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A Sacagawea / Native American dollar — an annual "time capsule" of Native American contributions. The theme of this issue is "Ely Samuel Parker".
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 2022 reverse is a miniature of its own: it depicts Ely S. Parker — a Seneca engineer and military secretary to General Grant, who penned the terms of surrender at Appomattox in 1865. 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 2022 reverse honors Ely S. Parker of the Seneca — engineer, lawyer and military officer. During the Civil War he served as military secretary to General Grant and personally penned the Confederate terms of surrender at Appomattox in 1865. Parker later became the first Native American to head the Bureau of Indian Affairs. His life is an example of a man of two worlds who won recognition at the highest levels of power. It rounds out the series nicely and looks striking in a capsule or tray.