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Sacagawea honored at statue in Virginia

By The Associated Press

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) – After years of debate, a change has been made at a famous Charlottesville statue to honor the contributions a Native American woman made to the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Residents and Native American guests erected a marker at the West Main Street tableau, which features Lewis and Clark along with Sacagawea, the Shoshone woman who served as a guide and interpreter.

The statue, erected in 1919, had drawn criticism for years because it depicted Sacagawea kneeling next to the explorers, who stand upright.

Ros Ann Abrahamson, a descendant of Sacagawea, says the marker honoring her ancestor’s contributions to the expedition is a fitting tribute.

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Saturday, Jun 27 at 10:04 PM CurtJ wrote ...

I know the whites like her for what she did... How many Native Americans condone what she did?

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Tuesday, Jun 30 at 11:04 AM palomino wrote ...

here we go again. its the usual 'my granddaughter is an indian princess' blah again. i wonder what the people of Virginia think--they probably could care. for indians, what new historic 'evidence' has been presented to upset the standard notion of discovery, becoming religious like evangelicals, and still having the lowest life expectancy of any ethnic group in US, lowest percapita income. somehow a statue of another pokehontas just doesn't make it.

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Sunday, Jul 5 at 3:06 PM stephen wrote ...

So they replace a tasteless statue with an souless marker.Why not a great statue to show her historical legacy?

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