Webb defends Jackson's genocidal actions

Following up on the decision to put Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill, former senator Jim Webb tried to defend Andrew Jackson.

Jim Webb claims uninformed 'political correctness' used to denigrate Andrew Jackson

By Meteor Blades

Webb's claim:Robert Remini, Jackson’s most prominent biographer, wrote that his intent was to end the increasingly bloody Indian Wars and to protect the Indians from certain annihilation at the hands of an ever-expanding frontier population.The reality:As for Jackson’s alleged desire to protect the Indians from clashes with whites, it should not be forgotten that the forcible cession of millions of acres of Indian land was one of Jackson’s claims to fame. He did it to make space for white settlers throughout the South and for his personal profit in the real estate boom that followed the Indians’ ceding of land at gunpoint.

When the Tennessee River Valley in what is now Alabama was ceded, Jackson and his favored pals took 45,000 acres for themselves. As Steve Innskeep pointed out last year, “Jackson both created and scored in the greatest real estate bubble in the history of the United States up to that time.”

Indians who had allied themselves with Jackson in the so-called Red Stick Creek War were much praised by him, but when they later sought government payment for losses incurred in their support of Jackson, he told the secretary of war that their claims were a “complete tissue of groundless falsehood.”Comment:  Give Webb a Stereotype of the Month nomination for his ignorance of the definition of genocide, and for minimizing Jackson's genocidal actions. Removing the Indians was about stealing their land and eliminating them, not keeping them from harm.

Tubman replaces Jackson on $20

The news that the US would place Harriet Tubman on the front of the $20 bill and move Andrew Jackson to the back triggered a variety of responses.

Predictably, racist conservatives cried over the loss of one of their white male icons:

“We need Trump to stop all the PC crap”: Right-wing reaction to the Harriet Tubman $20 bill is (another) new low

Trump on Tubman: "pure political correctness." Trump on Jackson: "tremendous success."

The Best Conservative Reactions To Tubman Bumping Jackson From $20 Bill

Ann Coulter needs to stop: She and the rest of the clueless conservatives need to quit moaning about replacing Jackson with Tubman on $20 bill

Non-racists weigh in

Meanwhile, anyone with a cursory knowledge of history explained why Jackson should be banished:

Andrew Jackson was a slaver, ethnic cleanser, and tyrant. He deserves no place on our money.

Why Andrew Jackson never should have been on the $20 to begin with

Harriet Tubman to Share $20 Bill with President Who Called for Some Abolitionists to 'Atone ... With Their Lives'

Tubman’s In. Jackson’s Out. What’s It Mean?

Stop clinging to the Founding Fathers: The Andrew Jackson/Hamilton/Tubman debate is really about honest history

While others challenged the conservatives' blatant racism:

They only want to honor white men: The pathetic conservative meltdown over the Harriet Tubman $20 bill exposes the right’s petty identity politics

5 Questions for People Who Are Outraged Over Harriet Tubman on our $20 Bill

Natives approve

Natives overwhelming applauded the downgrading of the infamous Indian killer:

Native Americans applaud removing Jackson from $20 bill
4/21

But some wondered why Jackson wasn't paired with a famous Indian chief--since he's perhaps best-known for instigating the Trail of Tears:

A Native American Chief Should Have Replaced Andrew Jackson on the $20

For more on the subject, see Stanford Cancels Bloody Jackson Play and Indians on US Bank Notes.

Indians on US bank notes

$5 Indian NoteIn 1899, the U.S. Mint issued the first and only bank note to feature a Native American as the central portrait: Running Antelope, a celebrated chief of the Uncpapa band of Sioux.

Old and rare paper notes like this unique $5 silver certificate are amazing works of art. The intricate detail of Chief Running Antelope’s facial features and headdress are absolutely stunning. This unique bill caused quite a scandal when it was issued due to a mistake of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, who used the headdress of a rival tribe, the Pawnee, on Running Antelope.

This beautiful note was the first and only U.S. paper currency to feature a Native American.

Issued for only a short time, the $5 Indian Head Note is extremely rare and in high demand. Order yours today!

We don't have any other examples of Indians on bank notes--yet. But there's an obvious choice for such a note.

Kick Andrew Jackson Off the $20 Bill!

By Jillian KeenanIt was unfathomable that thousands of Native American men, women, and children were forced to march West, sometimes freezing to death or starving because U.S. soldiers wouldn’t let them bring extra food or blankets. It was hard to hear that the Choctaw Nation lost up to a third of its population on the death march. It was disorienting to learn that what amounted to ethnic cleansing had come at the insistence of an American president.

But then it was lunchtime, and we pulled out our wallets in the cafeteria. Andrew Jackson was there, staring out from every $20 bill. We had been carrying around portraits of a mass murderer all along, and had no idea.

Andrew Jackson engineered a genocide. He shouldn’t be on our currency.10 Natives Who Should Replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 BillSo why would this country pay homage to such a man on its currency. Jackson has graced the $20 bill since 1929, replacing 24th President Grover Cleveland.

So we’ve compiled a list of just 10 Natives who could take Jackson’s place on the $20 bill. Who do you think it should be?

Sequoyah, born in Tennessee sometime between 1760 and 1780, was a skilled blacksmith, silversmith and engraver who wanted a way to sign his name on his work. By 1809, he was working on a written syllabary—or a symbol for every Cherokee word. He soon turned to phonetic symbols that represented the 85 distinct syllables in the Native language.

Comment:  For more on currency, see 2016 Sacagawea Dollar Designs and Aboriginal Art Removed from Canada's $20 Bill.

