treaties, tribal records, and the ongoing contributions of Indigenous peoples to U.S. history.
They are an integral part of our nation’s history. And yet, American Indians have often served a government which did not always keep its word to their ancestors. They endured profound historical trauma. A violent colonial era. Conquest of the West by the white man. Ecological encroachment, forced displacement and severe population decline. Despite all of this, over the past decades, American Indians volunteered to serve in conflicts from World War II to Iraq. For these heroes, the honor of defending their country overrode all other considerations.
Institutions like the Library of Congress, the National Archives, the Smithsonian, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs all join in paying tribute. Federal agencies provide educational programs for their employees regarding Native American history, rights, and contemporary issues. Why? To ensure that the legacy of indigenous people continues to thrive with each passing generation.
The numbers tell a story of remarkable resilience.
Consider the Navajo Code Talkers.
Nowadays, the Native American and Alaska Native population in the United States is approximately 7.7 million people, including those who identify as multi- racial. That is about 2.3% of the total U.S. population. Those identifying as single-race Native American alone number around 3.7 million. There are 574 recognized tribal entities in the United States. California and Oklahoma are home to some of the largest populations, yet about 80% of Native Americans live off-reservations in urban or rural communities, rather than on designated tribal lands. The largest tribes by numbers are the Cherokee, Navajo, Choctaw, Chippewa/Ojibwe, Sioux, Blackfeet, and Apache.
These dedicated U.S. Marine Corps servicemembers during World War II used their complex, unwritten native language to create an unbreakable military code It was a secret communication system vital to Allied victories in the Pacific, simply because enemy Japanese forces were never able to decode it. This highly specialized task force began in 1942 with an initial group of 29 recruits, eventually growing to about 400 Navajo code talkers by the end of the war. They participated in every major Marine assault in the Pacific, including Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Peleliu, and Iwo Jima.
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