Napesni Motion Pictures

Kiowa Nation USAAF B-17 Crew. B-17 Flying Fortress crew members Gus Palmer (left), a citizen of the Kiowa nation and a side gunner, and Horace Poolaw (right), a...lso a Kiowa and an aerial photographer, stand near their aircraft at MacDill Field, Florida., in about 1944. This photo was in the exhibition For a Love of His People: The Photography of Horace Poolaw, on the third floor of the National Museum of the American Indian. As many as 25,000 Native Americans in World War II fought actively. Against a background of the popular Hollywood image of the Native American warrior spirit in American popular culture, Native, American men were generally regarded highly by their fellow soldiers, and their role appealed to the public. They first saw action in the Pacific Theater along with the rest of the US Army and Navy. The first known Native American casualty of war was a young Oklahoma man who died during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Over the course of the war, Native American men fought across the world on all fronts, and were involved in many of the most critical battles involving American troops, including Iwo Jimathe site of Ira Hayes' triumphant moment in the famous photograph of Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima with five of his fellow Marinesthe invasion of Normandy, the liberation of the Philippines, the Battle of the Bulge, the liberation of Paris, and the liberation of Belgium. Native Americans were also among the first Americans to enter Berlin in 1945. The most decorated Native American in the history of the United States Army is Pascal Poolaw, who, after World War II, went on the serve in the Korean War and the Vietnam War, earning a Distinguished Service Cross, four Silver Stars, five Bronze Stars, and three Purple Hearts. By September 1942, the American government had recruited several hundred Native Americans who spoke both Navajo and English to translate English words into the Navajo language to foil enemy understanding. Often working behind enemy lines, the code talkers were commended for their bravery and gained respect from fellow soldiers. Until its declassification in 1968, the code that these Navajo developed remains the only oral military code that was not broken by an enemy. Photo courtesy of the Estate of Horace Poolaw and the National Museum of the American. Colour: ColourisedPieceofJake

Chief Black Kettle was around the age of 60 when he escaped the massacre on Sand Creek in 1864. He quickly returned in search of his wife, her name was Medicine... Woman Later. He found her severely wounded, she had been shot nine times. But she survived. They and other survivors fled to seek safety in other Cheyenne camps. The next year, Black Kettle met with government officials again to demand a territory where the Cheyenne and Arapaho could live in peace. The 1865 Little Arkansas Treaty established a land reserve along the Arkansas River and promised reparations for the loss of livestock, horses, and the 200 lives that were taken as a result of the Sand Creek Massacre. However, reparations were never implemented and emigrant invasion heightened in the wake of Pike’s Peak gold rush. Black Kettle was known to say, All we ask is that we have peace with the whites. In efforts to maintain friendship, he signed the 1867 Medicine Lodge Treaty, which greatly reduced the lands set aside just two years before and pushed the Cheyenne and Arapaho into Oklahoma - otherwise known as Indian Territory, the dumping ground for many displaced and forcibly removed Tribes during this time. The 1867 treaty, however, was never ratified, which means our land was usurped, STOLEN. One year later, Black Kettle and his band set up camp along the Washita River near what is known today as Cheyenne, Oklahoma - well within the boundaries noted in the Medicine Lodge Treaty. There they were victim to yet another surprise attack. This time the slaughter was led by the 7th Cavalry. Without bothering to identify the village, George Armstrong Custer led an early morning attack on a band of peaceful Cheyenne. On this day, November 27, 1868, Black Kettle, Medicine Woman Later, and 100 more Cheyennes died. They survived the Sand Creek Massacre only to be killed four years later. Let me say again, We will fight to share this history and truth so that no one will ever forget how America was born. This was our land and they killed us for it. As a descendant of the Sand Creek Massacre, I write this post in memory of Chief Black Kettle, on the anniversary of his death, in honor of his push for peace. In honor of his desire to do the right thing. In honor of his will to live. In honor of his fight to protect our homelands. #SandCreekMassacreSpiritualHealingRun ends in Denver, but Black Kettle’s story, our story, my story lives on. Honor those who came before you by, at least, acknowledging their existence. Please learn the truth and know that wherever you live in this country, Indigenous people lived there first. Whatever city you call home was first populated by Tribes. In essence, this entire country was built on an Indian burial ground. Pay your respects.