2016 Sacagawea dollar designs

After the "Mohawk ironworkers" theme for the 2015 Sacagawea dollar, the 2016 theme was extremely predictable:

CCAC Releases 2016 Native American Dollar Candidate DesignsThe Citizens Coinage Advisory Commission (CCAC) has released the following candidate design images for the 2016 Native American dollar coin. The 2016 Native American dollar reverse will recognize the heroic contributions of the Native American Code Talkers of World Wars I & II.

Native American Code Talkers from more than thirty tribes served with distinction and played an important role in concealing the nature of secret communiques between American forces.

I'd probably go with one of the more abstract ones: 1, 2, 3, 6, or 9. With a slight preference for 6. The others seem a little too specific and busy, although 10, 11, and 16 are okay.

CCAC Reviews 2016 Native American Dollar Designs

By Les PetersAfter the authorizing legislation for the dollar (Public Law 110-82) was read by April Stafford from the Mint, the 18 designs were culled by Chairman Marks, leaving designs 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 13, 16, and 17. The preferences of the stakeholders were designs 1 and 2 (Congressional Native American Caucus of the House of Representatives), 3 (Congressional Native American Caucus of the House of Representatives and the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs), 4 (National Congress of the American Indian), 9 (National Congress of the American Indian and the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs), 16 (Senate Committee on Indian Affairs).The committee favorites were 9 with 19 votes and 6 with 14 points. Design 9 received the committee's recommendation.



For more on the subject, see 2014 Dollar to Honor Lewis and Clark and 2013 Sacagawea Dollar Reverse Unveiled.

2015 Sacagawea dollar designs

2015 Native American $1 Coin Design Candidates

By Darrin Lee UnserThe Mohawk Iron Workers theme is the latest in a series of annually changing reverses going back to 2009. The series celebrates the important contributions made by Indian tribes and individual Native Americans to the history and development of the United States, and it was authorized by the Native American $1 Coin Act, Public Law 110-82.

Mohawk Iron Workers describe the Mohawk people who helped construct skyscrapers and bridges throughout the United States. Their iron worker history dates back to the 1880′s when they labored to build a bridge over the St. Lawrence River. Their work ethic and sure footing demonstrated on that bridge gained them a respected reputation which has led to generations of Mohawk Iron Workers.

Previous Native American $1 Coins showcased the following themes:

2009 – Three Sisters Agriculture
2010 – Great Tree of Peace and the Iroquois Confederacy
2011 – Great Wampanoag Nation
2012 – Trade Routes
2013 – Treaty with the DelawaresA lot of good designs here. Only a few are subpar. I particularly like designs 4, 5, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20. If I had to pick one, I might go with 19 because of its robust figure:



Side note: I was wondering how the Mint would "commemorate" events from the early 1800s to the 1930s. You know, from the War of 1812 to the boarding-school era, when the greatest Native achievement was surviving the land thefts and military onslaughts.

And now we have an answer: by skipping them!

The so-called stakeholders didn't agree with my choices:

CCAC Reviews 2015 Native American Dollar Designs

By Les PetersDuring a meeting held on March 10th, 2014 at the U.S. Mint's headquarters in Washington, D.C., the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee reviewed and discussed the reverse designs for the 2015 Native American Dollar.

The preferences of the stakeholders were designs 8 (Congressional Native American Caucus of the House of Representatives and the National Congress of the American Indian), 13 (National Congress of the American Indian and the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs), and 15 (Senate Committee on Indian Affairs).

The only one of these that made my list was 13, the middle one.

But the committee liked design 4, so it authorized some changes:The last was a twist, asking to set aside the 1-point margin that design 13 was given and instead recommend design 4, with the inclusion of an expansion of the second motion, changing the font throughout the design to the 2009-2012 style: this motion passed on a 6-2 vote, thus making design 4 the committee's recommendation.

Good choice!

For more on the subject, see 2014 Dollar to Honor Lewis and Clark and 2013 Sacagawea Dollar Reverse Unveiled.

2014 dollar to honor Lewis and Clark

7 Choices for the Back of the Next Dollar Coin: What's Your Favorite?According to the coin collecting news site CoinUpdate.com, the Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) has reviewed seven proposed designs for the 2014 Native American one dollar coin and made its recommendation to the Secretary of the Treasury. The Native American one dollar coin has a portrait of Sacagawea on its obverse (heads) side, and features a different themed design each year on its reverse (tails). The 2013 Native American one dollar coin commemorates the Delaware Treaty of 1778.

The theme for the 2014 coin is the cooperation among Natives and the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804-06. Of the seven designs below, the CFA chose the sixth, a depiction of Chief Cameahwait recommending the alternate route to Captain Lewis. Which is your favorite?

Comment:  As you may know, I follow the Native developments in the numismatics field. This posting led to an interesting discussion on Facebook:

Reverse of the 2014 dollar will honor the Indians' role in the Lewis and Clark expedition. Because the obverse featuring Sacagawea doesn't do that enough already.Sorry, can't quite get far enough past the irony of that big LIBERTY placed over the head of a Native American woman to choose a reverse. That, and the fact that almost all the choices seem to say "They gave us their continent! HOW COOL WAS THAT?!?!?"I guess the Mint has run out of Native subjects, so it had to double down on Sacagawea. I guess not much happened before the Indians met the white man.

"Liberty" and "In God We Trust" are a given on all these coins. But it's a good point. Imagine if we changed the slogans to, I dunno, "Don't Tread on Me" and "In Creator We Trust." The latter would send conservatives into a frenzy; it would be bigger than Benghazi.The Mint could, of course, consider a male Native American subject, but that will never do. There's a reason "America" was represented by a woman on the old maps, and that reason is that "she" was an object to be ravished by "him" (Europe).The Indian Head penny nailed that point to the wall. It featured a little white girl in an Indian headdress. So we got a two-fer on the "Europe rapes America in the name of liberty" theme.



