Wyoming 2022 1 Goldback alpha

Virtue: Reverentia (Reverence) 
Enduring Principle: “Revere What is Sacred” Leviticus 19:30 
In her first appearance on a Goldback series, Reverentia, or Reverence/Respect, is featured on 
the Wyoming 1 Goldback Denomination. She is depicted in this design as a Shoshone Native 
American woman wearing a traditional buckskin dress and standing in Wyoming’s Northeastern 
plains region. Below her the caption reads “Revere what is Sacred”. Her hair has been left free 
to blow in the wind and lends to the overall feeling of freedom. This freedom is given deeper 
meaning when one understands that the bald eagle perched on her arm with falconry gear 
represents a messenger from the Creator, and that the freedom that the creations enjoy go 
hand in hand with the respect and reverence to the Creator for them. In this design, Reverentia 
is surrounded by sunflowers, a representation of life and beauty as a direct result from keeping 
our face toward the sun, absorbing the light and life that comes from it, and letting it shine 
through us.  
The formation that we call Devil’s Tower, or Mato Tipila (meaning Bear Lodge or Bear Rock), is 
in the background. Mato Tipila is a sacred site to many Native Americans in the region. The 
origin story of its formation that is represented here involves seven girls, represented in this 
design by the seven ladybugs on the sunflowers, praying to the Great Spirit to save them from 
bears that were chasing them. In answer to their prayer, the Great Spirit made the formation 
raise them up toward heaven and out of the bears’ grasp. As the formation grew from the 
ground, the bears scratched its sides while trying to get to the girls, which gave it the markings 
that we see today. When the girls were raised up high enough, they were turned into the 
constellation of the Pleiades.  
Behind Reverentia stands an American Bison, and in the foreground is a bison skull. The 
bison is a state specific symbol for Wyoming, but also nods to the Tribe Logos of both the 
Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho. It is a very important animal for the region historically. 
In this design it represents the strength, abundance, and stability, found in freedom, consistency, 
and centeredness. The placement of the live bison and bison skull are purposefully placed to 
spark thoughts of the cyclical and symbiotic nature of the life and death that both come before 
us and follow after us. When one recognizes that Reverentia is placed in the middle of that 
representation, it further underscores the importance of having peace and respect for that ever 
present cycle in the now.