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by THOMAS A. BRITTEN, B.A., M.A. A DISSERTATION IN HISTORY Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Approved
May, 1994
Copyright 1994, Thomas A. Britten
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Native American contributions during World War I gave impetus to reform movements in the 1920s and 1930s and exerted a strong influence upon the way that Anglos perceived Native Americans and how Indians viewed themselves. The war-time experience also encouraged a resurgence in traditional Indian cultural practices and provided fertile ground for the emergence of Pan-Indian organizations in the post-war era. Native American alliances with non-Indian allies date back to the colonial era. During the 18th and 19th centuries, American Indians served as scouts, trackers, and advisors to army officials throughout the country. For a short period in the 1890s, the federal government estab- lished segregated units of Indian soldiers in the army, both to hasten assimilation and to utilize the Native Americans as scouts and trackers. During World War I, Dr. Joseph K. Dixon, the Secretary of the National American Indian Memorial Association, lobbied Congress to reestablish segregated Indian units. Contrary to earlier efforts, Dixon sought to preserve Indian cultures rather than hasten their demise. His efforts marked a growing struggle between advocates of assimilation and preservation that continued throughout the 1920s and 1930s. Viewed in this light, the debate over segregated Indian units during World War I iv
Many historians who write on twentieth century Native American topics have concentrated their studies on the long- term impact of the Dawes Act of 1887 and its revisions after 1900, the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, or the Indian reform movements of the 1960s and 1970s. Less well known are the activities of American Indians during the three decades after 1900, a period that Francis Paul Prucha notes, is "singularly devoid of serious historical studies."^ In particular, historians have neglected to examine and define the Native American role in World War I. Such a study, however, is essential in understanding the evolution of Indian policy in the early decades of the twentieth century. Although a few scholars have touched on Indian activities in the conflict, to date no book-length study on the subject exists. Even military studies of World War I neglect the contributions of American Indians. Conse- quently, there remains a need for a comprehensive
^Francis Paul Prucha, The Great Father; The United States GovernmentUniversity (^) ofand Nebraska the American Press, 1984),Indians 1248. vol. II, (Lincoln: (^4) Jennings C. Wise' The Red Man in the New World Drama. (1931) contains a chapter that discusses Native American participation in the war. Carolyn T. Foreman's Indians Abroad.1492-1938 (1943) devotes part of a chapter to Indians in combat.
investigation of Native Americans in the so-called "war to end all wars." A history of Native Americans in World War I can explore several issues: Indian military service, the struggle between assimilationists and preservationists, the war's impact on Indian cultures, the draft, and the treatment of minority groups in war time. Indian military service, of course, has a long history. Through the colonial era, white officials used Indians in a variety of military capacities. During the American Revolution and the War of 1812 American and British army officials utilized Indian scouts and auxiliaries. In the 1830s Native Americans aided the United States Army in its efforts to remove southern tribes to reservations west of the Mississippi River. American Indians fought for both the Union and the Confederacy during the Civil War and made such an impression on military officials that in 1866 the War Department authorized the employment of up to 1,000 Indian scouts. Following the Civil War, the scouts served in various theaters through the Wast, aided in the pacification of several tribes, and participated in the concentration of Indians on reservations. During World War I, the United States Army employed American Indians in a variety of combat and non-combat fields, although most served in infantry units. Some army officials, in response to popular staraotyi>es of the time.
