As many as 25,000 Native Americans in World War II fought actively: 21,767 in the Army, 1,910 in the Navy, 874 in the Marines, 121 in the Coast Guard, and several hundred Native American women as nurses. These figures included over one-third of all able-bodied Native American men aged 18 to 50, and even included as high as seventy percent of the population of some tribes. The first Native American to be killed in WWII was Henry E. Nolatubby from Oklahoma. He was part of the Marine Detachment serving on the USS Arizona and went down with the ship on December 7, 1941. Unlike African Americans or Asian Americans, Native Americans did not serve in segregated units and served alongside white Americans. [1]
Alison R. Bernstein argues that World War II presented the first large-scale exodus of Native Americans from reservations since the reservation system began and that it presented an opportunity for many Native Americans to leave reservations and enter the "white world." For many soldiers, World War II represented the first interracial contact between natives living on relatively isolated reservations. [1] : 67
According to Bernstein, life on reservations was difficult for Native Americans prior to the war due to low levels of development and lack of economic opportunities. In 1939, the median income for Native American males living on reservations was $500, compared to the national average for males of $2300. [1] : 24 Nearly one quarter of Native Americans had no formal education, and even for high school graduates, few forms of conventional employment existed on reservations. [1] : 25 In the absence of conventional employment, those Native Americans who stayed on the reservations generally worked the land and farmed. [1] : 26
Although Native Americans were not drafted for World War I because they were not considered citizens of the United States in 1917, approximately 10,000 Native American men volunteered for duty in World War I. [1] : 33
Native American men were included along with whites in the World War II draft. Initial reactions by Native Americans to the draft were mixed. While some were eager to join the military, others resisted. Bernstein argues that their still-questionable status as citizens of the United States at the outbreak of the Second World War made many Native Americans question volunteering for military service since "the Federal government had the power to force Indians to serve in the military but did not have the power to compel Mississippi to grant Indians the vote." [1] : 38 Although some resisted the draft, many others who were not drafted still volunteered for the war.
Against a background of the popular Hollywood image of the Native American warrior spirit in American popular culture, Native American men were generally regarded highly by their fellow soldiers, and their role appealed to the public. They first saw action in the Pacific Theater along with the rest of the US Army and Navy. The first known Native American casualty of war was a young Oklahoma man who died during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. [1] : 78
Over the course of the war, Native American men fought across the world on all fronts, and were involved in many of the most critical battles involving American troops, including Iwo Jima—the site of Ira Hayes' triumphant moment in the famous photograph of Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima with five of his fellow Marines—the invasion of Normandy, the liberation of the Philippines, the Battle of the Bulge, the liberation of Paris, and the liberation of Belgium. Native Americans were also among the first Americans to enter Germany and played a role in the liberation of Berlin. [1] : 92 Casualty reports showed Native Americans fighting as far away as Australia, North Africa, and Bataan. [1] : 104 Native American soldiers were sometimes mistaken by white American soldiers for Japanese soldiers and taken prisoner or fired upon. [2] [3] [4]
One of the most significant benefits that Native American men and women obtained from the war effort were the honors they received for serving including pow wows arranged prior to their deployment or upon their return. [5] Another benefit were the new skills that could be gained that might lead to better jobs. Due to both the waning sense of isolation on reservations brought on by the war and the influx of money, Native Americans began to have access to consumer goods and services. The average Native American income increased to $2,500 by 1944, two-and-a-half times greater than in 1940. However, the average salary of a Native American was still only a quarter of the average salary of a white American. [1] : 100
