General Ely S. Parker Honored with the 2022 Native American Dollar Coin

Ely S. Parker was born Tonawanda Seneca in 1828 on the Tonawanda Indian Reservation in Genesee County. This year the United States Mint commemorates him with the 2022 Native American Dollar Coin. Ely S. Parker was a U.S. Army officer, Wolf Clan Sachem, engineer, and tribal diplomat, who served as military secretary to Ulysses S. Grant during the U.S. Civil War. When Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox, Virginia, on the morning of April 9, 1865, Parker rendered the formal surrender documents in his own hand.

The design, by U.S. Artistic Infusion Program artist Paul C. Balan and sculpted by U.S. Mint Chief Engraver Joseph F. Menna, features Parker, depicted in Army uniform, with a quill pen and book, along with a likeness of his graceful signature, as symbols of his experience as an expert communicator. The inscriptions “TONAWANDA SENECA” and “HA-SA-NO-AN-DA” recognize his tribe and the name given to him at birth. The reverse of the 2022 Native American Dollar Coin will continue to feature the central figure “Sacagawea” carrying her infant son.

The Native American Dollar Coin Program recognizes the important contributions made by Native American tribes and individual Native Americans to the history and development of the United States.

Sales of the circulation-quality 2022 coins are scheduled to begin Feb. 9. Both Philadelphia Mint and Denver Mint 2022 Native American dollars will be offered starting on that date.