#37: Whose Honor Guard? Native Opposition to the War on Terror

NOTE: Over the next several weeks, I will publish 3 – 4 posts on a difficult topic in Indian Country: the relationships between U.S. militarization and our Tribal Nations and warriors societies.

Nearly 25% of Native Peoples have served in the U.S. military. Whose Honor Guard? is an exploration of what lies behind this statistic. These posts are neither critical of the individuals who have served in the U.S. military nor are they meant to serve as cheerleaders for the usual justifications given for such a high rate of Native participation in the military.

Instead, these posts attempt to provide a series of broad sketches that illustrate the  larger picture of military involvement and to ask ourselves what does it mean for our communities to encourage our young men (and now women) to participate in the U.S. military? These posts also serve to dismantle the hegemonic myth that all Indigenous Peoples uncritically support U.S. militarization.

This first post was written by Michael Yellow Bird who gave me permission to publish this on my website. The original, complete with 50 signatures, appeared in Indian Country Today in 2003:

We Oppose the Continuing U.S.-­Led War Against Iraq: A Statement from Native University and Tribal College Professors

We the undersigned Native professors, from many different tribal nations, educational institutions, and academic disciplines, unequivocally oppose the continuing U.S.­-led invasion and occupation of Iraq. As Indigenous academics, we believe that one of our major responsibilities is to contribute to  the intellectual conscience of our tribal nations, and the world community, by providing honest and intelligent assessments of what is truthful and just, and what is not. 

We find no plausible moral or political justifications for this U.S.­led war and join millions of people of conscience worldwide who stand with courage in opposition to this illegal, unprovoked, and inhumane attack upon a sovereign nation.  There are many reasons for our position: