Les Indiens d'Amérique

Un veteran, un ancient combattant de l'armée des Etats Unis, d'origine indienne. Les Indiens d'Amérique pour qui la guerre était une occupation traditionnelleement valorisée s'engagèrent comme volontaires très tôt dans l'armée. Ils participèrent à toutes les guerres en Amérique et sur les fronts extérieurs, en Europe et en Asie. Leur valeur militaire et leur patriotisme sont reconnus et honorés dans la société américaine. Mais ils ne perdent pas de vue leur identité tribale et portent avec fierté les symboles de leur indianité à côté de leur fidélité indiscutable au drapeau des Etats Unis.

From the discovery of America by Europeans onwards, the aboriginal Americans were considered and treated by the white immigrant society as foreign nations on American soil, they were either worthy allies or hated enemies. "The only good Indian is a dead Indian" was a common phrase. As their military power and the danger they represented waned, their kings became sachems or simple local chieftains, former kingdoms turned to impoverished tribes and nomadic bands. The vanquished remains were concentrated forcibly in faraway desert reservations under the tutelage of the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs BIA. At this time they were not allowed to travel out of the territory of the reservation. They often lived as non citizens in dire poverty.

A reform in 1887 gave those who accepted to leave the reservations the opportunity to integrate in mainstream USA and become full citizens. The tribal solidarity of Indian society based on matrilineal clans suffered from this. Military service in wartime was part of the deal. Indian G.I.s proved their loyalty to the USA by serving with bravery in front of the enemy. Those who survived the battlegrounds of the 20th century have come back as respected veterans, proud of their patriotic prowess and feeling secure now in the affirmation of their tribal identity.