By Dr. Zachary C. Isenhower, Louisiana State University
Wednesday, November 3, 2021 | 11:00 a.m. (CT)
This lecture will explore how the history of Native military service illustrates Native struggles for equality, as well as the contradictions and ironies of how white Americans viewed Native military service and citizenship.
Metacom, Pontiac, Tecumseh, Little Turtle, Crazy Horse, and Geronimo. For most of US history, Native leaders such as these were household names, but few white Americans regarded Native people as citizens deserving of equal rights and protections. Native people endured without widely recognized Constitutional rights—despite the tightening state and the federal control over their communities.
Native military figures earned American admiration traditionally only as foils for US expansion and conquest. During and after World War II, however, Native people were able to seize upon public understanding of that conflict to claim greater equality while preserving their Native identity.
This Lunchbox Lecture is free and open to the public to attend in The National WWII Museum’s Hall of Democracy Auditorium. For those unable to make it to the Museum’s campus, the lecture will also be livestreamed on Facebook and Vimeo, and available as a recording after the fact on both platforms.
For more information, contact Maggie Hartley, Assistant Director of Public Engagement, at maggie.hartley@nationalww2museum.org.
