PRODUCTION
Production Companies
Sacajawea The Movie, LLC
Broken Hand Productions
Martin Nuza Productions
John Scott Productions
Temple Gate Films
DIRECTOR
SENIOR PRODUCER
Locations, Film Incentives & Rebates
Business Plan & Budget Available
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NOTE: Our teaser reel is not the film's trailer. It was created to promote the essence of the project to investors with the understanding it is not authentic. The actual film production will present authenticity and accuracy of regalia, languages, etc. for the actual time period in 1805.
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SYNOPSIS
It is autumn, 1800. The Shoshone people are camped at Three Forks, the headwaters of the Missouri River. They are securing food for a frigid winter by following the path of the buffalo. Among the group is a 12-year-old girl Boinair who is preparing for her traditional celebration of womanhood. She is betrothed to Wakini, and excited about her future as a Shoshone wife and respected woman of her tribe.
But that evening when the men are away hunting Hidatsa warriors attack the vulnerable village. As chaos erupts villagers stumble down the hill to hide in the cottonwoods. Boinair hears the commotion, but she is already at the river when two warriors on horseback rush toward her chasing her into the deeper current. She fights with all her might. But in that moment, everything changes as she is stolen away from those she loves.
In early 1803, President Thomas Jefferson commissions his secretary Meriwether Lewis to lead an expedition to the Pacific Ocean. By June, William Clark joins the Corps of Discovery.
At the same time along the Knife River, Boinair is now a slave at the Hidatsa village. The chief gives her the name Sacagawea, which means Bird Woman. As property of the tribe, she is helplessly traded for a gun to a brutish French trapper Toussaint Charbonneau. She is soon pregnant with his son.
By November 1804, the Corps of Discovery arrives at the Hidatsa village. They are searching for an interpreter to negotiate for Shoshone horses to cross the treacherous mountains. The tribe welcomes the men, their trinkets, and their guns. With winter approaching the explorers build a fort so they can stay until spring.
Sacagawea believes these men are her way back home. After convincing her arrogant husband that he could be important to the explorers, especially since his woman speaks Shoshone, Charbonneau secures a place on the expedition for them both. Though Captain Lewis has tremendous doubts about taking an infant on this harrowing trek, they head west toward the distant snow-capped peaks.
Through horrendous weather, starvation, and the constant threat of death the Corps relies on Sacagawea’s memory of Beaver Head rock, and they finally reach the Shoshone village. After five years “Boinair” is reunited with her friends and family. But her joy and the dream of staying with her people is soon lost when she faces Wakini at Shoshone Cove - for she and her son belong to the white man.
After blessing Sacagawea’s child by lifting him to the Great Spirit, Chief Cameahwait, her uncle, shares his wisdom with his niece. He ignites Sacagawea’s spirit by giving her a gift and a new quest to reach the Great Water. Though devastated, Sacagawea trusts her Spirit’s call and accepts what seems an unhappy fate - not yet realizing her true, timeless, and consequential destiny is before her…
Historical Notes: There are many controversies in the story of Sacagawea, here are two that relate to this synopsis:
1) Her Shoshone people believe her name is Sacajawea (Boat Pusher). The Hidatsa people gave her the name Sacagawea (Bird Woman). We have used both spellings at times to honor her people and the Hidatsa by creating a logo for the film that encompasses both spellings. The script is written using Sacajawea, because the story is through her eyes, but when the Hidatsa chief gives her the name, he calls her Sacagawea.
2) In the Lewis & Clark journals they wrote that Chief Cameahwait was her brother, however the Shoshone people shared with us that the chief was her uncle. This created a completely different relationship and dynamic when writing the story. The Shoshone people explained to us that they called everyone brother and sister and that was the confusion.
