American Indians in the Great War

Bibliographic Data

ID2740922
AuthorsRussel Lawrence Barsh (corresponding author)
Year1991
Volume38
Issue3
Pages276
Publication date1991-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueEthnohistory (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0014-1801 • E-ISSN: 1527-5477
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/482356
OpenAlexW2319544718
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited3

American Indians participated in the First World War to at least as great an extent as white Americans. Not only did this experience have a profound impact on Indians' sense of their place in the nation, it produced a flurry of journalistic speculations about the Indian character and, to a considerable degree, created one of the most important media symbols of the conflict. Possibly it may seem strange to see an Apache in a sailor's blue uniform, but it merely shows that he has become an American and has passed the tribal stage. -The Native American (Phoenix Indian School), September 19181 Scenes of desperate combat against Indians, immortalized by Frederic Remington's illustrations and later by Hollywood, remain among the most enduring images of American national mythology (Berkhofer 1988; Marsden and Nachbar I988; Yellow Robe I9I4). Yet American Indians and white also served side by side in every conflict since the founding of the republic. Indian companies fought in the Continental Army and figured prominently in the western campaigns of the Civil War (Abel 910o, 1919; Baird 1988; Barsh 1977; Nash I979).2 After Appomattox, the Army in the West relied on Indian scouts (Ball I965; Feaver 1975; Powell I95z; Tate 1974; Thrapp I964; Weist 1977). General Crook conceived of this as with fire and believed that the recruitment of young Indian men would also help to disrupt traditional tribal organizations (Fiske 1966; Ethnohistory 38:3 (Summer I991). Copyright ? by the American Society for Ethnohistory. ccc 0014-i8oi/9I/$ I.50. This content downloaded from 207.46.13.113 on Wed, 05 Oct 2016 04:27:09 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms American Indians in the Great War Utley I988). While it was argued that discharged soldiers would serve as models of virtue in their communities and as agents of positive change, according to some contemporary observers the actual effect was often the reverse (Powell I890; Feaver I975). In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Indian soldiering was still exceptional, restricted to a handful of tribes and a small proportion of the total Indian population. In 1918, however, as many as one-third of all adult Indian men nationwide were in uniform, and this phenomenon attracted considerable public attention. were fascinated with the image of real Americans fighting against tyranny in Europe, and the press responded with a barrage of romantic distortion. Colorful imagery of Indian war prowess was invoked to instill confidence in the superiority of Allied arms as well as the legitimacy of the Allied cause. None the less courageous for the absence of feathers and war paint (New York Evening World, i August 1918), are perfect specimens of manhood and if their fighting ability is on a par with that of their forefathers, it is to be regretted there are not thousands of them where there are hundreds (Baltimore Star, 4 March I918). President Wilson himself often repeated the story of an American Indian doughboy who complained to his officers at boot camp, Too much salute, not enough shoot (Philadelphia Public Ledger, 25 September I9I8).3 The stereotypes of Indians generated by the wartime press contrast strikingly with the already highly Americanized values and attitudes of Indian soldiers. The war nonetheless did add to the political integration of Indian communities into American life. National Indian organizations and progressive leaders multiplied in the wake of the war, together with demands for citizenship and for the settlement of claims. At the same time, Indian veterans' symbolic identification with the American flag, still a lasting feature of the intertribal powwow, defined the integrationist logic that continues to govern national Indian politics today.4 Indian Participation The War Department estimated that 17,313 Indians registered for the draft and 6,509, representing roughly 13 percent of all adult Indian men, were inducted.5 This did not include voluntary enlistments, however. Data collected by the Indian Office from individual Indian agencies indicated that at least half of all Indians who served were volunteers. Total Indian participation was therefore probably 20-30 percent of adult Indian men, which compares favorably with the 15 percent of all adult American men who 277 This content downloaded from 207.46.13.113 on Wed, 05 Oct 2016 04:27:09 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms Russel Lawrence Barsh served in the war (Literary Digest I919; Appleton I919; U.S. Congress 90zo: 2163). Participation rates differed greatly by tribe. Scarcely i percent of adult Navajo and Pueblo men served, compared with IO-I5 percent of South Dakota Sioux and 30-60 percent among the Oklahoma tribes such as the Osage (39 percent) and Quapaw (54 percent). Participation was lowest from the most remote areas.6 Our primitive Indians here, explained one Navajo field office, apparently have not yet reached the stage in education where they have arrived at an understanding of their country's need (Interior Department I9g8a). Nearly all the students at Indian schools served, and at least 90 percent of them were volunteers, compared to 20-40 percent of the servicemen from reservations. At least 5 percent of all Indian servicemen died in action, compared with i percent for the American Expeditionary Force as a whole. Casualty rates for some Oklahoma and South Dakota tribes were twice as great.7 There is evidence that a higher proportion of Indian servicemen were sent overseas, and that they were assigned to particularly hazardous duties (cf. Walker I989). Contemporary journalists believed that they were highly motivated soldiers who exposed themselves to greater risks. Indians also probably suffered disproportionately from the influenza epidemic that swept the battlefields and later the American countryside. Data on noncombat deaths are scanty, but as many Standing Rock, Sisseton, and Tulalip soldiers died of disease as were wounded or killed in the fighting. Not all Indian servicemen saw action overseas. Some units, like the I4zd Infantry, were sent in early and saw most of the last year of fighting, while others stayed in camp in the United States until the armistice.8 Indians in the navy were nearly all on transport and escort duty rather than aboard fighting ships, although Wesley Youngbird from Eastern Cherokee served on the battleship Wyoming (Interior Department i926a).9 Several Navajo, Hopi, and Pueblo volunteers were sent to Mexico with the cavalry to fight Pancho Villa (Interior Department I926c). Company F of the Arizona National Guard found itself battling striking American miners rather than the Huns. Two volunteers from West Coast reservations served in Siberia, and Philip Cata from San Juan Pueblo toured Central America with a military band (Interior Department i9z6b

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