The new 2009 Native American $1 coin will depict a Native American woman planting seeds in a field of corn, beans and squash.

Washington — Contributions made by Native Americans to the history and culture of the United States will be celebrated on a new series of $1 coins beginning early in 2009.

The United States Mint presented the design of the Native American $1 coin — a new version of the Sacagawea golden dollar — on November 28, the day after Thanksgiving. This day was designated by the U.S. Congress as Native American Heritage Day.

November is American Indian Heritage Month, which commemorates the culture of both traditional and contemporary Native Americans. (See “U.S. Honors Contributions of American Indians, Alaska Natives.”)

“When Americans use this coin, we hope they reflect on the tremendous contributions Native Americans have made, and continue to make, to our nation,” said U.S. Mint Director Ed Moy.

“I think it’s great,” said Jacqueline Johnson Pata, executive director of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), a nonpartisan group headquartered in Washington. “First of all, it revives the Sacagawea coin, and second, the thing we’re trying to do is to educate America. We look for any opportunity to do that.”

NCAI was involved in the coin design review process, Johnson Pata said, adding, “I was surprised how much deliberation goes into making the decision about what goes on these coins.” There was an effort to make sure the design “was something that was culturally acceptable but also politically acceptable among the tribes — respectful and relevant,” she said.

The coins are a redesign of the $1 Sacagawea coin honoring the young Shoshone woman who helped guide the Lewis and Clark expedition across the West from 1804 to 1806. That distinctive gold-colored coin — made of copper sandwiched between outer layers of manganese brass — depicts Sacagawea carrying her infant son, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau. It was minted between 2000 and 2002.

Sacagawea will remain on one side of the coin, but the reverse — which originally was a soaring eagle — will bear the image of an Indian woman planting seeds in a field of corn, beans and squash. It represents the “Three Sisters” method of planting, in which corn, beans and squash growing in the same mound enhance the productivity of each plant.

The Sacagawea golden dollar was issued in 2000, honoring the Shoshone woman who aided the explorers Lewis and Clark from 1804 to 1806.

The image reflects the importance of agriculture in Native American culture, Johnson Pata said.

The U.S. Mint Web site states that the Pilgrims and other colonists “would not have survived in the New World without the support and knowledge gained from Native American agricultural techniques.” (See “Thanksgiving Day a Time for Reflection, Gratitude, Sharing.”)

Each year, the image on the reverse side of the coin will be changed. Some suggested themes are the creation of Cherokee written language; Massasoit, the chief of the Wampanoag Indians who aided the Pilgrims in 1621; Olympic decathlon champion Jim Thorpe; and the Navajo code talkers who served the U.S. armed forces in World War II. The 2010 theme will focus on American Indian tribal governments, particularly the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) confederation.

The designs are chosen by the secretary of the Treasury in consultation with NCAI, the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, the House Congressional Native American Caucus, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts and a citizen advisory committee.

Twenty percent of the $1 coins issued each year must be Native American coins; the rest will be presidential coins. Starting in 2007, the U.S. Mint began to introduce four new coins each year honoring the nation’s past chief executives.

Johnson Pata said she loves to give the Sacagawea coins as gifts. She is a member of the Tlingit tribe in Alaska. “Potlatches are really important to us,” she said, referring to celebrations involving feasting and the exchange of gifts. “A number of other tribes have ceremonies where we give gifts. I have used these coins as one of the gifts we give out.”

Coins are particularly meaningful because of their significance “in the history of the American Indians and their relationship with political leaders of the United States,” said Johnson Pata. “Presidents and other people of high rank would have coins they would give to tribal leaders when they came to meet with them. It was more than a calling card, but a representation of a relationship.”

“I’ve always thought these [Sacagawea] coins were significant,” she said.

See The Life of Sacagawea on the U.S. Mint Web site. Also on that site is additional information on The Native American $1 Coin Act and the 2009 Native American $1 coin.

See Diversity and American Indian Heritage.