1917: American Indians volunteer for WWI
Though not yet U.S. citizens, more than 10,000 American Indians serve in the U.S. Army and more than 2,000 in the U.S. Navy, according to Bureau of Indian Affairs records. American Indians enlist at high rates; fewer than one-quarter of Indians serving in the military are drafted. The rate of death and injury among American Indian soldiers is extremely high because they are often assigned dangerous scouting assignments—missions that many of them view as opportunities to demonstrate their strength as warriors.
Warrior traditions in American Indian cultures are part of the education even of young recruits born after the last Indian Wars. Stories of the strength and discipline of warriors are part of the oral tradition that parents and grandparents share with them.
- Federal-Tribal Relations
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