But I'm undecided on featuring Sacagawea. On the one hand, it's nice that they've honored Native women. On the other hand, she's a safe and unthreatening choice.

This will be the third of six coins honoring an accommodation with the white man. Depending on which design they choose, it could be the second to feature a peace pipe. Message: "How wonderful that the Indians got along with the white man." It could be the second to feature food. Message: "How wonderful that the Indians helped sustain the white man."

If the Mint is going in chronological order, the next two coins should feature Tecumseh and the Trail of Tears. Both of which reflect badly on the US.

If they go instead to Sequoyah's inventing the Cherokee syllabary, you can bet the rest of the coins will be equally sanitized.

Deconstruct your coins, people! They have hidden messages!

Incidentally, I vote for design #2 (below). Design #6 would be my second choice.

P.S. If Disney makes a big enough contribution to the US government, can we get Johnny Depp's Tonto on the obverse? After all, the Comanche have told us that his bird hat is authentic.

For more on the Sacagawea dollar, see 2013 Sacagawea Dollar Reverse Unveiled and 2012 Sacagawea Dollar Reverse Unveiled.

Ogala Sioux to mint private coins

Oglala Sioux Tribe to have its own privately minted coins

By Doug DemmonsThe Oglala Sioux Tribe will soon have its own set of privately minted commemorative coins with designs honoring Native American heritage and culture.

The Native American Mint, which produces and markets coins for other tribes, held a contest to design a one dollar coin, as well as five other coins of smaller denominations. The winners were announced Wednesday.

The private mint, based in California, plans to produce some dollar coins in silver. Other dollar coins and the smaller denomination coins would be minted from a copper-zinc alloy, according to Garry Bishop of the organization Serving the Lakota, who organized the design contest.

All of the coins would be offered in uncirculated condition, and the dollar coin would be available in about six months. No proof editions would be minted, Bishop said.

The coins would not be legal tender and could not be used as money, which would be a violation of federal law.Below:  "The winning and runner-up designs for the Sioux Nation dollar coin to be issued by the Native American Mint have been released."



Comment:  I guess the first two designs are the winners. I like the second one best. The first one would be good if it were drawn by a good artist and perhaps shown in a three-quarters profile.

For more on Native-themed currency, see 100th Anniversary of Buffalo Nickel and Aboriginal Art Removed from Canada's $20 Bill.

100th anniversary of buffalo nickel

On Its 100th Anniversary, a Look at the History of the Indian-Head Nickel

By Rick HerediaSo why all this press for a slaughtered beast? Black Diamond was, at the time of his slaughter, one of the most famous animals in the United States. Just two years earlier, in 1913, his image was stamped onto the reverse side of the Indian head nickel. The nickel—75 percent copper and 25 percent nickel—made its debut on Washington’s birthday, February 22, 1913, 100 years ago. In the decades that followed, it became an Indian country icon.

At least one newspaper, the National Labor Tribune, believed Black Diamond had been dealt a great injustice. “The buffalo which served as a model for the nickel coin has been put to death,” it said. “Republics are notoriously ungrateful.”

The occasion for the nickel’s debut was the groundbreaking for the National American Indian Memorial, the dream/scheme (and it turns out, pipe dream) of Rodman Wanamaker, scion of the Wanamaker department store chain. Plans called for the memorial to have a colossal bronze statue of an Indian, 60 feet high on a 70-foot base, one arm raised, two fingers forming a V, greeting ships carrying immigrants and others arriving in New York. A museum and a warrior on horseback were also part of the design. The statue and all the rest were to be erected at Fort Wadsworth on New York’s Staten Island, just south of the Statue of Liberty. Staten Island, named for the Dutch parliament, the Staten-General, originally belonged to Lenape Indians, who repulsed the Dutch three times before the invaders were able to establish a settlement there.

Now, in 1913, the island was being invaded again. On a cold, bleak, wet day, just after noon, the fort’s batteries fired a 21-gun salute announcing the arrival of President William Howard Taft. Waiting to greet Taft were members of his cabinet, New York’s governor, New York City’s mayor, naval and military detachments and officers, including Lieutenant General Nelson A. Miles, who had taken part in many of the U.S. Army’s campaigns against Plains Indians, had forced the surrender of Chief Joseph and spent exhausting months in the field chasing Geronimo.

On hand, too, patiently waiting in the mist, were more than 30 Plains Indian leaders and warriors, many of whom who had fought Miles and the U.S. Army. They were dressed in beaded buckskin and wore eagle feather headdresses. They included Plenty Coups, Drags The Wolf, Crane In The Sky, Little Wolf, Black Wolf, Wooden Leg, Red Arrow, Hollow Horn Bear and Two Moons.And:A few months later, in July 1913, Wanamaker sent out the last of three expeditions to Indian reservations promoting citizenship and fealty to the U.S. At the time, many Americans—even those who said they respected Indians, such as Wanamaker—thought American Indians were a vanishing race. Wanamaker believed that assimilation was their best hope for survival. (This, despite the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) findings that the Indian population was increasing. In 1890 the BIA counted 243,000 Indians. In 1900, that figure jumped to 270,000. In 1910, it stood at 305,000.)

Speaking at a press conference held when the citizenship expedition returned to New York in December 1913, Henry Roe Cloud, Winnebago, a Yale graduate known for his speaking skills, asked the question that must have been on the minds of many Indian leaders of the day. “Today, the American Indian finds himself in the midst of a great, complex civilization, and it is a national question whether this complex civilization will bear him down or be the means of his salvation,” Roe Cloud said, as quoted in The New York Times.

