AMERICAN INDIANS IN WORLD WAR I, by Thomas A. Britten, University of New Mexico Press, 256 pages, $34.95.
“While hundreds of books detail the activities of Anglo-American soldiers in the war,” notes Britten, “and perhaps half a dozen describe the service of African Americans, the contributions of Native Americans have yet to receive adequate attention.” More than 17,000 Native Americans registered for military service during World War I; of that number, about 10,000 either enlisted or were drafted into the American Expeditionary Force. Army letters, editorials, and the words of Native-American war veterans demonstrate how racial and cultural stereotypes affected their performance and chronicle how their contribution to the war effort affected federal Indian policy.
