Honoring Native American Day with the Buffalo Nickel

The fourth Friday of September is Native American Day, an annual holiday when the many contributions, sacrifices, and traditions of the nation’s indigenous people are honored across the land. Variations of Native American Day stretch back to at least the 1990s, when individual states began recognizing a holiday honoring Native Americans, with the date of those festivities often corresponding with or officially replacing Columbus Day on those states’ respective calendars.

The vast influence of the nation’s Native American culture and tradition is seen throughout the nation’s numismatic canon. A wide variety of coins dating back to at least the 19th century pay homage to Native American cultures and identities. Surely among these coins is the Buffalo Nickel, which was designed by sculptor James Earle Fraser and produced by the United States Mint from 1913 through 1938. While the common moniker for this five-cent coin borrows from th e famous silhouette of an American bison (colloquially referred to as a “buffalo” by many) as seen on the reverse, it’s the figure of a Native American featured on the obverse that often draws attention.

The marriage of a Native American design with the visage of an American bison was explained by Fraser this way in a 1947 radio interview: “Well, when I was asked to do a nickel, I felt I wanted to do something totally American — a coin that could not be mistaken for any other country's coin. It occurred to me that the buffalo, as part of our western background, was 100% American, and that our North American Indian fitted into the picture perfectly.”

After whom did Fraser model the Native American on the nickel? That’s a question that even the sculptor himself didn’t always answer the same way.

During some accounts, Fraser stated that Iron Tail and Two Moons were models, along with “one or two others, and [I] probably got characteristics from those men in the head on the coins, but my purpose was not to make a portrait but a type.” At one point, Fraser noted that Big Tree was also among the models for his nickel. Two Guns White Calf, who hailed from the last Blackfoot tribal chief, claimed that he served as the model for the head on the Buffalo Nickel. The mystique behind who was involved in Fraser’s modeling sessions for the coin continued long after the sculptor’s passing in 1953. Still, one thing remains certain: the Buffalo Nickel is one of many beloved United States coins that pay its humble respects to the enduring Native American people, cultures, and legacies that continue shaping the nation to this day.