Medicine Bags and Dog Tags

American Indian Veterans from Colonial Times to the Second Iraq War

Al Carroll

• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
• Year: 2008
• Print ISBN: 9780803210851
• eBook ISBN: 9780803216297
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

As far back as colonial times, Native individuals and communities have fought alongside European and American soldiers against common enemies. Medicine Bags and Dog Tags is the story of these Native men and women whose military service has defended ancient homelands, perpetuated longstanding warrior traditions, and promoted tribal survival and sovereignty. Drawing on a rich array of archival records and oral traditions, Al Carroll offers the most complete account of Native veterans to date and is the first to take an international approach, drawing comparisons with Native veteran traditions in Canada and Mexico. He debunks the "natural warrior" stereotype as well as the popular assumption that Natives join the military as a refuge against extreme poverty and as a form of assimilation. The reasons for enlistment, he argues, though varied and complex, are invariably connected to the relative strengths of tribal warrior traditions within communities. Carroll provides a fascinating look at how the culture and training of the American military influenced the makeup and tactics of the American Indian Movement in the 1960s and 1970s and how, in turn, Natives have influenced U.S. military tactics, symbolism, and basic training.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: Saint Francis the Soldier
• 1. “Let’s See Some of That Apache Know-How”: Depictions of Native Veterans in Fiction
• 2. “They Kill Indians Mostly, Don’t They?”: Rogers' Rangers and the Adoption of Indian Tactics
• 3. Before a Native Veteran Tradition Can Begin: The Case of Mexico
• 4. Thunderbird Warriors, Injuneers, and the USNS Red Cloud: Native and Pseudo-Indian Images and Names in the Military
• 5. The Super Scout Image: Using a Stereotype to Help Native Traditions Revive
• 6. “Savages Again”: World War II
• 7. The Half-Hidden Spirit Guide Totemic Mark: Korea
• 8. An American Ka in Indian Country: Vietnam
• 9. Bringing the War Home: The American Indian Movement, Wounded Knee II, Counterinsurgency, and a New Direction for Warrior Societies
• 10. “Fighting Terrorism since 1492”: The Gulf War, the War in Afghanistan, and the Second Iraq War
• 11. “A Woman Warrior, Just Like Lozen”: The Meaning of the Life of Lori Piestewa to Natives and Non-Natives
• Conclusion: Is It Time for Native Veteran Traditions to End?
• Appendix
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index