Randy'L He-dow Teton
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Randy'L He-dow Teton is the Shoshone model who posed for the US Sacagawea dollar coin, first issued in 2000.
[edit] Sacagawea dollar
In 1998, the United States Mint invited sculptor Glenna Goodacre to submit a design for the new dollar coin featuring Sacagawea, the Shoshone woman who acted as an interpreter for the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Goodacre went to the Institute of American Indian Arts Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico to find a Shoshone woman to model Sacagawea, since no contemporary portraits exist. Goodacre chose Teton, a University of New Mexico student and daughter of a museum employee, to be the face of Sacagawea.
She is the first Native American woman to appear on an American coin, and the only person known to appear on a US coin while still living.
[edit] Biography
Teton, originally from Idaho's Fort Hall Indian Reservation, has a degree in Art History and Native American Studies from the University of New Mexico. She toured the country to promote the coin's introduction and as a motivational speaker to encourage Native American education. Teton has stated that "image doesn't represent me, it represents all Native American women. All women have the dignity of the Golden Dollar's image."[1]