Once the nickel went into circulation, it was hammered. Critics complained that it lacked the grace and beauty of previous coins, including its predecessor, the Liberty nickel. But after 25 years, that coin had run its course, and treasury officials wanted to change the design. The New York Times said the new nickel was a “striking example of what a coin intended for wide circulation…should not be.” It said the coin was not pleasing to look at when shiny and new and “will be an abomination when it is old and dull.” One Times reader, H.P. Nitsua, said, “The new nickel is certainly a travesty on artistic effect,” and called the Indian’s feathers “barbaric headgear.”

The New York Sun called it an ugly coin.Fortunately, the nickel had a happy ending:The coin had a run of 25 years, from 1913 to 1938, when it was replaced by the Jefferson nickel. More than 1.2 billion Indian head nickels were minted; their total currency value was more than $60.5 million.

The National Indian Memorial never did get built at Fort Wadsworth. Wanamaker couldn’t come up with the money and soon enough, World War I grabbed the headlines. But the Indian head—or buffalo—nickel, outlived its critics to become one of the most admired coins the U.S. ever produced. Many have called it beautiful, and it has become iconic. In the early 1970s, an image of the nickel, Indian head showing, appeared on a protest poster that read the only Indian America ever cared about.

It has been incorporated into many types of jewelry, from earrings to belts. It adorns T-shirts, jackets and other clothing and is the logo for coin shops and other businesses. It has been made into guitar picks and used to decorate the bolt-action rifles and rifle slings. The image has been tattooed onto backs and shoulders. One artist, Peter Rocha, created a striking four-foot-by-four-foot image of the nickel in Fairfield, California using more than 9,500 jellybeans provided by Jelly Belly (see Rocha’s work at JellyBelly.com).

Many of the nickels are sold on eBay. The American Numismatic Association displayed Black Diamond’s mounted head at its 1985 convention, writes author David Lange in his book, The Complete Guide to Buffalo Nickels. The ANA, headquartered in Colorado Springs, will celebrate 100th anniversary of the nickel during National Coin Week, April 21 to 27. Its theme will be Buffalo Nickel Centennial: Black Diamond Shines Again.

Perhaps the greatest testament to the nickel’s popularity and endurance has come from the U.S. Mint, which resurrected the nickel in the form of the $50 American Buffalo gold bullion coin. When it was first sold in 2006, the mint’s price was $800. As of January 2013, the cost was $960.Comment:  This posting links the buffalo nickel to other bits of history: the proposed Indian statue on Staten Island, and the Wanamaker expeditions mentioned in my interview with Steven Lewis Simpson. All involved Rodman Wanamaker. It was a smaller world back then; anything involving America's Indian policy probably involved the same few people.

Let's discuss these items.

1) The Indian-head or buffalo nickel is much like a modern-day mascot. Twenty-three years after Wounded Knee, it was a way to "honor" Indians after their defeat. Americans came close to exterminating both Indians and buffalo, so this was a way to salve their consciences. "Look how brave and noble the Indian (and buffalo) was," the coin seemed to say. "Think about how they symbolized the strength and majesty of America. And not how we were slaughtering them just a few years ago."

2) The Staten Island statue would've served a similar purpose. "Look at the Indian welcoming people to America," observers might say. "The Europeans weren't invaders, they were guests. White men and Indians lived in peace and harmony (see our Pocahontas and Thanksgiving myths) until something went tragically wrong."

It would've been interesting if we'd had a giant status of an Indian instead of Liberty. I'm not sure if that would've been positive or negative. On the one hand, it would've become the most iconic Indian in the world. On the other hand, it would've whitewashed the white man's responsibility for breaking the treaties and stealing the land.

3)The Wanamaker expeditions did explicitly what the coin and proposed statue did implicitly. Namely, seal off the past and make America feel good about its conquests. People like Wanamaker wanted the Indians to assimilate and vanish from our history. We could remember them as noble warriors, but we were to forget they were sovereign entities with legal rights and natural resources. Indians were to become a comforting myth (again, like Pocahontas and Thanksgiving): the friendly guides who helped us "tame the wilderness." We wouldn't have had to trouble our consciences anymore.

Most of the Native stereotypes in our culture today--and there are millions of them--serve the same purpose. Whitewashing the past...salving our consciences...erasing our crimes. In other words, maintaining the status quo in which broken treaties and stolen land are the norm. It's all about confirming the white man's power and privilege to rule according to Euro-Christian standards.

All that from one little nickel.

For more on the buffalo nickel, see Indian Head Gold Dollars and Sports Logos = US Coins?

Below:  "Chief Two Guns White Calf, nickel model."

Aboriginal art removed from Canada's $20 bill

Aboriginal Art Disappears from Canadian $20 BillIt's called the "Spirit of Haida Gwaii," and it can be seen in at the International Terminal of Vancouver Airport and in front of the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C.

And until recently, on every $20 bill printed in Canada since 2004.

"Spirit of Haida Gwaii" is a bronze sculpture by the late Bill Reid, Haida. Two versions of it exist: the "Black Canoe" (located in D.C.) and the "Jade Canoe" (Vancouver). It was selected to adorn the back of Canada's $20 bill, along with other works by Reid, in 2004, for the version of the bill known as the "Canadian Journey Series." The new version of Canada's $20 bill, printed on a polymer substance and containing new security features, does not show Reid's work. It has been replaced by an image of the Canadian National Vimy Memorial, a monument near Vimy, France, that acknowledges the contribution and sacrifice of Canadian soldiers during World War I.

As seen in the video below, Aboriginal leaders and experts see the change as emblematic of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's priorities. The former bill, they say, featuring as it did an image of Queen Elizabeth II on the front, symbolized the treaties between the Canadian government and First Nations peoples, and the important role of those peoples in Canada. Harper, critics say, is more interested in Canada's military persona and place on the world stage than its cultural history and diversity.Comment:  For more on Indians and currency, see 2013 Sacagawea Dollar Reverse Unveiled and Chaco Canyon Quarter Debuts.

