Native agriculture on dollar

Standing Bear won't be on Sacagawea coin in 2009Instead of selecting a specific leader to honor, Mint officials chose to give the first design the theme of Native agriculture, a Mint spokesman said Wednesday.

A description of the design, called a narrative, was presented to a citizen advisory committee that will make recommendations to the Mint.

The narrative, which will guide selection of the eventual design, described the importance of agriculture to Native people and to early colonists.

“From Jamestown and Plymouth Rock, to later methods for sustaining crops, it is widely accepted that colonists would not have survived in the New World without the support and knowledge gained from Native American agricultural techniques,” the narrative reads.