WASHINGTON — Native Americans have served in or supported the Army since Colonial times, and Maj. Gen. Douglas S. Lowrey says he and the other Native Americans bring the same heightened loyalty, duty and honor to their work as did their ancestors.
“It's the same values we've had as a nation ever since 1776,” said Lowrey, the commanding general of Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. “I think the values are generational transcending. They're cross-generational,” he said.
As a Cherokee from Oklahoma, Lowrey comes from a line of veterans. His father earned two Purple Hearts during the Vietnam War. Both of his grandfathers served during World War II. Lowrey said his family raised him with grounded moral values that reflect the core beliefs of the Cherokees and the Army.
Today, more than 8,000 Native Americans serve in the total Army, and there are more than 150,000 Army veterans of Native American and Alaska Native descent.
According to an article published by the National Museum of the United States Army, during the American Revolution, some tribes, like the Oneida and the Tuscarora in New York, sided with the colonists because colonial towns were located near the tribes. The goal was to protect their tribal lands.
The Oneida supplied food to starving American soldiers at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, during the winter of 1777–1778.
Serving in the Army today and maintaining strong tribal ties go hand in hand, Lowrey said, and the Army is a perfect place for any young adult who has or wants to gain those values.
Visibility, Leadership and Service
November is National Native American Heritage Month, and the Army honors Soldiers from Native American and Alaska Native communities, and expresses appreciation for their contributions, as well as those of veterans, civilians and Family members.
The theme of the recognition this year is “Affirming Native Voices: Visibility – Leadership – Service,” which reflects on the commitment of Native Americans and Alaska Natives.
When Lowrey interacts with younger Native American Soldiers, they're proud to be a part of something bigger than themselves, which he said is a cornerstone of Cherokee lessons.
One Soldier whose visibility, leadership and service Lowrey appreciates is Sgt. 1st Class Lynette Eriacho, a wheeled mechanic supervisor who has returned to Fort Liberty after completing a tour in Kuwait.
To Eriacho, who wears the parachutist badge and the drill sergeant identification badge, being in the Army can often mirror what being part of a tribe means.
She said what is appealing is the people, community and the sense of inclusiveness where everyone has a part.
Eriacho is of the Navajo Nation Tribe and, through her father, the Mescalero Apache Tribe. She and her ancestors come from Arizona and New Mexico.
Her upbringing taught her that everything is about family and being part of a group.
“You're never just one person,” she said. “There's always going to be teamwork.”
She enlisted in the Army in January 2013 because she wanted to be a part of something that also involved fostering teamwork and support from and for others, she said.
A Long History of Service
Native Americans served in the Civil War and proved critical to Army unit success in World War I and World War II.
During World War I, the 30th Infantry Division stymied German commanders by using Eastern Band Cherokee Soldiers to communicate by radio in their native tongue for the 105th Field Artillery Battalion. Their work during the Second Battle of the Somme is the earliest documented use of Native Code Talkers by the Army, thought there is anecdotal evidence others used code somewhat earlier.
Overall, according to the Army Museum website, Native Americans used nine tribal languages to secure Army communications during World War I, including the Cheyenne, Cherokee, Choctaw, Comanche, Ho-Chunk, Osage and Yankton Sioux.
The use of Native American speakers by the U.S. Army to secure combat communications was so disruptive to the German high command in World War I that after the war it dispatched spies and agitators to the United States in an attempt to sabotage future Code Talkers and limit enlistments of Native Americans if and when another European war erupted.
Instead, Native Americans joined in droves to fight in World War II, the Museum history notes, and all the services relied on Native Code Talkers for secure communications during the war.
Countering the Stereotypes
Eriacho said Native Americans still face stereotypes.
“As I got older, I was able to learn how to brush it off a little bit more,” she said.
She’s been asked whether Native Americans are all alcoholics, or if they still live in teepees. She listens then she tries to educate.
“I ask what made them think like that; did they learn it in school?”
The usual response is, no, it’s just something they saw on television or on cartoons.
She says she tells people that what they see in those situations is likely not true, and to consider her life and her story if they want to see the truth about Native Americans.
“I'm just more of an open book, and when the time permits, I'll tell them, ‘Ask me anything you want, and I'll go ahead and answer to the best of my ability.’”
Lowrey said service in the Army is very attractive to Native Americans.
“The marketing — of being something bigger than yourself — I think that really resonates with the Native American culture,” he said.
“I think a Soldier serving right now gains so much at any rank; what they learn about themselves, what they learn about teamwork, what they learn about being a part of something bigger than themselves,” he said.
“They're able to go back into their community after they serve and take some of those values, mission-driven success, if you will, back into their communities, to make their communities even better,” he said.
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