In 1914, the nations of Europe began the conflict which would become known as the Great War and later as World War I. In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson called for the United States to enter what he called “the war to end all wars” and “to make the world safe for democracy.” The military estimated that a million men would be needed for the war and in the first six weeks following the declaration of war only 73,000 men volunteered. In response, Congress implemented a draft, and 2.8 million men were called to service. American Indians, however, were not citizens and could not be drafted, but the federal government still required Indian men to register for the draft.
Citizenship for Indians at this time was not determined by place of birth, but by whether or not they had taken an allotment and were considered “competent.” Only those Indian men who were citizens could actually be drafted for military duty. Registration for the draft included all Indian males, both those who were citizens and those who were not. The Indian Office (Bureau of Indian Affairs) was instructed to establish draft boards for each reservation. On some reservations, the Indian agents had difficulties in explaining to the men why they needed to register if they could not be drafted.
The debate over American Indian participation in the war divided the Society of American Indians, a pan-Indian organization formed in 1911 dedicated to educating the general public about American Indians. One of the founders, Arthur Parker (1881-1955), a Seneca archaeologist and museum director, supported Indian participation in the war. In his entry on Arthur Parker in The Encyclopedia of North American Indians, Jack Campisi reports:
“For his part, Parker saw American Indian participation in the war as a means of advancing the acceptance of the Indian into American society.”
On the other hand, Dr. Carlos Montezuma (1866-1923), a Yavapai physician, felt that because Indians were not citizens they should not participate in another nation’s war. Dr. Carlos Montezuma writes in an article reprinted in Talking Back to Civilization: Indian Voices from the Progressive Era:
“They are not citizens. They have fewer privileges than have foreigners. They are wards of the United States of America without their consent or the chance of protest on their part.”
Resisting the Draft
The idea of registering for the draft was opposed by many Indian leaders.
In Idaho, a thousand or more Shoshone gathered in council at the Fort Hall Reservation to discuss the requirement that Indian men register for the draft. Garfield Pocatello and others advised the young men not to enroll. About 50 men fled to the hills to avoid the draft. When it was explained to the chiefs that the draft was more like a census and that as noncitizens they could not be drafted, the chiefs agreed to cooperate. As a result, all but 14 eligible Shoshone men on the reservation were enrolled.
In Utah, the Shoshone living in Box Elder County refused to register for the draft. The local sheriff arrested the draft resisters and had them enrolled.
In Utah, a number of Gosiute men on the Deep Creek Reservation refused to register for conscription. The Indian agent explained that the conscription registration was merely a census and that it did not mean that they would actually be drafted as they were not citizens. Unsatisfied by this explanation, several men refused to register. The Special Agent for the Bureau of Indian Affairs reported that the Gosiutes were:
“…absolutely against their men going to war … and would rather die on the spot … than enlist or submit to the draft.”
When the Special Agent tried to shame them into registering by telling them that they were alone in their resistance to the draft, two tribal council members—Al Steel and John Syme—angrily walked out of the meeting.
The Indian agent ordered that several men be arrested for inciting draft resistance and held without bail. Several men were arrested, and tensions increase. In his chapter in A History of Utah’s American Indians, Dennis Defa reports:
“Rumors from both sides of the dispute added to the tension and distrust. The Goshutes armed themselves and reportedly bought thirty cases of ammunition from the local store.”
When federal officials tried to arrest the two men, the Gosiutes refused to surrender them. Army troops were then called in to arrest the supposed ringleaders. The troops moved in, detained about 100 men, and arrested six. The six men were taken to Salt Lake City but were freed after three weeks of confinement.
In Oklahoma, Ellen Perryman, an unmarried woman from a prominent Creek family, attempted to organize a Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) post to commemorate the deeds of the Loyal Creek during the Civil War. At a meeting at the Hickory Stomp Ground—the location of the Crazy Snake Rebellion—the meeting became an anti-government rally and a protest against the draft. Historian Thomas Britten, in an article in Chronicles of Oklahoma, reports:
“When a mob comprised of ‘patriotic’ citizens from Muskogee County broke up the meeting amidst sporadic gunfire and verbal threats later that evening, the Creek Draft Rebellion of 1918 ended—and began.”
