Why Native Americans fight and die for same US army that slew their ancestors

[G_j]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/06/native-americans-fighting-us-military

Why Native Americans fight and die for same US army that slew their ancestors

America's Native Americans are over-represented in military and post-9/11 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have hit the Navajo hard

Ed Pilkington in New York guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 6 September 2011 15.51 BST

<snip>

Between them the two wars have claimed the lives of 6,026 US service members. Many of the bereaved relatives, like Jim, come from small towns across the American heartlands where the burden of war falls disproportionately

<snip>

Three soldiers from Shiprock have died in the wars. If you add in casualties from the nearby village of Fruitland (200 residents) and the town of Farmington (45,000), the number of dead rises to seven, six of whom were Navajo.

Jim has watched the rising death toll with horror. "I don't know how to explain this," Jim says. "One after the other. You feel their pain, you know how they feel when they lose their child." At times, Jim says, she has been furious with the US military and its leaders for taking her son's life. But she quickly reminds herself of what her son always used to tell her. "They are the ones who sign my cheque Mom, they are the ones who help me support my family."

That view of the military is prevalent on the reservation, where alternative work is in short supply.

<snip>

Sergeant Brandon Bowden, the recruiting officer in Farmington, has no illusions about why Native Americans are keen to join. "Many want the college benefits, others are out for some skill set they could use, as the economy is very bad in this small area. Quite a few are looking for jobs, with the unemployment rate so high."

..more..

[Romulox]

1. Poverty. nt

[JoeyT]

4. +1 n/t

[Uncle Joe]

2. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, G_J.

[applegrove]

3. There is a tradition of Canadian people from the Iroquois nation joining

the US military too. It has something to do with bravery and such.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. Apparently in some tribes, a boy can't become a man until he has proven himself as a warrior

The modern way to do that is to join the military. Combined with the "poverty draft," it's a powerful incentive.

[xchrom]

6. There was a military tradition before columbus.

Our appearance didn't change that.

[ontime1969]

7. simple math people, that was over a hundred years ago

and the educated ones have gotten over it. Believe it or not many of Native Americans are proud to be Americans, and they know that the military can give them opportunities that cannot be gained otherwise. There is not a living person can be held accountable for these old atrocities, really this is many generations past.

Unfortunately the population numbers of the native Americans are so small that the overall percentage of Native Americans killed to whites killed is certainly going to be higher.

[G_j]

9. well, it seems to me that Bush was exercising a version of "Manifest Destiny"

with his wars, Vietnam wasn't much different. It's just someone else's country this time.

[icymist]

8. Somehow people have forgotten the difference between poverty and bravery.

It's sad to point this out here. Poverty is where there is no hope and nowhere else to turn. Bravery is where one is fighting for a cause that one believes in. Please see the difference.