and 1919 hit Indian families hard. An estimated nine percent of Indian people afflicted in the epidemic perished. Another issue that can be explored is the struggle between assimilationists and preservationists. Through the last quarter of the nineteenth century and during the first two decades of the twentieth century humanitarian reformers, religious groups, and other "friends of the Indians," plus officials in the Bureau of Indian Affairs, sought to assimilate Native Americans into Anglo-society. The passage of the Dawes Severalty Act in 1887, they hoped, would hasten the process and "individualize" American Indians by dividing up reservation lands into individual allotments. Moreover, reformers became convinced that military service might complement their efforts to assimilate Native Americans and hasten their adoption of "civilized" behavior. Consequently, in 1891 the army established segregated units of Indian soldiers in regiments west of the Missis- sippi River. Serving in both cavalry and infantry regiments, Indian soldiers performed a variety of duties but numerous problems undermined their success. Within a decade, therefore, the experiment failed and, by 1897, military officials had mustered out the remaining units of Indian soldiers. Nevertheless, in the years immediately preceding World War I, some Indian reform groups again sought segregated units. Now, however, reformers wanted to promote
the preservation rather than the assimilation of Indian traditions and cultures. The preservationists hoped that American Indians might enter the social mainstream with many aspects of their cultures intact. They believed that through the establishment of segregated units, the "old time Indian spirit" and cultures could be retained. At the same time War Department officials and the Bureau of Indian Affairs opposed efforts to establish segregated Indian regiments. Secretary of War Newton D. Baker opposed the idea because of the failed experiment of the 1890s; Commissioner of Indian Affairs Cato Sells opposed the idea because, he believed, it ran counter to the bureau's long standing policy of assimilation. Indeed, Sells hoped that the war experience would hasten the assimilation of Native Americans and provide a solution to the "Indian question" (as Indian problems were called in the 1867 Treaty of Medicine Lodge) that had plagued the Indian office for decades.^3 Ironically, the war gave many tribes the opportunity to resurrect such customs as giveaways, mourning rituals, and scalp dances. War service also allowed returning veterans to enter previously inaccessible "warrior societies" where, like their ancestors, Indian warriors recounted brave deeds in battle. By aiding in the
Some people referred to matters regarding Indian policy and reform as the "Indian problem." Sea, for example, p. 25.
handful of units from Oklahoma held overwhelming Indian majorities. In a final issue, the war provides a good opportunity to compare Native American participation with the participation of African American and Mexican American troops. While they remained adamant about integrating Native Americans into regular units, military officials endorsed the establishment of segregated black divisions as an "obvious necessity." Popular preconceptions of the period encouraged the portrayal of African American soldiers as intellectually inferior and black officers as unfit to exercise command. The media, meanwhile, portrayed Native Americans as courageous warriors with keen natural instincts for battle. White soldiers, while willing to serve beside Native Americans, expressed reluctance to fight with African Americans or take orders from black officers. After the war, critics denounced the performance of black troops, casting further doubt on their abilities as soldiers, while Native Americans received the appreciation of a thankful nation. Enduring stereotypes, no doubt, count much for such disparities. Military officials treated Mexican American and Native American soldiers in a similar fashion. Because a large number of Mexican nationals resided in the Southwest,
Arthur E. Barbeau and Florette Henri, The Unknown Soldiers: Black American Troops in World War I (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1974).
draft officials had to determine the citizenship status of Hispanic registrants. Significant numbers of Mexican Americans could not speak English, which confounded the difficulties facing local draft boards and military officials. Although the national media did not portray Hispanic soldiers as "instinctive" warriors possessing "natural" martial qualities, Mexican Americans and Mexican nationals fighting in the United States Army accrued an impressive war record. Similar comparisons can be drawn between the federal government's treatment of Native American soldiers and Great Britain's and France's utilization of colonial troops. As with American stereotypes about the heroic fighting abilities of Native Americans, the British and French depicted their colonial troops as possessing instinctive martial qualities. Similar to Commissioner Sells' aspirations for American Indians, some European policy- makers believed that experience in the war would hasten their colonists' adoption of "civilized" behavior. Unlike their American allies, however, the British and French expressed little interest in assimilating their Indian and African colonists. To Europeans, the fear of miscegenation and the impact that deploying colonial troops might have on the stability of their empires was a greater concern.
Group (RG) 120. Eddy's questionnaires also give details of individual acts of heroism in combat and demonstrate the popular stereotypes prevalent at the time. Other archival sources relevant to Native American service in World War I include the records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (RG 75). They provide information on the activities of Native Americans on the homefront. The records chronicle the Bureau's efforts to register Native Americans for the draft and determine Indian citizenship status. Record Group 75 also contains a number of letters from Native American parents and wives requesting that a loved one be released from military duty. The records of the Provost Marshal General's Office (RG 163) which are housed in the Federal Repository in Suitland, Maryland, contain important information regarding the drafting of Indian soldiers as well as the relatively few cases of draft resistance. The records of the National Security Agency (RG Indian s o l d i ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ O
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\nclude data relative to the use of le operators during the war. f the Commissioner of Indian 5hal General are essential to conditions on the homefront. ,ecords of the Selective Service
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The Doris Duke Indian Oral history collection at the University of Oklahoma contains many useful interviews with veterans and their families. Topics discussed range from peyote use among Indian soldiers to scalp dances after the war. The Duke collection also provides useful information regarding the "Indian Homefront." Other essential sources include Indian journals and newspapers. Periodicals such as The American Indian Magazine. The Indian School Journal. The Native American« The Southern Workman, and The Indian's Friend give an excellent month-by-month update of Native American soldiers as well as the activities of Indian students and women on the homefront. Government-administered Indian boarding schools, such as the Phoenix Indian School in Arizona, the Chilocco Indian School in Oklahoma, and the Hampton Institute in Virginia, published many of the journals. Other important sources include Jennings C. Wise's The Red Man in the New World Drama.g As a member of the Legislative Committee of the American Historical Society in 1921, Wise delivered an address on Indians in World War I before the Carnegie Institute. He later incorporated the speech into a monograph that he presented to the General Staff of the Army. Ten years later. Wise completed The Red Man and included a chapter on Native Americans in the war.
^Jennings C. Wise, The Red Man in the New World Drama (Washington, D. C : W. F. Roberts Co., 1931). 11
activities of Indian soldiers in Europe and gives some attention to the reservation homefront. In addition, he 0 relates cases of Indian resistance to the draft. Barsh focuses particular attention on the media's perception of American Indian soldiers and utilizes several national newspapers of the era. He also examines the motivations for Indian service and the war's impact on Native American leadership and culture. Barsh concludes that "the twentieth-century Indian social history should be reexamined in the context of attitudes and leadership born on First World War battlefields."^ More specialized treatments of Native Americans in World War I include David L. Wood's "American Indian Farmland and the Great War." It examines Commissioner Cato Sells* policy of encouraging Native Americans to boost their agricultural production and Sell's controversial plan to lease Indian lands to white farmers. Lonnie White's "Indian Soldiers of the 36th Division" provides a useful discussion of Native American soldiers from Oklahoma who comprised a significant percentage of the 142nd Infantry
^Michael L. Tate, "From Scout to Doughboy: The National Debate over Integrating American Indians into the Military, 1891-1918," Western Historical Quarterly 17 (October 1986): 417-437. ^Russel L. Barsh, "American Indians in the Great War," Ethnohistory 38 (Summer 1991): 276-303. ^^David L. Wood, "American Indian Farmland and the Great War," Agricultural History 55 (July 1981): 249-265. 13
Regiment.^^ Richard N. Ellis' "Indians at Ibapah in Revolt" and David L. Wood's "Gosiute-Shoshone Draft Resistance, 1917-1918" discuss problems of registering Indians in 1918 at the Goshute (Gosiute) reservation on the Nevada-Utah border. 12 John R. Finger provides an additional examination of draft resistance in his study of the Eastern Cherokee on the Qualla Boundary reservation in North Carolina. ^^ Hundreds of Native Americans served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during World War I. Prior to the United States* declaration of war in April 1917, American Indians residing on reservations on the northern plains and along the northeastern Canadian border crossed into Canada and volunteered for military duty. James Dempsey's "The Indians and World War One" gives a good overview of Native American service in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, and James W. Walker examines Canadian draft procedures and Indian
^^Lonnie White, "Indian Soldiers of the 36th Division," Military History of Texas and the Southwest 15 (1979): 8-20. ^^Richard N. Ellis, "Indians at Ibapah in Revolt: The Goshutes, the Draft and the Indian Bureau, 1917-1919," Nevada Historical Society Quarterly 19 (Fall 1976): 163-169; David L. Wood, "Gosiute-Shoshone Draft Resistance, 1917-1918," Utah Historical Quarterly 49 (Spring 1981): 173-188. ^^John R. Finger, "Conscription, Citizenship, and Civilization: World War I and the Eastern Band of Cherokee," North Carolina Historical Review 63 (July 1986): 283-308. ^^James Dempsey, "The Indians and World War One," Alberta History 31 (Summer 1983): 1-18. 14
