Unity

  This morning I saw a meme about Native Americans that served in WW1 and how they weren't citizens of the United States at that time. I checked that out and it is a true statement. But, like everything else it isn't as straightforward as you might think. Although the 14th amendment had granted citizenship to those born or naturalized in the United States, Native Americans were exempt from that if they chose to remain sovereign. They had a choice about that. There was a bit of legislation called the Dawes Act that provided them a path to citizenship but, the catch was, they had to surrender their sovereign nation status, in other words, assimilate to being an American. There is a lot more to that, and it is important to understand, it is history. You can't change history, there are no take backs.

  It is also important to understand that Native Americans were exempt from the draft, although required to register. Those that did serve, volunteered to serve. No one was forced to fight for America against their will. They did receive the same pay and benefits as everyone else. There were no Indian only units, no segregation, or anything like that. Now what personal feelings the other soldiers serving may have had about that I can't say, I wasn't there. I do expect however it wasn't much different than it is today. It really is the whole birds of a feather thing, generally speaking. Tolerance and acceptance are quite different. I tolerated an awful lot during my time in the service, but didn't always accept it as the best course of action, as something positive. It's just human nature.

 I admit to never having given any of that a thought. I mean I knew that there were Native Americans (Indians) that were in WW1 and every other war or conflict we have been involved with. I hadn't thought about their citizenship status. I thought that had been settled with the 14th amendment but that wasn't the case. There are tribes considered sovereign nations in the United States today. They all have an agreement with the United States government regarding their rights and what the United States government will provide for them. It's a complicated relationship. The United States still holds criminal jurisdiction over them, although the tribes are fighting for criminal jurisdiction if the crime happens on their lands. As I said, it's complicated. Under the Dawes act 80 million acres of land was surrendered to the United States in exchange for citizenship and small parcels of land for farming or grazing cattle. 

 This meme was attempting to draw a parallel between illegal aliens entering the country and Native Americans fighting in WW1. They weren't citizens! No, they weren't, but they could be if they wanted to be. They didn't have to volunteer to fight, to join the Army in order to get that designation. In 1919 congress passed the citizenship act that granted citizenship to those Indians that had served in WW1. That act didn't grant citizenship to all Native Americans however, that was a separate piece of legislation in 1924. It was an attempt to fully assimilate Native Americans into the nation. You know, that "one nation" the founding father envisioned. Yes, if you wish to have one, unity is the most important feature of that. 

  Native Americans didn't sneak into the country. Native Americans were conquered. Five hundred and seventy four individual tribes are recognized in America. There is no "one" tribe that exercises authority over any of the others. You could view that as 574 states without a central government. What unites them? In the past they did form alliances to fight common enemies. Had they chosen to all join forces way back then history may have been different. Lots of scenarios like that throughout the history of the world. There are always the what ifs' of history. Today the United States is a sovereign nation containing 50 states and five major territories, there also also a few minor islands and unincorporated territories. Thing is, we have a central government that exercises authority over all of them. The Constitution is the uniting document granting that authority. We have defined borders that are recognized by all the other sovereign nations in the world! 

  Although unsuccessful Native Americans attempted to keep the white guys out! At first there was interest, mostly in obtaining goods they could not produce themselves. Over time, bad deals were made, folks on both sides grew unhappy. There were conflicts. Violence erupted and we all know the rest of that story. Technology and sheer numbers overwhelmed the Native American peoples. There was no nation to conquer, just individual tribes. They were eliminated one at a time. Had they all united would that have been the case? You can't say. 

  You can't compare Native Americans to illegal aliens! Not the same thing at all. You could argue that the Native Americans allowed the white folks to live among them, doing business with them and even giving them assistance. You could say that is what allowed the "invasion" to be successful in the first place. Give them an inch and they'll take a mile. An old adage that describes exactly what happened. If we don't control our borders, carefully select those that are allowed to stay, the result will be the same. Lincoln is quoted as having said America will be destroyed from within. If we do not protect ourselves, if we become apathetic, moral and political decay will surely destroy us. 

                                                                           

                                Careful what you trade for, you may lose than you bargained for.