2013 Sacagawea dollar reverse unveiled

2013 Native American $1 Dollar Design Image

By Darrin Lee UnserA new reverse design for the 2013 Native American $1 coin was unveiled by the United States Mint last week. The dollar design represents the theme of "The Delaware Treaty (1778)."

Expected to debut early next year on new $1 coins, the design marks the fifth in a series of annually changing reverses to appear on Native American coinage. Congress mandated rotating dollar designs with the passage of the Native American $1 Coin Act.And:2013 Native American dollars feature a reverse design that is emblematic of the Delaware Treaty of 1778. After having declared independence just a few years before, the first formal treaty signed in the name of the United States was with an Indian tribe, the Delaware, at Fort Pitt (now Pittsburgh) on September 17, 1778.

To signify that treaty, the dollar design shows images of a turkey, howling wolf and turtle. These three creatures are symbols of the clans of the Delaware Tribe. A string of thirteen stars surround the design representing the thirteen original colonies.

Comment:  On the positive side, the design itself looks nice. I don't have any artistic complaints about it.

But I wonder if the Delaware Treaty of 1778 is worth commemorating. I think the British signed treaties with the Indians before the Revolution, so it wasn't literally the first treaty.

It was the first United States treaty, but other than that, I'm not sure it's historically important. In the articles I read, no one ever mentions it.

And I question the use of three animals to depict the event. We're talking about Delaware leaders using their rhetorical skills and intellectual prowess to negotiate a legal document. And the best we can do to represent this act of statesmanship is a menagerie? Doesn't this convey the impression that Indians are animal-like?

How about this? If you can't think of a sophisticated way to portray a Native event, don't portray it. In particular, don't use clichéd eagle, wolf, hawk, or bear symbols. Especially with such a tenuous connection to the event.

In notational form:

Delaware signed treaty => Delaware have clans => Clans based on animals => Pictures of animals

So

Delaware signed treaty => Pictures of animals?

I don't consider that a great chain of reasoning. It's like saying:

Lincoln wrote and delivered the Gettysburg Address => Lincoln was known as a rail-splitter => Picture of a log.

Is a piece of wood the best representation of Lincoln's rhetorical achievement? No? The same applies to clan animals and a historic treaty signing.

For more on the subject, see 2012 Sacagawea Dollar Reverse Unveiled and 2011 Sacagawea Dollar Reverse Unveiled.

Chaco Canyon quarter debuts

Chaco Canyon quarter unveiled

By Ryan BoetelAn image of Chaco Canyon's north wall and two ancient community spaces is in pockets across the country.

The United States Mint launched the 12th coin in the series of America the Beautiful quarters in front of a crowd of about 250 people at Chaco Culture National Historic Park on Thursday.

The Mint is launching five quarters per year that depict a state's national park or monument.

The Federal Reserve ordered 31.2 million quarters that show Chaco Canyon on the tails side, said Gordon Hume, a spokesman for the Mint. The quarters only will be made for the rest of the year and the reserve will determine how many will be made.Comment:  If you've seen Chaco Canyon, there's no one image that represents the whole site. Therefore, this design does a good job of capturing the place.

For more on Native-themed currency, see 2012 Sacagawea Dollar Reverse Unveiled and Chickasaw Quarter Debuts.

2012 Sacagawea dollar reverse unveiled

New US coin marks importance of horse tradeThe United States Mint's 2012 Native American $1 coin will feature the image of a horse and Native American in profile.

The mint said the new design for the reverse (tails side) is themed on "Trade Routes in the 17th Century", with the horse perhaps the most significant of all the goods traded throughout the continent during that period.

In keeping with the coin's theme, the image shows a Native American and horse in profile, with horses running in the background, representing the historical spread of the horse.Some background on the horse trade:Thanks to inter-tribal trade, horses had crossed the Rio Grande by 1600.

This trade received a massive infusion in 1680, when the Pueblo Revolt released thousands of horses from the mission herds into Native American hands.

The horse became perhaps the most sought-after commodity in inter-tribal trade.

The horse's spread in Native American hands was so prodigious that it became the primary means of transportation and the nucleus of the ranching economy already under way in the western territories.

In the south, the Caddo trade center became a major entry point for the horse. Trade up the Old Snake Route brought horses as far north as the Mandan in North Dakota, who supplied them to the Lakota and Blackfeet.

A parallel inter-mountain route brought horses to the northwest.

By the time Lewis and Clark wintered with the Mandan in 1803, they encountered a well-established horse culture.Comment:  As I said before, most of this trade occurred before the peak of the Plains Indian cultures. You know, the cultures that depended on and became famous for the horse. Yet the coin shows a stereotypical Plains chief. Stupid.

Apparently the voters loved this design, and the mint went with the people's choice. As I said before, they were thinking of 19th-century stereotypes, not 17th-century history. The designs with ledger paintings, which were done in the 19th century, prove the point.

So the horse trade was a reason to feature the beloved chief of American history. In other words, it was basically an excuse to show off America's national mascot.

The design is okay if you ignore the figure of the chief. He looks goofy with his generic, almost Caucasian features and mink stole around his neck. This design would've been much better with a warrior who wasn't a chief.

For more on Indians and currency, see Chickasaw Quarter Debuts and 2012 Sacagawea Dollar Reverse Unveiled.

Chickasaw quarter debuts

New quarter honoring Chickasaw National Recreation Area is celebrated in Sulphur

The Chickasaw National Recreation Area quarter was unveiled Wednesday in Sulphur. It is part of the U.S. Mint's series called America the Beautiful Quarters Program.A quarter honoring the Chickasaw National Recreation Area was unveiled Wednesday at the park.