Solomon Island Natives become heroic Coastwatchers. Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor pushed the United States entry into World War II. In the Pacific, the Solomon... Islands particularly Guadalcanal, became the epicenter of fierce fighting between the Japanese, United States and UK Commonwealth. Little mentioned in popular historical texts is given the struggles of the indigenous Islanders of the Solomon Islands Campaign. Accolades to the military but failure to acknowledge the Island natives who served as coastwatchers, scouts, medics-stretcher bearers, guerrilla fighters, cooks, laborers and so much more for the Allied military units. Future US President John F. Kennedy was rescued from the wreck of PT-109 near the Blackett Strait, south of Kolombangara in the Solomon Islands by native coastwatchers. All these contributions were done under brutal conditions of heat, terrain, hostile and some times 'friendly' fire. Capture by Japanese forces meant certain torture and death. When mentioned, the indigenous islanders are cast as loyal helpers, a description that falls short of their contributions and doesn’t consider the complex motivations behind the Islanders’ service. The impact of the war on the Islanders was immense. Immediately following Pearl Harbor, the Japanese swiftly advanced into the southwestern Pacific along the New Guinea coast and islands, and into the Solomons with little resistance. The Japanese presence in the Solomons, especially the airfield they built on Guadalcanal, threatened to cut communication and shipping between Australia and the United States, isolating Australia and rendering her exposed to a possible Japanese invasion. Alarmed, the U.S. chose Guadalcanal as its first counter-punch on land, landing the 1st Marines Division at Lunga on August 7, 1942. The ensuing months long campaign was a vary bloody struggle with the outcome very much in doubt for the first few months. Allied gains and eventual victory proved to be one of the main turning points of the Pacific War. Japan was quickly being drained of men, ships and equipment in the area, having diverted so much energy and attention to Guadalcanal. Japan was forced to withdraw from the Kokoda Track in November 1942, abandoning plans to take Australia's Port Moresby. The beginning of the end for the Japanese in the southwestern Pacific. Prior to WWII, the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) had put a coast-watching network in place in the Solomons, as an intelligence gathering platform that used civilians with radios to report any suspicious development in their assigned areas. District officers, plantation owners, and missionaries were given formal military titles and enlisted in the RAN as Coastwatchers. At the outset of war, as Japanese troops invaded the Solomons group, Coastwatchers went into hiding in the bush and began reporting on enemy movements to Allied headquarters. The Coastwatchers’ work was so significant in winning the Solomons Campaign that US Fleet Admiral William Bull Halsey, commander of the South Pacific Area, proclaimed that, the Coastwatchers saved Guadalcanal and Guadalcanal saved the Pacific. The success story of the Coastwatchers has been celebrated extensively. Numerous books have been written about how brave the Coastwatchers were and how significant their work was to the Allied victory in the Solomons Campaign. But details of the foundation of this success, the role played by local Solomon Islanders have been under-reported and simplified. The military Coastwatchers in the Solomons archipelago, including Bougainville, relied heavily on the support of the local people. This widespread support is often referred to as simply loyalty. Solomon Islanders were overwhelmingly loyal to their Coastwatchers and the Allies. Due to this loyalty, Coastwatchers were able to function effectively behind enemy lines, Allied soldiers were saved and the Allies won the campaign. To an extent, the notion of loyalty implies that islanders were unthinkingly submissive to their military masters. Indigenous wartime involvement was inspired by various factors, some pushing through perceived duty or responsibility and some through excitement / attraction. There was a sense of familiarity and obligation toward the longstanding British colonial administration, so despite Japanese propaganda casting themselves as anti-colonial liberators, when Japanese troops invaded the Solomons they were immediately regarded as outsiders and enemies. But the war was also a very new and exciting event that fueled the curiosity of local men and prompted them to take part. The easy abundance of food provided in labor camps at Lunga and elsewhere was another draw. The added attraction of paid wages lured many men from their villages. There was a sense of prestige attained from joining ranks with the Allied soldiers and sailors as fellow warriors. But there were more coercive factors that drove local participation that shouldn’t be ignored. Some native Coastwatchers imposed harsh punishments upon the mere suspicion of providing any aid, sympathy or collaboration with Japanese troops. This at times included casual indifference to duty behavior by some islanders that was interpreted as suspicious. Punishments imposed by some native Coastwatchers included severe beatings that were unrealistic for the crime committed. This was done with the intention to instill fear in the minds of locals, in order to deter contact of any sort with Japanese troops. Prior to the war, the colonial government was headquartered on the small island of Tulagi. Upon the Japanese invasion it was moved out of harm’s way, to Auki on Malaita. As soon as American forces landed on the island of Guadalcanal on August 7, 1942, the government moved to Lunga. Despite much controversy, the postwar administration moved to Honiara on Guadalcanal where the capital city is currently located. This was to take advantage of leftover war infrastructure, including Henderson Field (now the international airport), roads, and structures that were readily available. Initially the celebrating of the heroics and tasks performed during the was was culturally seen as boasting oneself, conceited bragging but in the following decades it has become accepted to honor the sacrifices of previous generations War commemoration in Solomon Islands has only recently shifted in focus to the remembrance of local participation in the war. Observances have long been the affair of the UK, Americans and even the Japanese, but recently the recognition of the local's involvement in the war has been brought into annual commemorative events.

Cheyenne Dog Soldier, 1840. The Dog Soldiers were the Cheyenne Elite, they formed their own bands within the Cheyenne Nation, they often gave their own lives to... protect their women and children, they were very much feared by the white Soldiers, and their Native American Foes, Pawnee, Ute, to name but a few, however, they where honoured Allies of the Lakota Sioux, and the Arapahoe's, Comanche's and Kiowa's, the mention of the words "Cheyenne Dog Soldier", put Fear into the most hardest of white Soldiers, they are still the most famous warrior society on Earth today. AHO. See more