Replace Jackson on $20 bill?

Students seek to put Chief Joseph on $20 bill

By Kristen CatesStudents at Hays-Lodgepole High School are doing their part to promote using more images of Native Americans on items printed by the federal government—most notably the $20 bill.

Sandra Sather-Westley, a reading and literacy teacher at the high school, encouraged her students to research and write about the controversy that for years has surrounded having an image of President Andrew Jackson's face on the $20 bill. She also asked the students to come up with a better person to be represented.And:The result of the students' research and writing is a petition that they are sending out to every Native American agency, legislator and state official they could think of, seeking to have Chief Joseph, the legendary leader of the Nez Perce, replace Jackson on the $20 bill.

Sather-Westley said this isn't necessarily a new idea. Over the years, people campaigned for President Ronald Reagan and civil-rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to be placed on the $20 bill.And:Chief Joseph wasn't the only name tossed in the hat. Students researched Native American leaders such as Geronimo and Sacagawea—a dollar coin already features her image—but came to the consensus that Chief Joseph was the best choice.

"He was more comfortable to whites and spoke about peace," Sather-Westley said. "There's really quite an undercurrent. We don't feel that Andrew Jackson is representative of the best."Comment:  My Native contacts occasionally express disgust at the idea of having Jackson on their money. I'd say it's time to stop celebrating his expansion of America at the expense of the Indians.

Chief Joseph seems like a good, safe choice to replace him. Sitting Bull, Geronimo, Crazy Horse, and Tecumseh would be too radical for today's Americans.

For more on the subject, see Replace Grant on $50 Bill? and Review of RELENTLESS PURSUIT.

Below:  Out with the Indian hater...



and in with the peacemaker?