More than 30 Native Americans were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the third-highest aviation honor. [1] : 88 Not counting the Purple Heart, more than 200 military awards were awarded to Native Americans. [1] : 103 The most decorated Native American in the history of the United States Army is Pascal Poolaw, who, after World War II, went on the serve in the Korean War and the Vietnam War, earning a Distinguished Service Cross, four Silver Stars, five Bronze Stars, and three Purple Hearts. Although many Native Americans received recognition for their military service in terms of awards, these awards were later used during the termination period by the Bureau of Indian Affairs as proof that Native Americans were eager to assimilate into American culture.[ citation needed ]
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In February 1942, a civilian named Philip Johnston came up with the idea of using the Navajo language as military code. Johnston, a missionaries' son, grew up on a reservation and understood the complexity of the Navajo language. By September 1942, the American government had recruited several hundred Native Americans who spoke both Navajo and English to translate English words into the Navajo language to foil enemy understanding. Often working behind enemy lines, the code talkers were commended for their bravery and gained respect from fellow soldiers. [1] : 83 At its declassification in 1968, the code that these Navajo developed was the only oral military code that was not broken by an enemy. [6]
The code itself was composed of carefully selected Navajo words that used poetic circumlocution so that even a Navajo-speaker would not be able to understand the communications without training. For example, since there were no words in Navajo for military machines, weapons, or foreign countries, so these words were substituted with words that did exist in the Navajo language. For example, Britain was spoken as "between waters" (toh-ta), a dive bomber was a "chicken hawk" (gini), a grenade was a "potato" (ni-ma-si) and Germany was "iron hat" (besh-be-cha-he). [6]
In 2001, 28 Navajo Code Talkers were awarded Congressional Gold Medals, mostly posthumously. The group has also been commemorated in various media, including books, films, notably Windtalkers (2002) starring Nicolas Cage, Battle Cry starring Van Heflin, even a Navajo Code Talker GI Joe action figure. [6]
The war's aftermath, says Alison Bernstein, marked a "new era in Indian affairs" and turned "American Indians" into "Indian Americans." [7] : 159
Upon returning to the US after the war, some Native American servicemen and women suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and unemployment. Following the war, many Native Americans found themselves living in cities, rather than on reservations. In 1940, only five percent of Native Americans lived in cities, but by 1950, the number had ballooned to nearly 20 percent. [7] : 153
A code talker was a person employed by the military during wartime to use a little-known language as a means of secret communication. The term is most often used for United States service members during the World Wars who used their knowledge of Native American languages as a basis to transmit coded messages. In particular, there were approximately 400 to 500 Native Americans in the United States Marine Corps whose primary job was to transmit secret tactical messages. Code talkers transmitted messages over military telephone or radio communications nets using formally or informally developed codes built upon their indigenous languages. The code talkers improved the speed of encryption and decryption of communications in front line operations during World War II and are credited with some decisive victories. Their code was never broken.
LeuppLOOP is a census-designated place (CDP) in Coconino County, Arizona, on the Navajo Nation, United States. The population was 951 at the 2010 census.
Lori Ann Piestewa was a United States Army soldier killed during the Iraq War. A member of the Quartermaster Corps, she died in the same Iraqi attack in which fellow soldiers Shoshana Johnson and Piestewa's friend Jessica Lynch were injured. A Hopi, Piestewa was the first Native American woman to die in combat while serving in the U.S. military and the first woman in the U.S. military killed in the Iraq War. Arizona's Piestewa Peak is named in her honor.
Windtalkers is a 2002 American war film directed and co-produced by John Woo, starring Nicolas Cage, Adam Beach, Peter Stormare, Noah Emmerich, Mark Ruffalo, and Christian Slater. It is based on the real story of code talkers from the Navajo nation during World War II. The film was theatrically released in the United States on June 14, 2002, receiving mixed reviews and grossing just $77.6 million worldwide against a production budget of $115 million.
Philip Johnston was an American civil engineer who is credited with proposing the idea of using the Navajo language as a Navajo code to be used in the Pacific Theater during World War II.
The Navajo or Diné are an Indigenous people of the Southwestern United States. Their traditional language is Diné bizaad, a Southern Athabascan language.
