Finally after many years, Native American veterans may have a memorial in the National Mall. It will be situated on the grounds of the National Museum of the American Indians. The memorial will recognize the military sacrifice of native Americans who served in U.S. Military at a higher per capita rate than every other ethnic group in the twentieth century. This fact is not often reported and indeed we are grateful to the Washington Post for reporting this and bringing it to the nations attention. Not only this but Native Americans have served as the Revolutionary War and currently, in accordance with The Post’s report there are now over 31, 000 are on active duty. This figure should also include the 140,000 veterans who identify themselves as Native Americans or Alaska Natives. No final decision has yet been made on the form and structure of this memorial but all relevant parties have been consulted.

There are many ideas, which can be used as inspiration including existing memorials to other veterans. It is hoped however that the Native American memorial would be in keeping with Native American traditions and customs. The design of the statue aims to include the 567 federally recognized tribes and their spirituality while maintaining a link to the military significance of the demographic. Whether this will indeed be possible is not yet certain but hopefully it will.

Museum staff and members of an advisory committee met with tribal leaders and veterans around the nation in search of directives for the monument, in accordance with the article from the Washington Post. What an intriguing memorial this ultimately will be if it’s able to encircle for the casual observer and for Native Americans the quirks of where we are today as Americans in the twenty-first Kevin Brown, president of the Mohegan tribe and member of the Advisory Committee, told The Post.

Some have suggested that a more modern tribute may be in order encompassing traditional values and perhaps integrating some multimedia content. There is lots of footage and documentaries about the Native American roles in the World war and subsequent conflicts. Indeed on both US and even UK TV abroad – try this link, there are some wonderful documentaries which could be incorporated into the memorial if this route was chosen.

The group of experts will select design for the memorial and announce the finalists later in January. While Congress signed off on the memorial in 1994, fundraising for the project wasn’t Authorized until 2013 and the memorial is presently scheduled to be unveiled on Veterans Day 2020. Our forefathers are the very foundation of the US because we died here first, Debra Kay Mooney, a veteran of the Choctaw war in Iraq told the Post. It is our ancestors bone and marrow which has degraded in the ground that’s in fact in the roots and the tops of the tallest trees. We needed to defend our ancestors bones.

James Hetherings
Entertainment and VPN Technology Blogger