Mar 30

Mar 30 Why We Serve: Native Americans in the United States Armed Forces

Exhibit Examines The History of Native Americans in the U.S. Military

Since the days before the 13 colonies were organized, Native American peoples were not monolithic in their response to newcomers to what came to be known as the New World. Long before George Washington led the fight in the American Revolution, he learned hard military lessons fighting alongside and against Native American fighters.

This poignant exhibition tells personal stories of Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Alaska Native veterans who have served in the armed forces of the United States—often in extraordinary numbers—since the American Revolution. For some, the Indigenous commitment to the U.S. military doesn’t make sense. Why would Native people serve a country that overran their homelands, suppressed their cultures, and confined them to reservations? Why We Serve brings long overdue recognition to the Native veterans who have served their country selflessly and with honor for more than 250 years.