Concerned that the publicity from the event would undermine the government’s claims for unanimous support for the War, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs ordered an immediate investigation. The subsequent reports claimed that Ellen Perryman was disloyal to the government, a possible violation of the Espionage and Sedition Acts. One investigator met with her and concluded that she was demented and recommended that the matter be dropped. The investigation, however, continued and law enforcement agents watched her every move.
A warrant was issued for the arrest of Ellen Perryman. Amidst rumors that the Indians were organizing an uprising, armed agents arrived at the Hickory Stomp Ground to arrest Perryman who was described as being about 40 years-old, heavily built, and about five feet three inches tall. The agents found no uprising, no armed Indians, no draft rebellion, and no Perryman.
As the hunt for Ellen Perryman intensified, there were reports that she was in Washington, D.C. with several older Snakes meeting with the German government. At this point the Secret Service and the Bureau of Investigation became involved. For two months Perryman eluded federal agents, but she was finally arrested in Oklahoma and charged with violating the Espionage Act.
At her hearing it was agreed to postpone the case indefinitely with the understanding that she would behave herself and keep quiet. Historian Thomas Britten reports:
“Thus ended the ‘Creek Draft Rebellion of 1918’ after six months of investigation that included a detachment of the Oklahoma National Guard, dozens of state and local law enforcement officials, the United States Department of Justice, the United States Post Office, the Secret Service, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.”
Supporting the war
While Indians were not liable to be drafted, they enlisted in large numbers. Many of the volunteers were eager to count coup, gain war honors, and to maintain the warrior traditions of their tribes.
In his entry on urban Indians in the Encyclopedia of North American Indians, C. Matthew Snipp reports:
“As the United Stated entered World War I, American Indians became involved with the war effort in many ways. Most significantly, approximately eight to ten thousand American Indians served directly in the armed forces.”
One of the problems facing the American forces was communication: since English was frequently spoken by the Germans they could understand radio transmissions as well as telephone conversations (lines were often tapped). American Indians provided an interesting solution. While speaking Indian languages was not encouraged in the United States—in fact it was often punished—many Indian soldiers were fluent in Native languages. One regiment used Choctaw officers to transmit messages in Choctaw regarding troop movements and other sensitive operations. In doing this, the Choctaw had to develop a special Choctaw vocabulary for military words such as machine gun and hand grenade.
The Onondaga Nation, a part of the Iroquois Confederacy, unilaterally declared war on Germany, citing ill-treatment of tribal members who were stranded in Berlin at the beginning of hostilities. The Oneida Nation, another member of the Iroquois Confederacy, also declared war on Germany.
By 1917, Jackson Barnett (Creek) was the richest Indian in the world. In 1912, the Department of the Interior had approved oil leases on Jackson Barnett’s 160-acre allotment. Six to eight wells were drilled and by 1913 his monthly royalty income was $14,000 to $15,000. As a ward of the government, this money was not paid to him but was collected on his behalf by the Department of the Interior and deposited into his Individual Indian Money (IIM) account with the Treasury Department. Barnett was only allowed a few hundred dollars a year: the rest was managed for him by the Department of the Interior. As his millions accumulated in the Treasury Department many people other than Jackson Barnett became interested in spending this money.
Members of Congress, the media (the New York Times), and others advocated investing $800,000 of Jackson Barnett’s (Creek) money in Liberty Loan Bonds to help the war effort. However, the Department of the Interior, acting as Barnett’s guardian, was hesitant as the request was not coming from Barnett himself.
In California, the Round Valley Indians wanted to show their support for the War through Red Cross work—making hospital garments, surgical dressings, and Christmas boxes. Their Indian agent, however, excluded them from these activities. Historian Jason Charles Newman, in an article in News from Native California, reports:
“Local whites apparently wanted neither to include the Indians in their organization nor to assist them in forming their own chapter.”
