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A Sacagawea / Native American dollar — an annual "time capsule" of Native American contributions. The theme of this issue is "Native Hospitality — Lewis & Clark Expedition".
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 2014 reverse is a miniature of its own: it depicts a young Native woman offering roots and game to the Lewis and Clark Expedition — honoring the tribal hospitality without which the explorers could not have crossed the continent. 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 2014 reverse honors Native hospitality during the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804–1806. On the coin a young Native woman offers the travelers roots and game — without such help the party could hardly have crossed the Continental Divide. Tribes shared food, horses and knowledge of the land, often saving the strangers from hunger and cold. The coin is a tribute to a generosity rarely remembered in the heroic tales of the West’s conquest. It rounds out the series nicely and looks striking in a capsule or tray.