Cameahwait was the brother of Sacagawea, and a Shoshone chief. He was the head of the first group of inhabitants of modern-day

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

who were encountered by Europeans. Cameahwait met Meriwether Lewis and three other members of the

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gr ...

on August 13, 1805. He then accompanied Lewis across the

Lemhi Pass Lemhi Pass is a high mountain pass in the Beaverhead Mountains, part of the Bitterroot Range in the Rocky Mountains and within Salmon-Challis National Forest. The pass lies on the Montana-Idaho border on the continental divide, at an elevation ...

to meet

Clark Clark is an English language surname, ultimately derived from the Latin with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educate ...

. Sacagawea was with Clark's party and recognized Cameahwait as her brother. To the Shoshoni Cameahwait and Sacagawea were brother and sister. However, in

Shoshoni language Shoshoni, also written as Shoshoni-Gosiute and Shoshone (; Shoshoni: soni ta̲i̲kwappe'', ''newe ta̲i̲kwappe'' or ''neme ta̲i̲kwappeh'') is a Numic language of the Uto-Aztecan family, spoken in the Western United States by the Shoshone ...

cousin and brother are the same word, indicating the tribe thinks of them as the same. Consequently, during the translation, when Sacagawea cried out that she recognized Cameahwait as her brother, that is what she meant, but whether they actually had the same father, let alone the same mother, is unclear. Cameahwait donated horses to Lewis and Clark to repay them for reuniting him with his long-lost sister. She and her friend Otter Woman had been kidnapped by the

Hidatsa The Hidatsa are a Siouan people. They are enrolled in the federally recognized Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota. Their language is related to that of the Crow, and they are sometimes considered a parent ...

Indians when Sacagawea was twelve years old and used as slaves for the Hidatsas. They were then sold to

Toussaint Charbonneau Toussaint Charbonneau (March 20, 1767 – August 12, 1843) was a French-Canadian explorer, trader and a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. He is also known as the husband of Sacagawea. Early years Charbonneau was born in Boucherv ...

, a French-Canadian trapper. Charbonneau and Sacagawea both accompanied Lewis and Clark on their western expedition in 1805. Earlier in the year in February, she gave birth to Jean Baptiste Charbonneau (Pompy) at Fort Mandan in present-day

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, So ...

Death

Cameahwait was killed during a battle with the

Blackfeet The Blackfeet Nation ( bla, Aamsskáápipikani, script=Latn, ), officially named the Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana, is a federally recognized tribe of Siksikaitsitapi people with an Indian reservation in Mon ...

at Bloody Creek in

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

, at an uncertain date. It is believed he was buried on a

butte __NOTOC__ In geomorphology, a butte () is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from a French word me ...

between the towns of Lemhi and

Tendoy, Idaho Tendoy is an unincorporated rural service point in Lemhi County, Idaho, United States, located at (44.9593700, -113.6447780) on State Highway 28, at an altitude of 4,842 feet (1,476 m). It consists of a small general store and house. ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cameahwait Native American leaders Lewis and Clark Expedition people Pre-statehood history of Idaho Sacagawea Shoshone people 19th-century Native Americans