The quarter is the 10th coin in the U.S. Mint's series called America the Beautiful Quarters Program. It was released to the public Monday but an official ceremony was Wednesday.And:The quarter features a limestone bridge built at the recreation area in honor of Abraham Lincoln. The bridge was dedicated in 1909 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth.

The Chickasaw National Recreation Area is the only National Park Service area in the country that was established at the request of a tribe.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Chickasaw Area on State Quarter.

Stereotypical chiefs on Sacagawea dollar

Vote on the 2012 Native American Dollar DesignsThe Native American $1 Coin Program began in 2009 and has featured annually rotating reverse designs representing contributions and accomplishments of Native Americans.

So far, designs have featured Agriculture with the “Three Sisters” method of planting, Government with the Haudenosaunee or Iroquois Confederacy, and Diplomacy with the written peace treaty between Native Americans and the settlers at Plymouth.

The 2012 Native American Dollar design will feature trade routes of the 17th century and the spread of the horse. The United States Mint recently provided the thirteen design candidates for coin. Some of the designs are traditional depictions while others are done in the style of Native American ledger art.Comment:  The images are all about Plains chiefs and warriors on horseback. Because that aspect of Native culture hasn't been publicized enough. The only things missing are the stereotypical tipis.

So the design will "feature trade routes of the 17th century and the spread of the horse"? A few problems with this. There's nothing to signify trade routes in the designs. With all the images of lone warriors and buffalo hunters, these designs have nothing to do with trading parties. What they're conveying is the same Western "romance" seen in countless examples of kitschy art.

Moreover, the Plains horse culture didn't reach fruition until the 19th century. And ledger art didn't exist until the late 19th century. So the coins are using stereotypical images from the wrong era to promote the alleged topic.

Vote early and often

I suggest you go to this site and vote. And don't pick design #8--possibly the worst of the bunch--which is leading at the moment.



(Bad choice.)

I picked #11, but it was a tough choice among the final five ledger painting-style images. Any of them would be okay.



(Good choice.)

Any choice featuring a realistic Indian chief on horseback should be disqualified immediately as stereotypical. That's almost literally the last things that should appear on a Native American coin.

The ledger art adds a dimension of information and art to the subject. Even though some of the realistic images are good, the choice should be a ledger painting.

Why no contemporary Indians?

Someone questioned the idea of putting any historical Native images on coins because they have nothing to do with "contemporary Indian realities." My response:

Well, they can't put living subjects on US coins by law. Historical subjects are the norm, although they did reference the moon landing once.

I presumed they were going through Native history chronologically and would get to modern history eventually. Maybe the Indian Citizenship Act, the civil rights movement, or Wilma Mankiller to represent today's tribal leadership. Things like that.

Instead they jumped from the Pilgrims to the Plains culture of the mid-19th century. Are they gonna backtrack and cover the 250 years they missed? Or is the series turning into a Native "greatest hits"? Corn, Hiawatha, Pilgrims, Plains chiefs...let's hope the next coin isn't Iron Eyes Cody crying over the environment.

Was it a mistake?

I wonder if the "17th century" part was a typo for "19th century." Who knows much about 17th-century trade routes and the spread of horse culture? I'm thinking most 17th-century trading was done on foot or in canoes.

In that century, I believe the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) traveled west to the Ohio Valley and south to Virginia and the Carolinas. But more to raid and skirmish than to trade. Various Algonquian and Great Lakes tribes accompanied the French on exploring and trapping missions down the Mississippi River. The Europeans may have used horses during this period, but I doubt the Indians did.

Meanwhile, the Spanish were establishing colonies in the Southwest and Southeast. I believe they were the main contributors of horses to the Plains culture. But I'm not sure they did much trading. They were more into subjugating, enslaving, and converting Indians than trading with them.

So which trade routes are we talking about? Which horse culture? And what's the connection with 19th-century Plains chiefs, warriors, and ledger art? The whole thing doesn't make sense.

For more on the Sacagawea dollar, see 2011 Sacagawea Dollar Reverse Unveiled and 2nd Sacagawea Dollar Reverse Unveiled.

Below:  This isn't a stereotypical chief either. It's a lesson about the trade routes of the 17th century and the spread of the horse. Yeah, right.

2011 Sacagawea dollar reverse unveiled

2011 Native American Dollar Design Selection Announced

By Michael ZielinskiThe United States Mint has announced the reverse design that will appear on the 2011 Native American Dollar. This series of circulating dollar coins features a different reverse design each year, representing the contributions and accomplishments of Native Americans.

The theme for the 2011 design is Diplomacy--Treaties with Tribal Nations. The selected reverse design specifically highlights the treaty between Supreme Sachem Ousamequin, Massasoit of the Great Wampanoag Nation, and Governor John Carver of the European settlers at Plymouth Bay.

The design features the ceremonial passing of the peace pipe after initiating the first formal written peace alliance.Comment:  Like the reverse of the 2010 dollar, this is another fine design.

It highlights some little-known aspects of history: that the Wampanoag signed a treaty with the Pilgrims, and that they smoked peace pipes. We typically associate peace pipes with Plains Indians.

I guess the image depicts a Pilgrim handing the pipe to an Indian, which is a bit odd. Usually you think of Indians doing the passing and non-Indians doing the receiving. But if they were sitting in a circle, the passing could've happened that way.

It's nice that the Indian hand is more prominent and detailed. That conveys a key point: that Indians were active players in, even instigators of, diplomatic relations. They didn't just sit around waiting for white men to hand them a piece of paper to sign.

For more on the subject, see 2nd Sacagawea Dollar Reverse Unveiled and Sacagawea Dollar's Reverse Unveiled.

