Veteran’s Day

On Thursday, November 11, Veteran’s Day will be celebrated throughout the United States.  But, on the San Carlos Apache Reservation, the celebration will just be starting.  Over the next four days, Apache veterans will be repeatedly honored with a parade, a rodeo and fair, a music festival, a car show, a pageant, and a skateboard competition.     

From the time of European arrival on this continent, indigenous people have been involved in conflicts with the United States, with other colonial powers, and with other tribal nations.  Most tribes have a strong tradition of warriors as leaders, both in war and peacetime.  So, it isn’t surprising that nearly 20 percent of Native Americans have served in the armed forces as compared to an average of 14 percent of all other ethnicities.  In World War I, before they were granted citizenship and therefore weren’t eligible to be drafted, they volunteered in great numbers, a tradition that continues to the present day.

It is truly humbling and inspiring to see the respect and honor with which veterans, living and dead, are treated on San Carlos.  It is a privilege for us to be able to recognize and celebrate their sacrifice.