Indigenous people serving in the Military and Patriotism

An Indigenous perspective on WAR


On Veterans Day many of us honored the veterans in our life. In my family we have a few Veterans including my non-native grandpa. In the local native community there are many native Veterans who fought for this country. The following link is a story about one of our local Native Vet Archie Thompson http://www.triplicate.com/20091106107418/News/Local-News/A-bridge-to-the-past

This last week I have been thinking about Native Veterans and how it is that so many of our people come to serve in the military. My intent is not to dishonor those that have served but to get those in the community thinking about patriotism and military service. I have always felt that native people should not serve in the military and I have shared this message with my children. I believe that it is ironic to serve for a country that did such horrific things to our people and still continues to fully recognize native sovereignty and continues practicing oppressive and genocidal policies. My children’s great-grandfather once shared with me that he believed that the service was no place for Indian people. He was a veteran of WWII. When he returned home from the war he went into a bar in his uniform and the bar wouldn’t even serve him.

In article entitled, What is the Highest form of patriotism? I say acknowledge our addiction to patriotism, author Prof. Dr. Michael Yellow Bird discusses the lies of patriotism and some concerns he has with the participation of indigenous people in the military (Yellow Bird, in press). The article can be found on his BlogSpot at http://arikaraconsciousness.blogspot.com/ One concern that Dr. Yellow Bird raises is that participating in war violates traditional tribal values/beliefs. He also points out that Indigenous peoples are not just “single-dimensional warrior cultures”, but we are people of peacemakers and negotiators that have a cultural history of working together to settle conflict. I agree, and believe the proof is in our stories and history. In the past one of our cultural practices was to negotiate and settle conflict amongst our own people and neighboring tribes. Yurok people used to operate daily life on a payment system. One way to settle a disagreement or insult is through payment. And as Dr. Yellow Bird points out, tribal nations singed treaties with the United States government to settle war and conflict, although the US has broke or failed to ratify every treaty it made with tribal nations. Other reasons that indigenous peoples join the military include: poverty, a way out, protection of native lands, bravery, and lack of opportunity. I have heard many indigenous people say very similar reasons. The US government nationalism includes a history of genocide and racism. These genocidal practices/policies are still exercised by this country.

Dr. Yellow Bird points out that part of our patriotic nationalism includes the belief that America is the greatest nation and is entitled to the highest standard of living on the planet. I believe that we as a nation will do anything to make sure that we achieve and stand by this ideal. The following is a video clip showing how we are so interested in materialism and how the US has broken a treaty with a sovereign nation to honor individual freedom and capitalism:

Bear Butte



Our patriotism has led us to participate in unnecessary warfare including the occupation of Iraq. We are repeating some of the same practices that that were present in the American Holocaust of Native Americans and the Jewish Holocaust. Dr. Yellow Bird suggests that, “we must end this nations unhealthy attachment to patriotism”. One way to achieve this is to take a moral inventory of patriotic history, documents, slogans and symbols. I agree with his statement, “ This nation must learn to listen, apologize, make amends, and practice humility”.

Here is a video with some interesting points about patriotism and the war-


Another perspective from Russel Means: