2008 Medal Oneida Nation Code Talkers Bronze 38mm

Coin Details

Description

This 38mm bronze medal honors the Oneida Nation Code Talkers, members of the Oneida people — one of the original Six Nations of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy — who used the Oneida language for military communications. The Oneida have a particularly strong tradition of alliance with the United States, dating back to the American Revolution when they were one of the few Native American nations to side with the colonists against the British, providing crucial support during the desperate winter at Valley Forge and at the Battle of Oriskany in 1777. The obverse features a design developed with the Oneida Nation, incorporating Haudenosaunee cultural elements and honoring the code talker veterans' service. The Oneida language, part of the Northern Iroquoian language family, shares structural features with Mohawk and other Iroquoian languages while maintaining its own distinctive vocabulary and phonological characteristics. The Oneida code talkers carried forward a tradition of military alliance with the United States that spans the entire history of the republic, from the Revolution through every subsequent conflict. The reverse carries Code Talkers program inscriptions. The Oneida Nation's Revolutionary War alliance with the United States — for which they suffered devastating retaliatory raids that destroyed their villages — provides unique historical context for their code talker service, as the Oneida have supported the American cause longer than any other Native American nation.

Rarity Notes

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

Cross References

PCGS #910594; Code Talkers 2008; Oneida Nation; Haudenosaunee Confederacy; Iroquoian language