Santa Fe National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery in the city of Santa Fe, in Santa Fe County, New Mexico. It encompasses 84.3 acres (34.1 ha), and as of 2021, had 68,000 interments. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it is one of two national cemeteries in New Mexico. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.
Native Americans have made up an integral part of U.S. military conflicts since America's beginning. Colonists recruited Indian allies during such instances as the Pequot War from 1634–1638, the Revolutionary War, as well as in War of 1812. Native Americans also fought on both sides during the American Civil War, as well as military missions abroad including the most notable, the Codetalkers who served in World War II. The Scouts were active in the American West in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Including those who accompanied General John J. Pershing in 1916 on his expedition to Mexico in pursuit of Pancho Villa. Indian Scouts were officially deactivated in 1947 when their last member retired from the Army at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. For many Indians it was an important form of interaction with European-American culture and their first major encounter with the Whites' way of thinking and doing things.
The Apache Scouts were part of the United States Army Indian Scouts. Most of their service was during the Apache Wars, between 1849 and 1886, though the last scout retired in 1947. The Apache scouts were the eyes and ears of the United States military and sometimes the cultural translators for the various Apache bands and the Americans. Apache scouts also served in the Navajo War, the Yavapai War, the Mexican Border War and they saw stateside duty during World War II. There has been a great deal written about Apache scouts, both as part of United States Army reports from the field and more colorful accounts written after the events by non-Apaches in newspapers and books. Men such as Al Sieber and Tom Horn were sometimes the commanding officers of small groups of Apache Scouts. As was the custom in the United States military, scouts were generally enlisted with Anglo nicknames or single names. Many Apache Scouts received citations for bravery.
Jeff King was a US Army scout from 1891 to 1911, and went on to become a highly respected hataałii.
Quincy Tahoma (1921–1956) was a Navajo painter from Arizona and New Mexico.
Willard Varnell Oliver was an American veteran of the United States Marine Corps and a member of the Navajo Code Talkers during World War II. Oliver was part of a unit of Navajos who worked to confuse Japanese forces in the Pacific during World War II through the transmission of messages in the Navajo language. His younger brother, Lloyd Oliver, was also a member of the Navajo Code Talkers. Their parents were Howard and Olive (Lee) Oliver.
The Choctaw code talkers were a group of Choctaw Indians from Oklahoma who pioneered the use of Native American languages as military code during World War I.
Joe Morris Sr. was an American World War II United States Marine veteran and Navajo code talker.
The Machita incident refers to events in southern Arizona between October 1940 and May 1941 related to the resistance by traditional O'odham chief and medicine man Pia Machita to the United States draft of Native American men in the World War II era. Because the government feared his influence among Native American peoples, tribal and federal forces attempted to arrest Machita in October for this resistance.
The history of New Mexico during World War II is characterized by dramatic and lasting changes to its economy, society, and politics. The state played a central role in the American war effort, contributing a disproportionately high number of servicemen and natural resources; most famously, it hosted the sites where the world's first nuclear weapon was designed, developed, and tested.
Arthur J. Hubbard Sr. was an American state senator from Arizona, who served as a Navajo Code Talker instructor in World War II.
Chester Nez was an American veteran of World War II. He was the last surviving original Navajo code talker who served in the United States Marine Corps during the war.
Carl Nelson Gorman (1907–1998), also known as Kin-Ya-Onny-Beyeh, was a Navajo code talker, visual artist, painter, illustrator, and professor. He was on the faculty at the University of California, Davis, from 1950 until 1973. During World War II, Gorman served as a code talker with the United States Marine Corps in the Pacific.
Native Americans in the United States have been a part of major military engagements throughout the history of the United States. There were many wars and battles fought between tribes before the birth of the United States, and later between European colonizers and Native Americans. Native Americans participated in many of the wars of the United States such as the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Civil War, the Spanish–American War, the Philippine–American War, the Boxer Rebellion, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the War in Afghanistan, and the Iraq War.