Fort Riley celebrates diversity at Native American event

FORT RILEY, Kan. -- A tribal university counselor was the guest speaker at the Nov. 19 Native American Heritage Month Observance at Fort Riley.

Angelina Adams, counselor, Haskell Indian Nations University, Lawrence, Kansas, talked about how Native Americans have overcome adversity, allowing them to continue to celebrate their culture today.

Adams discussed the life of Geronimo, a prominent leader of the Bedonkohe Apaches, who fought against Mexico and Texas for their expansion into Apache tribal lands for several decades during the Apache Wars.

After the Civil War, the U.S. government turned their military might to the Native American people to the west, Adams said, adding that tribes were forced to give up their ancestral land and their ways of life, and were put onto reservations.

After 1875, the reservations were severed and made smaller, as miners and settlers moved into the territory and demanded the land, she said. The Apaches faced the loss of their land and the loss of their culture.

"If you look at the U.S. government and the American Indian, there was a huge cultural difference," Adams said. "The cultural difference being as an American Indian, we cannot own the land or own the water or own the mineral rights, so there was a difference of opinion of who had ownership. More deeply, men and women are made of their culture, their knowledge, their attitudes and beliefs. And, if you don't share the same morals, values and beliefs, there were problems."

As conditions worsened on the reservation, Geronimo and his small band of Apaches left the reservation, she said. In 1886, 25 percent of the U.S. Army, 300 Mexican troops and about 500 Apache scouts were looking for then 57-year-old Geronimo. Geronimo surrendered Sept. 3, 1886, at Skeleton Canyon, Arizona. The Apache men were sent to Fort Pickens, Florida, and the women and children were sent to Fort Marion, Florida, eventually reuniting in 1887 at Fort Pickens.

In 1894, the Apaches were moved one final time to a reservation of 50,000 acres at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, she said.

"In 1909, Geronimo died there, never regaining his freedom or his homeland," Adams said. "Of course, this isn't the end of our history -- obviously, we're still here."

In addition to talking about Geronimo's life, Adams, a U.S. Air Force Desert Storm veteran and member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, spoke about her own Native American background and how her military training guided her along the way.

"Despite where my first beginnings were, I am an American Indian woman who was educated with reservation schools … I still was able to accomplish what I was able to accomplish," Adams said. "I want to publicly thank my good Apache upbringing, and, of course, my outstanding military training. As a young Airman, I was encouraged to soar and with the Air Force's motto, 'Integrity first, service above self and excellence in all we do,' I knew I could do no wrong."

She also talked about her alma mater, Haskell Indian Nations University, which is one of 37 tribal colleges and universities within the U.S. and was established in 1884 as an industrial school.

"The main purpose of this school was to 'kill the Indians and save the man,'" she said. "I stand here today to tell you their plan has failed … we're still here. Like the Soldiers here at Fort Riley, Kan., we are highly intelligent, we are full of tenacity, and we are resilient. Every culture has a path, and you have been alluded to what happened to the Native American people, but I'm here to say that we're still here and we're striving to do many things."

She told the Soldiers they made the first step toward accomplishment by enlisting in the military.

"No matter where you begin at, no matter where you came from, you did the most outstanding first step by joining the military," she said. "It is a step in a positive direction."

The observance was hosted by the 1st Sustainment Brigade, 1st Infantry Division. In addition to Adams, five 1st Sust. Bde. Native American Soldiers took the stage to share information about their own tribes with their fellow Soldiers. Two dancers and one flute player from Haskell Indian Nations University also performed during the observance.

"Any time you get to bring in true Native Americans to tell the story and share their heritage in a public forum, that's the benefit for me, and that's the benefit for our Soldiers in uniform," said 1st Sust. Bde. Command Sgt. Maj. Tomeka O'Neal. "It expresses the diversity that we have in the Army today, and culturally, it's important to know that we're not all alike just because we wear this uniform and we look alike daily. Our backgrounds and our cultural upbringings are different. The Equal Opportunity program is just the platform where we are allowed to share those stories with others."