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With its warm brass tone, the coin tells a distinct chapter from the history and culture of Native tribes. The theme of this issue is "Three Sisters Agriculture".
Obverse
The obverse shows a portrait of Sacagawea — a young Shoshone woman, guide of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, carrying her infant son Jean-Baptiste on her back. Flanking it are LIBERTY and IN GOD WE TRUST. It is the most recognizable image of the series, unchanged since 2000. The inscription and portrait set a solemn, recognizable tone for the whole series.
Reverse
The 2009 reverse is a miniature of its own: it depicts a Native American woman sowing seeds in a field of corn, beans and squash — the traditional "Three Sisters" method that Native peoples shared with the early colonists. Around the rim are UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and the denomination $1, while the year and the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM are lettered on the edge. The relief catches the light as the coin is turned.
Historical context
The series-wide obverse depicts Sacagawea — a young Lemhi Shoshone woman born around 1788 in what is now Idaho. Captured by a rival tribe as a girl, she later became the wife of the trader Toussaint Charbonneau and, already pregnant, joined the Lewis and Clark Expedition in February 1805. Carrying her infant son Jean-Baptiste on her back, she took on the roles of interpreter, guide and peacemaker, without whom the party could hardly have reached the Pacific. Sacagawea became one of the most honored women in U.S. history — with more monuments dedicated to her than to any other American woman.
The 2009 reverse opened a new era for the series and honored the "Three Sisters" method — the joint planting of corn, beans and squash. This technique, born in Mexico and spread across North America, yielded more together: tall corn supported the beans, the beans fed nitrogen to the soil, and the squash shaded out weeds. It was this knowledge that Native peoples shared with the first European colonists, saving them from starvation. A neat accent for any set and a pleasant keepsake.