Year: 2023
Type: book-chapter
Abstract: G*** Rush coins are communicative technologies/artefacts reflective of the US nation-building project. This chapter uses an image of the 1853 and 1854 g*** dollar coins as a launching point to discuss the switch the image stamped on the coin from that of Lady Liberty wearing a coronet to that of Lady Liberty wearing an Indigenous headdress. This project is inspired by coins found in G*** Beach, Oregon during an archaeological excavation conducted collaboratively with tribes in Oregon, namely the Coquille Nation. The chapter discusses how the coins are reflective of imperialist nostalgia, and a misguided attempt to honour or eulogize the dispossession of Indigenous peoples. Ultimately, these g*** coins flowing from the five operating US mints in the mid-1850s sought to eradicate various Indigenous currencies in circulation (e.g. dentalium, beads, potlatch systems). G*** and other metals served as a fetish for colonizers; a means to claim and usurp land, impose power and war on tribes in order to extract the natural resource. Raw materials were then refined, processed, pressed into coins and stamped with signifiers that shed light on the financial power dynamics associated with Manifest Destiny. The scope of the chapter is then broadened to discuss more contemporary US coins with Indigenous icons and what the longevity of this trope communicates about racial/national relations with Indigenous nations.
Author: Ashley Cordes
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4320724160