Wooden Nickel — Sandy Williams IV

“Don’t Take Any Wooden Nickels” #1 | 2019 - 2020

“Don’t Take Any Wooden Nickels” #1, centers the United States’ ‘Buffalo Nickel’, aka the ‘Indian Head Nickel’ (1913 - 1938). My grandmother always told me, “Don’t trust nobody, and don’t take any wooden nickels.” This colloquial saying now survives the 25 year circulation of this obsolete currency, nickel, as well as the ‘Wooden Nickel’ interpretations (or tokens) that were made in the image of the ‘Buffalo Nickel’ years later. “Don’t take any wooden nickels” is a phrase that remembers the decades of compacted inflation, change, genocide, and inequity surrounding this nickel, a history that is not often unpacked in the country’s history books. That ‘Indian Head’ nickel is, ‘The only Indian the United States ever cared about’, is another thing that people used to say about this Depression era nickel.

The ‘Giant-Wooden-Buffalo Nickel’ seen spinning atop my sculpture was made by 3D scanning a historical 1913 nickel, and enlarging it in parallel to the 2500% inflation rate that the US currency has experienced since 1913. This installation juxtaposes some of the colloquial and official phrasings/histories that surround these currencies, in order to understand the depths of their influence on our contemporary belief systems.

An interview plays from within the base, in which Williams’ grandmother Ina White - born in 1934 - details stories from her life and memories.

my grandmother always told me, "don’t trust nobody, and don’t take any wooden nickels."               when i asked her what she meant she said, "don't let nobody fool you!"               a wooden nickel is (technically) a token, usually issued by a bank or merchant, that was popular in the 1930's, after the start of the great depression, for promotions.                these tokens would usually be good for 5 cents worth of goods, and would carry very specific expiration dates.               my grandmother always told me, "don't trust nobody, and don't take any wooden nickels."               a nickel from 1913 would be worth $1.27 in today's value.          that is a 2436.4% decrease in value due to inflation.          if the nickel were to have literally grown at that same rate, it would now be 21.17894 inches.               my grandmother always told me, "don't trust nobody, and don't take any wooden nickels."                         the "buffalo nickel" holds the image of a buffalo and the face of an intentionally unidentified man.          it was popular in the 20th century to try to capture the "native beauty" of the west.           in a 1947 radio interview, the designer of the 1913 nickel stated, "when i was asked to do a nickel, i felt i wanted to do something totally american - a coin that could not be mistaken for any other country's coin. it occurred to me that the buffalo, as part of our western background, was 100% american, and that our north american indian fitted into the picture perfectly."               my grandmother always told me, "don't trust nobody, and don't take any wooden nickels."               black diamond was the name given to the buffalo who posed for the "buffalo nickel".          two years later, black diamond was bought from the central park zoo in nyc for $325, and slaughtered for his meat.          his meat was sold at $1 a pound.               my grandmother always told me, "don't trust nobody, and don't take any wooden nickels."               the first "buffalo nickels" were unofficially introduced at the groundbreaking ceremony for the national american indian memorial, which was never actually completed.          plans for this memorial were: to have a colossal bronze statue, 60 feet high on a 70-foot base, one arm raised, two fingers forming a V, greeting ships carrying immigrants and others arriving in new york.         a museum and a statue of a warrior on horseback were also part of the proposed design. the statue and all the rest were to be erected at fort wadsworth on new york's staten island, just south of the statue of liberty.          staten island originally belonged to Lenape Indians.               my grandmother always told me, "don't trust nobody, and don't take any wooden nickels."               the groundbreaking ceremony for the national american indian memorial, which was never actually completed, was attended by president william howard taft, members of his cabinet, new york's governor, new york city's mayor, naval and military detachments and officers.          more than 30 plains indian leaders and warriors, many of whom who had fought against the u.s. army, were also in attendance; including, Plenty Coups, Drags The Wolf, Crane In The Sky, Little Wolf, Black Wolf, Wooden Leg, Red Arrow, Hollow Horn Bear and Two Moons.          Two Moons Éše'he Ôhnéšesêstse (Two Moons), of the Northern Cheyenne people, was one of the three men rumored to have modeled for the profile on the obverse face of the nickel.         Siŋté Máza (Iron Tail), of the Oglala Lakota people, and Chief Two Guns White Calf are also rumored to have inspired the profile on the obverse face of the nickel.               my grandmother always told me, "don't trust nobody, and don't take any wooden nickels."               at the groundbreaking ceremony for the national american indian memorial, which was never actually completed, plains indian leaders and warriors sang a war song and were asked to raise the u.s. flag.          they were also asked to pledge allegiance to the united states and denounce their former allegiances.          at the conclusion of the event, a bag of "indian-head" nickels was produced.         president taft received the first copy, and the native leaders were also given nickels.

An LED ticker display details various facts, stories, and histories about the makings of these phrases, tokens, and obsolete currencies.

Discontinued 1930’s ‘Buffalo Nickels’ embellish the left side of base, and real ‘Wooden Nickels’ from the 1950’s are inset on the right side of the base.