Dollar bills redesigned with Indians

Amazing New Designs For The Dollar Bill (PHOTOS)The American dollar is in bad need of a makeover. Thanks to the Dollar ReDe$ign Project, we may now have some options.

The leading vote-getter for this year's competition (pictured below) was submitted by British duo Dowling Duncan, which features a unique vertical design.Mark Gartland submitted the entry below, entitled "America Today." The $50 bill features (pictured below) Sacagawea, the native American Indian who acted as Lewis and Clark's interpreter and guide. Noting the "cosmetic drabness" of the current dollar bill, Gartland selected various historical icons from including Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln and President Obama to represent the "diverse fabric" of the U.S.

Comment:  As this competition points out, we don't have to have the same bills every year. Why not change the bills once in a while the way we're doing with coins? Then people will collect them and the Treasury will make money when it makes money.

And why have the same dead presidents (and statesmen) every year? We could do series of people: famous women, blacks, Indians, inventors, artists, soldiers, etc. Or places: states, national parks, mountains, buildings, monuments, etc. Or things: animals, flowers, inventions, vehicles, works of fiction, etc.

Just color-code, them as Duncan has done, so you know the blue note is always the $1 bill and so forth. Then we can stop fawning over the people who fought, bought, relocated, and executed Indians. You know, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson (the Louisiana Purchase), Andrew Jackson, and Abraham Lincoln.

For more on the subject, see Replace Jackson on $20 Bill? and Replace Grant on $50 Bill?

Sports logos = US coins?

Native Americans are on coins; why not logos?

By Charles E. BalleineIf Kewaunee cannot use the image of a "Native American" in our gym, why can the U.S. Government issue coinage in honor of Native Americans?

My tax dollars will be paid this year to the district in $1 U.S. coins, since the federal government is proud of what the Native American stands for. I hope the district won't be too worried about having all those Indian images present when thousands of coins are delivered.Comment: This is a superficially plausible argument, but it falls apart when you think about it. Here's why:

1) US coins, like monuments and murals, are meant to honor people of the past. In fact, a law says no living people may appear on our currency.

Coins put Indians in the same category as US presidents and statesmen. They recognize Indians as leaders and visionaries. There's (usually) no implied message that Indians are "savages" or warriors today.

In contrast, sports logos exist precisely to link today's teams with yesterday's Indians. The message of a typical logo is:We honor Indians of the past because they were savage warriors. We want to be just as savage and warlike as they were.

Alas, they're gone now or no longer have the warlike qualities we admire. We prefer to remember them the way they were, when they weren't lazy drunks or greedy welfare cheats.

In short, past Indians good; present Indians bad or irrelevant.2) Look at the Indians we've actually honored on our coins. The female figure of Liberty in a headdress. The dignified Indian on the buffalo nickel. And Sacagawea the girl guide.

Only the buffalo nickel's Indian remotely resembles a warrior...but he isn't one. He doesn't carry weapons and there's nothing to suggest he's warlike or savage. For all we know, he might be history's greatest diplomat and peacemaker, not a fighter or a killer.

Balleine specifically points to the $1 coin as a model for a sports logo. Really, that's your argument? Okay, put Sacagawea on your logo. Rename your team the Girl Guides. Eliminate all your brave, noble euphemisms for savagery and tout your football team's feminine side instead. Then you can use a logo like the $1 coin.

Indians still would protest being used in this way, but I don't think they'd protest as vociferously. That's because the main thing they're protesting is being portrayed as one-dimensional warriors of the past. The Sacagawea coin contradicts this stereotype while the typical sports logo reinforces it.

Duhhh.

For more on the subject, see my previous postings on US currency.

Below:  Which ones are the savage warriors? (This may be a tough challenge for someone like Balleine.)

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?

Replace Grant on $50 bill?

A columnist makes the case for Ulysses S. Grant's greatness as president.

Who’s Buried in the History Books?

By Sean WilentzRONALD REAGAN deserves posterity’s honor, and so it makes sense that the capital’s airport and a major building there are named for him. But the proposal to substitute his image for that of Ulysses S. Grant on the $50 bill is a travesty that would dishonor the nation’s bedrock principles of union, freedom and equality—and damage its historical identity. Although slandered since his death, Grant, as general and as president, stood second only to Abraham Lincoln as the vindicator of those principles in the Civil War era.And:For Grant, Reconstruction always remained of paramount importance, and he remained steadfast, even when members of his own party turned their backs on the former slaves. After white supremacists slaughtered blacks and Republicans in Louisiana in 1873 and attempted a coup the following year, Grant took swift and forceful action to restore order and legitimate government. With the political tide running heavily against him, Grant still managed to see through to enactment the Civil Rights Act of 1875, which prohibited discrimination according to race in all public accommodations.

Grant did not confine his reformism to expanding and protecting the rights of the freed slaves. Disgusted at the inhumanity of the nation’s Indian policies, he called for “the proper treatment of the original occupants of this land,” and directed efforts to provide federal aid for food, clothing and schooling for the Indians as well as protection from violence. He also took strong and principled stands in favor of education reform and the separation of church and state.Other sites chime in about Grant's noble intentions toward Indians:

Domestic AffairsNative American Policy

In his first inaugural address, Grant pledged to rethink the treatment of Native Americans, referring to them as "the original occupants of this land." He wanted to shift federal Indian policy toward what became known as the Peace Policy. This approach attempted to move Indians closer to white civilization (and ultimately U.S. citizenship) by housing them on reservations and helping them become farmers. To address corruption in federal Indian affairs, Grant created a new Board of Indian Commissioners headed by philanthropic leaders. The board recommended the government stop using political appointees as Indian agents. Grant adopted that recommendation and turned to missionaries--especially Quakers--and Army personnel to serve as agents.

