2008 Medal Rosebud Sioux Tribe Code Talkers Bronze 38mm

Coin Details

Description

This 38mm bronze medal honors the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Code Talkers, members of the Sicangu Lakota people of the Rosebud Reservation in south-central South Dakota who used the Lakota language for military communications. The Sicangu ("Burnt Thigh") are one of the seven bands of the Teton Sioux, and their reservation was established in 1889 from the former Great Sioux Reservation. The Rosebud community's code talkers represented their band's variant of the Lakota language, contributing to the broader Sioux code talker effort across multiple reservations and bands. The obverse features a design created with the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, incorporating Lakota cultural imagery honoring the code talker veterans. The Rosebud Reservation, named for the Rosebud Creek that flows through it, has maintained strong Lakota cultural traditions including language preservation efforts that give the code talker legacy particular contemporary relevance. The code talkers' use of Lakota in military service demonstrated the language's practical value and strategic importance, providing a powerful argument for its preservation during an era when many Native American languages were declining. The reverse carries Code Talkers program inscriptions. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe's code talker recognition joins those of the Oglala, Cheyenne River, Crow Creek, Standing Rock, Sisseton Wahpeton, and Yankton Sioux Tribes in forming a comprehensive acknowledgment of the Sioux Nation's collective contribution to the code talker program across its many bands and reservations.

Rarity Notes

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

Cross References

PCGS #911957; Code Talkers 2008; Rosebud Sioux Tribe; Sicangu Lakota; South Dakota