THUNDER BAY — The Royal Canadian Mint chose a Lakehead University student's image of Tecumseh for a new silver, gold-plated coin that honours the legendary Shawnee war leader.
This year marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Tecumseh, who played a key role in the British effort against the United States during the War of 1812.
Fourth-year visual arts student Mary McPherson was asked to participate in the design process for the commemorative coin.
"It feels incredibly different than the work that I usually produce," said McPherson, who is Ojibway and a member of Couchiching First Nation.
"I've never had an artistic experience quite like this one. I feel extremely grateful to have had the honour of drawing Tecumseh and having the design immortalized on a coin."
McPherson added that she learned a lot about Tecumseh during the process.
He sided with the British over the Americans, she said, "not because he liked them particularly" but because he felt they were the lesser of two evils.
"Tecumseh fought for the wellbeing and independence of his people. He had also united Indigenous nations, in resistance to a divide-and-conquer mentality, while maintaining the essential notion that the land was to be shared among all peoples and was not something to be owned."
The MM on the right side of the coin represents McPherson's initials.
The coin may be ordered from the Royal Canadian Mint for $129.95.
