Nezbah

I was just sittin here watching the news and all that jazz being Memorial Day weekend, etc. One thing that dawned on me was that this National memoriam is more about the fallen soldiers (mostly white) and not even to mention all the fallen NATIVE soldiers who have fought for OUR country since we existed. All our great tribal chiefs and the ones who served them, the ones who fought all our wars even before the invasion of the white man, the ones who fought during the invasion of the white man, the ones who fought to keep our land, families, and treaty rights safe, the ones who just fought to keep our traditions alive, our cultures safe, the ones who fought in the past wars (Korea, World War I, II, II, Vietnam, etc) for our country as a whole, not just a tribe. The ones who still keep fighting for our country in different countries. All the natives who still fight the internal wars of keeping our sacred sites, the traditions of each of our cultures, the families, and children. All our women warriors who fight for their family, getting good education for our children, defending thier homes, families, and everything that is valued.

I mean, I guess we are all warriors in a sense. We are all fighting for our lives and some of will die for it. So in memoriam, of ALL of our Native Warriors be it men or women, shout it out. If you have a relative in your tribe that you would like to list, do so. It would be nice to have a WALL for all the fallen native warriors, like that of the vietnam. Copy and past the list then add it on....... Maybe one day this list wiill be copied and made into an actual memoriam. What do you say?

1. My grandfather-Harry Slim

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You have crossed my path, you have touched my heart, you are my friend, You will never be forgotten......

Wolfn

I completley agree with you. We are all warriors, since the beggining of time. We should all honor the ones who have fallen to keep us alive to this day. They deserve the most respect.

Ndnsoldierboy

My Tribe already has a Tribal Memorial set up for its Warriors. It has the name of all who have served in times of war and peace. As long as the Ndn people honor their warriors, at powwows and ceromonies, thats good enough for me. I don't care what the other races are doing.

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WocusWoman

Amen to that. Sometimes I think some people forget that is what it's all about. No matter what time or place our native sons and fathers faught in; we are a proud people who honor them at our ceremonies, gatherings, powwows. I think it's more meaningful to be honored by your own, rather than the strangers who stole and killed to get this country we live in.

Nezbah

True true, I agree 150% with ya all on that. Of course we remember our ones in the circle, lodges, teepees, or wherever there is a ceremony done. However, I have travelled alot through indian country and there are some tribes that don't have this type of memorial. The Navajo's has a real nice one up for Lori Piestewa and then has a plaque for the fallen ones in the Iraq war. We have lost alot of our young men in that war........ *S*. Then we have the codetalker recognition. But there are many others that have not been mentioned on those walls. Why did it take the life of a native woman to really heighten the awareness of our fallen Native soldiers? Its just sad. Then to think of all the young ones who fought for our rights today, pre-white/post-white invasions.

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You have crossed my path, you have touched my heart, you are my friend, You will never be forgotten......

Lakota Wiyan

I think it is more important for us, as Native people, to remember and honor our own every single day, not just a symbolic gesture that has lost it's original meaning, once a year. Why should we adopt a European way of "commemorating" a battle or fallen soldiers when we already ways of doing that, when we already have our "list" written in blood in our hearts? Yes, it would be nice to have a tangible way of honoring our warriors and our leaders, but I'll gladly stick my neck out in saying that our tribes already have ways of doing this that make more sense to OUR sense of honor and remembrance. There is no precedent among our tribes for memorial walls or statues erected, other than what is left on and around our sacred sites. We carry our reminders around our neck, on our backs, off our belts, in our hair, around our feet. Their names are etched in our songs, their laughter in our children and grandchildren. Why should we put aside our ways, which were naturally created by our lifestyles, just to join in with the European/Caucasian ways? It's a good idea, but it's an idea that our tribes have already embraced, and refined through out the centuries. We remember, we sing, we dance, we cry, we mourn....and we honor.....they are still with us, so we must have got it right!

Ivanasnagu

Good words.............. they make me proud.