Native Americans in the U.S. Military, Part I Quiz

Answer: Han Yerry

On August 6, 1777, the "Pennsylvania Journal" wrote of Yerry as follows: "... a friendly Indian, with his wife and son, who distinguished themselves remarkably on that occasion. The Indian killed nine of the enemy, when, having received a ball through his wrist that disabled him from using his gun, fought with his tomahawk.

His son killed two and his wife, on horseback, fought by his side with pistols during the whole action." The battle lasted six hours. Yerry was of mixed blood -- born to a German father.

Initially known at Han Ury, his native name was Tewahowagarahe (He who takes up the Snow Shoe). He and his wife, Tyonajanegen (Two Kettles Together), reportedly became among the wealthiest of Oneida. His death was the result of an Indian attack on a scouting party he was guiding.

The entire party was wiped out and buried in a mass grave in Rochester, NY. Joseph Brant, Blackfish and Cheeseekau were British allies who believed the British would restrict the colonist's seizure of Native American lands.

Answer: Ely S. Parker

Parker became a historical figure due, primarily, to his contribution in drafting the terms of surrender at Appomattox that ended the Civil War. The terms were written in his hand. He was born Hasanoanda (The Reader) in 1828 and was also known as Donehogawa (He Holds the Door Open). Parker's formal education started at a Baptist missionary school where he received his Christian name.

He went on to study law, but New York State would not allow him to practice due to his race. Fully bilingual, it is said he then studied at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to become an engineer.

However, the institute has no record of his attendance. Parker struck up a friendship with Ulysses S. Grant while working on a construction project in Galena, Illinois.

This life-long friendship led Grant to secure Parker a commission in the Union Army and a position on Grant's staff. Parker became known as "Grant's Indian" and spent most of his life trying to bridge his native heritage with the white man's world. Stand Watie was a Cherokee and brigadier-general in the Confederate Army.

Henry Berry Lowrie was with the Lumbee tribe. Lowrie led a band of resistance fighters against the Confederacy in North Carolina. Jackson McCurtain, a Choctaw, was a Confederate lieutenant colonel of the First Choctaw Battalion.

Answer: Plenty Coups

Plenty Coups (1848-1932) and more than 100 Crow warriors volunteered to serve as scouts for General George Crook during the 1876 offensive against the Cheyenne and the Sioux. Crow warriors also acted as scouts for General Custer at The Battle of Little Big Horn. Plenty Coups was born Aleek-chea-ahoosh -- meaning Many Achievements, in a place he called "The-cliff-that-has-no-pass" near the present day site of Billings, Montana.

At the age of nine he had a vision where all the plains buffalo disappeared and cattle appeared in their place. According to Plenty Coups, his dream was interpreted by Yellow Bear, a wise man of his village as: "He has been told that in his lifetime the buffalo will go away forever," said Yellow Bear, "and that in their place on the plains will come the bulls and the cows and the calves of the white men." Plenty Coups devoted his life to interfacing with the white man in an effort to preserve and safeguard the Crow Nation. Spotted Elk, Rain-in-the-Face and Black Elk were Lakota Sioux.

Answer: They weren't U.S. citizens

While the Dawes Act of 1887 granted citizenship to any Native American who accepted an "individual" land grant, those who lived on reservations did not meet this requirement. Native Americans living on reservations were required to register for the WWI draft but could not be drafted.

Indian Affairs Officers tried to explain to disbelievers that it was a matter of "census". Despite not being citizens, Native Americans volunteered to serve in large numbers. Michael Tate, a professor of history at the University of Nebraska, said in an article, "more than ten thousand Indian men served in the United States and Canadian armies during the war." The Bureau of Indian Affairs lists the numbers as 10,000 in the U.S. Army and 2,000 in the U.S. Navy.

In 1919, Native Americans who served in The Great War were offered citizenship. All Native Americans were finally granted citizenship when Congress passed The Indian Citizen Act in 1924.

Answer: Onondoga and Oneida

Some tribes resisted the draft -- not knowing how they could serve the U.S. Army without having citizen status. The Onondoga and Oneida remedied this issue by declaring war on Germany as independent sovereign nations. The Onondoga initially made the declaration of war due to the ill treatment of tribal members who were stranded in Berlin at the start of the war.

The Oneidas' declaration came after several tribal members were drafted despite insisting they belonged to a nation other than the United States.