Indian feelings were further inflamed when non-Indians attempted to exclude them from a parade to celebrate the end of a Liberty Loan drive to raise funds for the war. The Indian superintendent ignored Indian requests for full participation in the parade and restricted them to a single float. In addition, the superintendent put the Indian service flag at the end of the parade.
The Indians called a general meeting of the community and demanded that the agent be present and explain his treatment of them. Approximately 25% of the Round Valley Indian Community attended the meeting, and while the agent drove by the meeting hall several times, he failed to attend. Realizing that no apology was forthcoming, the Indians organized themselves and petitioned Washington to investigate the matter. They also petitioned the Red Cross to grant them a charter as an independent Indian chapter, but the paperwork granting such a chapter was delayed until the end of the war.
Canada
World War I also impacted the Canadian First Nations. Canada, as a member of the British Commonwealth, entered the war in 1914. In Ontario, the Iroquois Six Nations took the position that it was a sovereign nation and that it would not participate in the war effort unless asked to do so by the King himself.
The women of the Six Nations organized the Women’s Patriotic League which provided soldiers with socks, cigarettes, and other small items.
Despite the official Iroquois council policy regarding the war, 292 men from the Six Nations Reserve enlisted and most were assigned to the 114th Battalion of the Haldimand Rifles. Of those who enlisted, 29 were killed in combat, 55 were wounded, and 1 was taken prisoner.
In Ontario, Mohawk political organizer Fred Loft (1861-1934) visited reserves throughout the province encouraging young Indian men to enlist and join the war effort. Loft himself enlisted, changing his age for 56 to 45 in order to qualify for overseas duty.
Impact on Reservations
World War I also impacted American Indian reservations. During this time the loss of Indian land increased. During the war—1917 to 1919—the federal government issued more fee patents—that is, moving land from tribal status to individual status—than it had in the previous ten years.
During the war, cattle and sugar beet companies convinced the federal government that they were contributing to the war effort. Thus, when they wanted more land, they were able to lease Indian land quickly, cheaply, and easily. In Montana, sugar companies leased 20,000 acres of Crow land without having to consult with tribal leaders and in South Dakota, non-Indian ranchers grazed their cattle on Sioux land without Sioux approval.
In the state of Washington, the army, encouraged by the non-Indians of Pierce County, created Camp Lewis named after Meriwether Lewis. Seeing an area that would be an ideal artillery range, the army simply took two-thirds of the Nisqually reservation, lands which were supposed to be sacrosanct according to the amended Medicine Creek Treaty. The Nisqually were not happy about this: they were being forced to give up two-thirds of a small reservation. Following the war, the tribe asked that their land be returned, but the War Department refused to consider this possibility.
Aftermath
With regard to the impact of Indian participation in the war, Nancy Lurie, in her chapter in the Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 4: History of Indian-White Relations, reports:
“Like the old Wild West show performers who traveled widely, they saw a larger world of adaptable socioeconomic models than the narrow alternatives thrust upon them by the government and missionaries. They began to rediscover the old idea of confederacy for united action that segregation on reservations had discouraged.”
In his chapter in American Indian Nations: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow, law professor Kevin Grover (Pawnee) reports:
“The performance of Indian soldiers in World War I was valiant and demonstrated a perfectly fine compatibility to deal intelligently with circumstances well beyond the Indians’, or anyone else’s, prior experience.”
Regarding the Indians who served in the armed forces, C. Matthew Snipp writes:
“Participation in the war gave these Indians exposure to mainstream urban America as well as the skills to cope with the cultural expectations of white society—important prerequisites for urban settlement.”
In 1919, Congress passed an act which provided citizenship for all Indians who served in the military or in naval establishments during World War I.
More American Indian histories
Indians 101: the 1923 Posey's War in Utah
Indians 101: The Last Great Indian Council (1909)
Indians 101: American Indians and the 1904 St. Louis Louisiana Purchase Exposition
Indians 201: Indian Nations and Oklahoma statehood
Indians 201: The Hoover Commission Report on American Indians
Indians 101: The Grand Coulee Dam and the Colville Indians
Indians 101: Hopi Indians as tourist attractions in the early 20th century
Indians 101: World War II Veterans Come Home
