ago, Randy’L Teton was a student at the University of New Mexico in Santa Fe.  She was also on the precipice of becoming a familiar face to millions of people as the artist’s model for the Sacajawea gold dollar that was minted right at the turn of the millennium in the year 2000.  Teton spoke about that experience, as well as her recent book in which she tells the full, less often told story of her fellow Shoshoni forebear.  The book, a graphic novel written by Teton and illustrated by Aly McKnight, uses the framing device of a grandmother telling the story of Sacajawea’s journey to her granddaughter, who becomes inspired by
her bravery.  

The library children’s room was filled with an audience of interested listeners, many of whom stayed after the presentation to speak with Teton and get signed copies of her book, as well as other books connected to the Sacajawea story.  Teton noted that it was great to be in Soda Springs, which was at one time part of the tribal territory of her ancestors.  Over time, much of the land that was officially “given” to tribal members was sold off or otherwise lost to the tribes through other means, including the Soda Springs area.  The area had been a fertile and active hunting ground.

During her presentation, Teton explained that the spelling used in this article “Sacajawea” is the preferred Shoshoni spelling.  The use of that spelling in the title of her book is not a mistake.  The “Sacagawea” spelling, she explained, was an attempt by the U.S. Mint and other officials toward historical accuracy.  However, the spelling attempts to capture the harder “k” sound common to the Mandan language.  The Madan kidnapped Sacajawea from the Shoshoni at the age of ten and enslaved her until the age of thirteen, when she was “won” by a French fur trapper (who already had another Shoshoni “wife”) whom Teton declined to name, halfway joking that she “didn’t care about what happened to him.”  Those familiar with any of the many volumes written on the Lewis and Clark expedition (with Stephen Ambrose’s “Undaunted Courage” being perhaps the most widely read) will understand that the trapper was not held in much esteem by the members of the party at the time, or historians in the time since.

Sacajawea herself, however, was honored at the time by the expedition whose lives she saved countless times, and she has been embraced as a symbol of strength by many groups over the centuries.  Teton explained that part of her motivation was the sometimes low regard Sacajawea is held in by some Native Americans, who see her rather as a symbol of the encroachment of Europeans over the ancestral lands of the native peoples.

Teton has always been inspired by the true story of Sacajawea, and wanted to help share it with younger generations so that they could have a more complete understanding of what was involved, and the hardships and successes experienced by such a young and resilient girl.

Teton recounted her experience being selected as an artist’s model by Glenna Goodacre, who sculpted the version of the coin that was selected by the mint for production.   

Because there are no contemporary images of Sacajawea (Teton noted that Lewis and Clark found the energy to sketch minute details of the plants and animals they encountered, but somehow never made any drawing of their guide), Goodacre wanted to use a model of Shoshone heritage to get a good sense of the right visual approach.  Teton stated that Goodacre also studied the features of Shoshone babies in order to sculpt the image of Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau, who is depicted being carried on his mother’s back.

“This moment here is the first time I saw the final image they chose,” Teton said, pointing to a slide in her presentation of the unveiling of the coin.  She described her stay at the White House in 1999, and the surrounding whirlwind of commotion and celebrity.  In slide images of the events, she pointed out the fully beaded deer skin dress made by her grandmother.  “Very few of these are ever made.  You have to be spoiled to have one of these,” she smiled, and went on to speak warmly of her grandmother.

The event was hosted by the Soda Springs Library, and catered by the Caribou Medical Center.  Teton was introduced by Mayor Austin Robinson, who welcomed her on behalf of the city.

For those who attended the event, it was a fascinating and rich story of an intertwined tapestry of the history of the land we live on today, from the distant past to the very present.  Teton, as a representative of the Shoshone-Bannock tribes, is also a representative of the history of the country as a whole, and the confluence of people and forces that have taken us to where we are today.  Out of that history, individual stories jump out as symbolic of the larger pattern.  Sacajawea was one such individual, and Teton is a another of them.  

If you missed a chance to see her in Soda Springs, there’s always a chance she will write another book, and be back soon!