American Indian vets gather at Cantigny to honor service, face challenges
Cantigny Park in Wheaton was an appropriate site for this weekend's gathering of American Indian veterans.
The National Gathering of Native Veterans, organized by the Trickster gallery, drew 1,200, "even in the rain" on Saturday, said Joe Podlasek, CEO of the Schaumburg-based gallery. He estimated Sunday's crowd at about 300 or 400.
Paul Herbert, executive director of the First Division Museum at Cantigny Park in Wheaton, spoke Sunday about the legacy of American Indian veterans, and particularly those who served in First Infantry Division, known as The Big Red One.
"As I look back on that century of service of the First Infantry Division, I think of people like Matthew Juan from Arizona, a Native American killed in action in the Battle of Cantigny, for which we're named, in May of 1918," Herbert said.
"All of you who are American Indian veterans who fought for America, not because you were getting the best deal out of America, but because it was your country, I think we owe you an extra debt of gratitude for your service and your heroism," he added.
While honoring past service, Podlasek said the real focus of the event was contemporary issues facing veterans, such as health and wellness - including how to blend traditional healing with contemporary medicine - economic development and job success.
"Job success means not a minimum wage job somewhere. We want them to be successful," he said, adding that experts in various fields flew in from as far away as California and Connecticut to take part in the weekend's events.
Willem Fahrenbruck of the Department of Veterans Affairs said homelessness is the biggest issue facing American Indian veterans today. Many, he said, have shelter but no permanent home.
"In the Native American culture, from what I have learned, you take in your brothers. So, if you have a Native (American) veteran that's on the street, he will move in with his family," Fahrenbruck said. "By bringing them in, you can have, I have found, five or six generations in one house. So you'll have 20 people in a three-bedroom house and that's not considered homeless."
The VA is trying to address this by allowing the federal government to provide subsidized housing on Indian reservations.
Sunday's proceedings also featured an emotional address by Daniel King, president of the Wisconsin Indian Veterans Association and co-chair of the National Congress of American Indians. King, a Vietnam veteran, addressed the plight of veterans from that war.
"Some say we failed in that war. They say it's a war that we lost. And the truth is we never lost a major battle, although we paid a terrible cost," he said.
King, who served in the U.S. Army, said events like the weekend's gathering are good because "a lot of us never spoke up, especially among tribes. We never spoke about what we did."