Honor Native American contributions with this low mintage series. This year commemorates the contributions of the Kahnawake Mohawk and Mohawk Akwesasne communities to “high iron” construction work and the building of New York City skyscrapers.
The tradition of Mohawk high iron working dates to 1886, when the Dominion Bridge Company started a bridge from the Kahnawake Mohawk community across the St. Lawrence River. The danger of the work became evident in 1907 at the Quebec Bridge project, designed to be the largest cantilevered bridge in the world. On August 29, the structure failed, and the bridge collapsed into the river, killing 33 Mohawk workers. Four family names were wiped out. After the disaster the Kahnawake Clan Mothers ruled that large numbers of Mohawk men could not work on the same project at the same time.
Native ironworkers were in increasing demand in the 20th century as skyscrapers, tall bridges and other high elevation projects began to go up around North America.
After the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, dozens of nearby Mohawk ironworkers volunteered for the dangerous job of removing debris.
- Special proof strike minted in low quantities
- Minted at the U.S. Mint at San Francisco
