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Why We Serve, organized for travel by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in collaboration with the National Museum of the American Indian, presents the history of Native veterans who have served in the armed forces of the United States — often in extraordinary numbers — since the American Revolution. 

Visitors will be able to learn about the different eras in Native military history, including Army scouts of the 19th century, the Native code talkers of both World Wars, Native women during World War II and service in Vietnam and the Middle East. The exhibition documents 250 years of Native peoples’ contributions in U.S. military history.

For its run at the award-winning Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center, Why We Serve features individualized content about Native American veterans from Colorado and Northern New Mexico. This includes stories of these brave men and women as well as a Wall of Honor displaying their names and photographs, and objects loaned to Fort Garland by decorated service members.

Highlights include:

• Elite Navy Diving equipment from WWII on loan from retired Chief Warrant Officer Raymond A. Baker (Southern Ute), who dedicated 30 years to service with the U.S. Navy and continues to be a community leader for the Southern Ute Indian Tribe
• A trio of traditional jingle dresses worn by members of the Native American Warrior Women Association, which is the first all-Native American women’s color guard, established to honor and support Native women veterans
• A hand beaded Air Force pendant loaned from retired Master Sergeant Frances T. Dupris (Northern Arapaho & Sicangu Lakota) who devoted more than 24 years to the U.S. Air Force which included taking on groundbreaking roles in intelligence, logistics, and space operations

These objects and local stories were gathered by the staff at Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center with the help of the Southern Ute Veterans Association, Jicarilla Apache Nation Veterans Group, and other Native American service men and women throughout Colorado and New Mexico.

“The belongings and stories we have been able to include in Why We Serve amplify this exhibition by illuminating the unwavering dedication of Native American service members from the Southwest,” said Eric Carpio director of Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center and chief community museums officer for History Colorado, a Smithsonian Affiliate. “Each of these objects tells an important story of personal dedication and sacrifice in service of our county and harkens back to the generations of Native Americans who have put their lives on the line for our freedoms even when that commitment has not been reciprocated, nor their personhood recognized by law.”

Why We Serve also includes a short film featuring resonant stories from Native American veterans from across the United States Armed Forces with diverse viewpoints and personal testimony about their service. Audiences will view the stories of Native peoples who have joined the armed forces, and the impact that it has had on their lives and identities. 

Native people have served for the same reasons as anyone else: to demonstrate patriotism or pursue employment, education or adventure. Many were drafted. Yet tribal warrior traditions, treaty commitments with the United States, and responsibility for defending Native homelands have also inspired the enduring legacy of Indigenous military service.

Why We Serve: Native Americans in the United States Armed Forces honors the generations of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian members of the United States Armed Forces. It also pays tribute to the National Native American Veterans Memorial at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. The Memorial was dedicated November 11, 2020, to recognize for the first time on a national scale the enduring and distinguished service of Native Americans in every branch of the U.S. military.

Why We Serve: Native Americans in the United States Armed Forces opens at the Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center June 21. Located at 29477 CO-159, Fort Garland, the Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center is open every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. General admission for kids 18 and under is free every day.

To commemorate the opening of Why We Serve: Native Americans in the United States Armed Forces, Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center will be hosting a free opening ceremony on June 21 at 10 a.m. This ceremony will include a Presentation of Colors by an intertribal group of Native American veterans representing Southern Ute Indian Tribe, Ute Mountain Ute, and Jicarilla Apache Nation, as well as a short program. 

The opening ceremony will be followed by a community meal at noon and the museum's third tree planting ceremony in honor of Native American veterans at 2 p.m. The tree planting is offered in collaboration with Shawn Price and the Dine'Tah Navajo Cultural Program.

For more information about the exhibition, visit www.FortGarlandMuseum.org

About the Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center
Fort Garland was built in 1858, ten years after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, during American expansion into the west. Today, visitors can explore life in a nineteenth century military fort by walking the parade grounds and touring five of the original adobe buildings. The Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center offers two dual-port accessible Electric Vehicle charging stations on site for travelers through the San Luis Valley

The Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center is located at 29477 CO-159, Fort Garland, Colorado, and is open every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m Visit www.FortGarlandMuseum.org or call 719-379-3512 for more information. The Fort Garland Museum &Cultural Center is a community museum of History Colorado.

Sobre el Fort Garland Museum and Cultural Center
Fort Garland fue construido en 1858, diez años después de que se firmara el Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo, durante el tiempo que los Estados Unidos expandía hacia el oeste. Hoy, uno puede caminar sobre los campos del ejercito y explorar cinco de las estructuras de adobe originales para aprender sobre como era la vida en una fortaleza militar en el siglo XIX. El museo Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center también ofrece dos estaciones para cargar vehículos eléctricos para aquellos que viajan por el valle de San Luis.

El Fort Garland Museum and Cultural Center es ubicado en 29477 CO-159, Fort Garland, Colorado. El horario del museo es 9 a.m. to 5 p.m, cada día. Para más información se puede visitar www.FortGarlandMuseum.org o llamar por 719-379-3512.

About History Colorado
History Colorado is a division of the Colorado Department of Higher Education and a 501(c)3 non-profit that has served more than 75,000 students and 500,000 people in Colorado each year. It is a 146-year-old institution that operates eleven museums and historic sites, a free public research center, the Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation which provides technical assistance, educational opportunities, and other access to archaeology and historic preservation, and the History Colorado State Historical Fund (SHF), which is one of the nation’s largest state funded preservation programs of its kind. More than 70% of SHF grants are allocated in rural areas of the state. Additionally, the offices of the State Archaeologist and the State Historic Preservation Officer are part of History Colorado. 

History Colorado’s mission is to create a better future for Colorado by inspiring wonder in our past. We serve as the state’s memory, preserving and sharing the places, stories, and material culture of Colorado through educational programs, historic preservation grants, collecting, outreach to Colorado communities, the History Colorado Center and Stephen H. Hart Research Center in Denver, and 10 other museums and historic attractions statewide. History Colorado is one of only six Smithsonian Affiliates in Colorado. Visit HistoryColorado.org, or call 303-HISTORY, for more information. #HistoryColorado