Now the Senate and the House have acted on the “Native American $1 Coin Act,” which would add scenes from our American Indian past to our current dollar coinage, and a linguistic battle has emerged that could well prevent the measure from becoming law.

At stake is the pronunciation and spelling of the name of Lewis and Clark’s great heroine, Sacagawea (Senate bill) or Sakakawea (House version).

Introduced May 17 by Rep. Dale Kildee, D-Mo., H.R. 2358 moved to rapid House passage June 12, and was received in the Senate the following day. S. 585 was introduced Feb. 14 of this year by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., with a goal of replacing “the designs on the obverse the so-called ‘Sacagawea design’” with new ones honoring all Native Americans.

Related posts:

1. 2010 Native American $1 Coin Design announced by US Mint
2. 2010 Native American $1 Coin Rolls Available January 22
3. Native Americans Honored on Sacs
4. United States Mint Unveils Design for Commemorative Coin Honoring Disabled American Veterans
5. American Veterans Silver Dollar Available from the US Mint Today
6. Secrets of Olympic Medal Minting
7. Meet Fred Weinberg – Error Coin and Minting Process Expert
8. An Analysis of Values of Gem Three Dollar Gold Pieces: The Heritage 5/09 Sale of the American Princess Collection
9. GOLDLINE, One Of America’s Largest Precious Metals Companies, Moves Headquarters
10. An Analysis of Values of Gem Three Dollar Gold Pieces: The Heritage 5/09 Sale of the American Princess Collection