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#5
Throughout this month of November, all of us at NARF will be
proudly observing
American Indian Heritage Month. As a steadfast supporter of our work, I hope
that you will join us by taking some time to reflect upon the many significant
contributions that America's First People made to the traditions and history of
the United States.
This month is also a time for honoring the men and women who have
served in
our Armed Forces. According to the Department of the Navy, there are nearly 190,000
Native American military veterans, and we pay tribute to their courage and
patriotism, and for giving part of their lives to fight for and protect
the values of a country that has not always given the same in return.
Approximately 12,000 Native Americans served in the U.S. military
during World War I. More than 44,000 (of a population of less than 350,000 Native Americans)
served in the European and Pacific wars between 1941 and 1945. Indians again joined to
fight Communist aggression during the Korean conflict. An immense coalition of about 42,000
American Indians, 90% of them volunteers, served in Vietnam.
Native Americans continued to enlist in our military in the
1980s and 1990s and were assigned in Grenada, Panama, Somalia, and the Persian Gulf.
Just this past March, the world learned about the heroism of PFC Lori Piestewa the first
Native American woman killed in combat when she was ambushed near Nasiriyah, Iraq.
Although they were not entitled to citizenship until 1924 by the
Snyder Act, their proud warrior tradition and loyalty to America has driven Native
Americans to serve their homeland time and time again. One out of every four Indian
males is a military veteran and 45 to 47 percent of tribal leaders today are military
veterans.
Yet while Native Americans are serving their duty for our country,
their people continue to be condemned to live on the margins of American society by our
country. Since the promises made to them have not been upheld, they have been forced to
fight for their military benefits, water and land rights, the return of ancestral remains,
preserving their sacred sites, religious freedom, prisoner's rights, participation in
voting and equitable education systems for their children.
If America is truly the "land of the free," then our government
needs to provide opportunities for sustainable life to Native Americans who treasure
our values of freedom, democracy and cultural diversity and want to live those values
as tribal nations with sovereign rights.
If America is truly the "home of the brave," then our
government needs to enforce and protect the Federal Treaty rights of Native
Americans who suffer bravely and repeatedly from the wounds of conquest and
poverty. Whether the invader was Columbus or Cortez, these wounds cannot be
completely healed because of unjust policies that create hopelessness, frustration
and hardship among Native Americans.
Indian lives are governed by hundreds of treaties, thousands
of federal statutes, and numerous regulations and administrative rulings, many which
contradict each other and confuse the people they were designed to govern.
When tribes cannot hear the financial burden of obtaining
justice to defend their rights, NARF needs to be there to untangle the maze of
laws impacting Indian people who have no chance of improving their daily existence
unless the legal barriers that deny them of their most basic and natural rights are
resolved.
NARF needs to be there to guarantee that national and state
governments live up to their legal obligations. NARF needs to invoke laws
enacted by these same government bodies to give strength and substance to
promises that have been empty for too many years.
Our staff uses their understanding of Native American legal
issues to assist tribes in restoring their rights guaranteed by existing laws and
treaties, negotiating with individuals, tribes, villages, companies, and
governmental agencies. Our attorneys specialists in Indian Law - draft and
promote new legislation, often setting precedents and establishing important
principles of Indian law that can benefit future generations.
Please share the information in this letter with your
friends and family members, and try to learn more about the compelling history
of Native Americans. Listen to the voices of our ancestors in the names of
America's to\towns, cities, rivers, lakes, forests, trails and mountains,
and help NARF preserve the heritage and culture of Indians for future generations.
To learn more about NARF and join our E-Action Network
please visit our website at
www.narf.org.
John E. Echohawk, Executive Director
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