Talk:Indian Head nickel

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[edit] Indian Head vs. Buffalo

Many people like myself think of this design as the "buffalo nickel" rather than the "Indian Head nickel". The phrase "Indian Head" is also used to describe the Indian Head cent that was made from 1859-1909. Would it be less confusing to just call this article the "Buffalo nickel"? - Deeplogic 15:54, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Rumors of anti-Native American connotations

Is there any truth at all to the rumor spread by Dick Gregory and Charlie Hill that the Indian head nickel originally meant to suggest the widespread practice of decapitation of Indians? While I'm aware that "Indian fighters" were in fact paid per Indian killed, and that heads and then scalps were accepted as proof, I've never been able to buy the story that either the Indian head nickel, or the Indian Head cent, or for that matter the portrait heads of Chief Illiniwek or the Indian Head test card were meant to represent this ugly period of our country's history. I think that's BS. I'm Tsalagi and I've never been offended for one minute by these representations -- they were practically the only visibility/ identification offered to a lot of Indian kids like me living isolated from others in a completely white world and I was proud to see them. (The Cleveland Indians cartoon mascot is another story.) If it is true, it should be researched and added to the article. If not true, should it be researched and a line added debunking the myth? --Bluejay Young 21:48, 15 August 2007 (UTC)