2008 Medal Crow Creek Sioux Tribe Code Talkers Bronze 38mm

Coin Details

Description

This 38mm bronze medal honors the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe Code Talkers, members of the Crow Creek Reservation community in central South Dakota who used their Dakota language for military communications. The Crow Creek Sioux are part of the broader Yanktonai Dakota band of the Sioux Nation, and their code talkers contributed the Dakota language variant specific to their community to the military communication effort. The Crow Creek Reservation, established in 1863, has a complex history that includes the tragic internment camp of 1863-1866 and subsequent generations of resilience and service. The obverse features a design created in collaboration with the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, incorporating cultural elements that honor both the tribe's heritage and the military service of its code talker veterans. The Dakota language spoken by the Crow Creek community, while related to the Lakota and Nakota dialects of other Sioux bands, has its own distinctive features that contributed to the diversity of languages available for the code talker program. This linguistic diversity was itself a strategic asset, as it made the overall Native American communication system even more resistant to enemy decryption. The reverse carries Code Talkers program inscriptions. The Crow Creek Sioux medal is part of the comprehensive recognition ensuring that every tribe known to have contributed code talkers received its own distinct tribute, regardless of the size of its contribution or the theater of operations in which its members served.

Rarity Notes

Bronze duplicate medal, 38mm. Code Talkers Recognition Act of 2008 series.

Cross References

PCGS #910575; Code Talkers 2008; Crow Creek Sioux Tribe; Yanktonai Dakota; South Dakota