However, these changes fell short of radically altering conditions for Native Americans in the United States. White settlers, with governmental support, continued to push Indians aside to take land, and they relied on the Army to prevent Indian attacks. At the same time, Native Americans on reservations had little chance of creating farms out of desolate pieces of land and were beset by poverty and desperation. While Grant's approach marked an improvement in U.S. Indian policy, it is remembered more for its good intentions than for lasting changes.Ulysses S. GrantGrant's attempts to provide justice to Native Americans marked a radical reversal of what had long been the government's policy: "Wars of extermination ... are demoralizing and wicked," he nobly told Congress. The president lobbied, though not always successfully, to preserve Native American lands from encroachment by the westward advance of pioneers.Comment:  Wow. Those settlers pushed Indians aside? That was rude of them. Perhaps they needed an etiquette course from Emily Post.

And Grant "lobbied" to stop this rude behavior? Whom exactly did he lobby? Was someone else in charge of federal Indian policy? With all his executive powers, he couldn't do anything except lobby? Despite being Commander-in-Chief, he couldn't order the Army to act?

Poor guy! He wanted to help the Indians, but couldn't. Like Bush after receiving the August 2001 memo that Bin Laden was going to strike, he was powerless to do anything.

Assimilation is for Borg

A couple of problems with these claims about Grant. First, moving Indians "closer to white civilization (and ultimately U.S. citizenship) by housing them on reservations and helping them become farmers" was a negative policy, not a positive one. It meant breaking the treaties they signed, destroying their way of life, locking them up on barren land, and compelling them to change their culture and religion. It was part of the genocidal approach aptly characterized as "kill the Indian, save the man."

Second, was anything else happening during Grant's two terms (March 4, 1869–March 4, 1877)? Anything else these postings might've forgotten to mention? Perhaps the following?

Indian Wars Timeline

July 11, 1869: Battle of Summit Springs.

January 23, 1870: Marias Massacre.

April 30, 1871: Camp Grant Massacre.

1872–1873: Modoc War.

December 28, 1872: Salt River Canyon Battle.

March 27, 1873: Battle of Turret Peak.

1874–1875: Red River War.

June 27, 1874: Second Battle of Adobe Walls.

September 28, 1874: Battle of Palo Duro Canyon.

1876–1877: Black Hills War.

March, 1876: Battle of Powder River.

June 17, 1876: Battle of Rosebud.

June 25-26, 1876: Battle of the Little Bighorn.

July 17, 1876: Battle at Warbonnet Creek.

September 8, 1876: Battle of Slim Buttes.

November 25, 1876: Dull Knife Fight.

1877: Nez Perce War.

Grant the peacemaker?

Oh, yeah...now I remember. Ulysses S. Grant was in charge of the freakin' military during eight bloody years of the Indian Wars. His so-called "Peace Policy" included many deadly attacks on and massacres of Indians.

In one sense, his Peace Policy worked. "We are not going to let a few thieving, ragged Indians stop and check the progress of the railroad," General Sherman wrote to Grant in 1867. After his men killed them, the Indians definitely became more cooperative, as corpses often do.

In other words, Grant's policy amounted to "the only good Indian is a dead Indian." Nice.

"Thanks but no thanks for your so-called peace," I imagine the Indians responded. "Next time you want peace, how about if you actually seek it? How about if you don't launch wars to destroy our cultures, overthrow our governments, and impose your 'democracy' on us?

"How about if you obey the treaties you negotiated and signed instead? You know, like the Treaty of Fort Laramie ratified just one year before you took office? Why haven't you enforced these treaties, you bloated bag of excrement?"

I'm not in favor of replace Grant on the $50 bill with Reagan or anyone else. Several of our so-called "great" presidents earned their reputations via the death or destruction of Indians. But let's not ignore Grant's crimes too much. He was one of several men who waged ruthless war against the Indians. As much as anyone, he responsible for ending their independence.

For more on the subject, see Mythologizing the American West and Fun 4th of July Facts.

2nd Sacagawea dollar reverse unveiled

U.S. Mint Reveals 2010 Native American $1 Coin, Interest Still Slight

By Jason HicksThe United States Mint has revealed a new design for the Native American $1 Coin in 2010 based on the theme “Government—The Great Tree of Peace.”

The new coin depicts the Hiawatha Belt and five arrows bound together, with the inscriptions “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” “$1,” “Haudenosaunee” and “Great Law of Peace.”

The Hiawatha Belt is a visual record of the creation of the Haudenosaunee, also known as the Iroquois Confederacy, with five symbols representing the five original Nations.Comment:  This is a great design--better than the first $1 reverse featuring Native agriculture. The belt encircling the arrows really "pops" as a vivid, three-dimensional image.

My only complaint is the font, again. Which is ironic since it's the same font, Austere, that I used for the PEACE PARTY logo. But I think the point is still valid.

When you use the font alone, or with a modern image, it conveys a feeling of age and ethnicity. But on the coin, the sharp, angular lettering looks like Stone-Age carving compared to the Hiawatha Belt. It makes the image feel lost in the past, like something associated with the Flintstones.

The coin really wants to convey that the symbols are modern and still relevant today. The way to do that is with a modern font. I don't know which fonts other US coins use, but I bet they include Times Roman and other fonts with noble, patrician, Latin-sounding names. One of these fonts would be best for the reverse of these coins too.

No doubt the US Mint won't change the coins' font in midstream. But I'm just saying. The coins are nice but could've been even better.

For more on the Haudenosaunee tree of peace, see Oneidas Don't Care About Peace?! and NMAI Float in Macy's Parade. For more on the dollar, see Sacagawea Dollar's Reverse Unveiled and New Design for Sacagawea Dollar.