Book on Sacajewea winner of Montana Book Award

The 2023 Montana Book Award winner is “The Lost Journals of Sacajewea” by Debra Magpie Earling, published by Milkweed Editions. 

This annual award recognizes literary and/or artistic excellence in a book written or illustrated by someone who lives in Montana, is set in Montana, or deals with Montana themes or issues.  Presentations and a reception for the winning authors will take place on April 17, during the Montana Library Association Conference in Butte.

“In The Lost Journals of Sacajewea,” author Debra Magpie Earling challenges prevailing historical narratives of Sacajewea. She brings to life a mythologized figure while casting an unsparing light on the men who brutalized her and re-centering Sacajewea as the arbiter of her own history.  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, according to a release.