Other Oneidas refused to register for the draft until their nation declared war. The Iroquois, the nation of both tribes, decided they did not want to be American doughboys but rather Iroquois warriors fighting for the American Army. In WWII, the entire Iroquois Nation declared war on the Axis Powers.

Answer: Choctaw

Nineteen men from the Choctaw Nation, fighting in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, were the first code talkers in the U.S. Military. Their language was considered obsolete and therefore the perfect solution to foil the Germans -- who consistently breached U.S. communications, broke codes and either killed or captured one of every four foot runners and messengers.

The first Choctaw code message was sent by PFC Mitchell Bobb. Code talker Ben Carterby was on the receiving end. During their lifetimes, these men never received public recognition for their war efforts.

In 2008, President George W. Bush authorized Congressional Gold Medals to be awarded to the tribes of all code talkers who had not been previously honored. These medals are held at the Smithsonian Institution. Family members received a silver medal duplicate. All nineteen men were born on the Choctaw Nation in southeastern Oklahoma.

A complete list of the Choctaw Code Talkers is available at www.choctawnation.com .

Answer: Joseph Oklahombi

Oklahombi, whose name translates to Mankiller, and 23 men from his unit were cut off from their company when they came upon a German machine gun emplacement with trench mortars. The unit captured a machine gun and turned the fire back on the Germans.

The Croix de Guerre citation reads: "Under a violent barrage, [Pvt. Oklahombi] dashed to the attack of an enemy position, covering about 210 yards through barbed-wire entanglements. He rushed on machine-gun nests, capturing 171 prisoners. He stormed a strongly held position containing more than 50 machine guns, and a number of trench mortars. Turned the captured guns on the enemy, and held the position for four days, in spite of a constant barrage of large projectiles and of gas shells. Crossed no man's land many times to get information concerning the enemy, and to assist his wounded comrades." Oklahombi died in 1960 when he was hit by a truck while walking on the side of a road.

He and his unit were never awarded the Medal of Honor. The other choices were Native American WWII Medal of Honor recipients.

Answer: Charlotte Edith (Anderson) Monture

Monture was a Canadian Iroquois who received her nursing credentials in the U.S. because she could not secure a training position with a Canadian hospital due to her race. She applied to and was accepted by the New Rochelle Hospital, in New York. She worked as a school nurse until 1917 when she joined the U.S. Army Nurse Corps. Known as "Andy", she was stationed at Buffalo Base Hospital 23, in Vittelles, France. Monture was born on the Six Nations Reserve in Southern Ontario in 1890.

She died in 1996 at the age of 105. Cora E. Sinnard was a graduate of the Episcopalian School of Nursing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

She served 18 months in France. Sinnard was born in 1891 and died after a lingering illness at the age of 58. The other choices were Native American women serving in WWII.

Answer: Matthew B. Juan

After surviving the sinking of the troop transport ship SS Tuscania, Pvt. Mathew Rivers/Juan was brought down by machine gun fire at the battle of Cantigny, France. This battle was a victory for the U.S. Army and was part of its first major offensive in May, 1918. Juan enlisted, according to his Draft Registration Card, as Matthew B. Rivers in a successful attempt to hide his true age.

He was born somewhere between 1895 and 1896 on the Gila River Indian Community reservation. No birth records for him exist. Juan was initially buried in France but his body was exhumed and returned home.

He was re-interred in a small cemetery adjoining the Cook Memorial Presbyterian Church in Sacaton, Arizona. A stone memorial and small plaque honor Juan at Sacaton's Matthew B. Juan - Ira H. Hayes Veterans' Memorial Park.

Answer: Both

Poverty prevailed on Native American reservations during WWI. Serving in the military not only offered financial stability but the opportunity to flee the tedium of restricted reservation life. In 1916, the average income for a Native American was approximately $92 per year while a Private First Class in the U.S. Army earned $36 per month. An exodus en masse from boarding schools, such as the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, occurred when young Native Americans realized enlistment was the avenue to emancipation.

These schools forced children from their families at a young age and stripped them of their cultural identity and religion. Corporal punishment was often used as the means to instill "anglo" ways. An estimated 90% of male boarding school students volunteered for military service.

This high turnover caused many such schools to close. Patriotism and culture also played a key role. Native Americans felt it was their obligation to fight for and protect their homeland and the ideals of freedom and democracy. Native American veterans are revered as warriors returning from battle and are highly honored by their tribes.

This is inherent in Native American culture.