In March 2004, to honor the bicentennial, the United States Mint issued 500,000 Lewis and Clark Commemorative Silver Dollar Coins. The Circle of Tribal Advisors worked with the United States Mint to create a special limited edition of 50,000 coins presented in traditional American Indian Leather pouches.

These pouches were handmade by our nations' most accomplished and respected artists. While of varying designs representative of the different cultures involved, all pouches were of equal size and quality. Each pouch was accompanied by a certificate of authenticity describing the process of making the pouch, the design, information about the Circle of Tribal Advisors, and the artist's name and tribal affiliation. All certificates were signed personally by the artist.

The artists and their pouches genuinely represent the rich cultural and geographic diversity of the First Nations of the Lewis and Clark story. The American Indian Pouch edition of the coin illustrates the beauty of traditional American Indian arts.

Released on September 7, 2004, the pouch and coin sets were sold out in just over three weeks. We would like to thank all the artists that worked so hard on these pouches over the last year. The project has been a great pleasure for those involved and we are so pleased with everyone's participation and enthusiasm.

In order to provide some recognition for the tribes and the artists involved in this project, we have listed each participating tribe below. Please click on the links provided for information on the individual artists involved.

Thanks to everyone involved in this project!

Participating tribes include:

• Blackfeet Nation
• Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe
• Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde
• Confederated Tribes of the Salish, Kootenai, and Pend D'Oreille
• Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
• Crow Nation
• Mandan Hidatsa Arikara Nation
• Shawnee Nation United Remnant Band
• Shoshone Bannock Tribes
• Standing Rock Sioux Tribe

These links are currently under construction. We will continue to add information about the artists over the next month. Please check back often!