WATERVLIET ARSENAL, N.Y. (Nov. 25, 2014) -- Before there were cities, manufacturing centers, and yes, before Disney World, this great land of ours was nurtured and loved by a proud people who today are called Native Americans.
For anyone who may recall their grade school lessons in early American history, know quite well that one of the remarkable attributes of Native Americans was their ability to live off the land by creating lifesaving and life-improving tools with their hands.
While today's society is no longer rich in such skills, it does not mean those skills ̶ creating tools and products from scratch ̶ have been lost through generations of convenience. At least not at the Watervliet Arsenal.
Although the arsenal is rich with skilled artisans who can machine a solid, hollow tube into a firing cannon that can send a round more than 20 miles into enemy territory, it remains deficient in having a large Native American presence in its workforce. After all, less than one percent of the arsenal workforce are of Native American decent and so, it was difficult this American Indian Heritage Month to find someone with such rich history. But we did.
Machinist James White traces his heritage back to his great-great-grandmother who was sold off the Micmac Indian reservation in Nova Scotia during the late 1800s and relocated to the United States. The Micmac and or Mi'kmaq Nation once controlled northern New England and parts of Canada. Today, many Micmac people still live on the Canadian side of the border.
Shortly after arriving in the United States, White's great-great-grandmother ran away from her owner and found her way to Hell's Kitchen in New York City. She was again a free woman.
White said that he has no clue how his great-great-grandmother ended up in the late 1800s in a part of New York City that was predominately of Irish decent. But, as food for thought, it may be that because the Micmac tribe was semi-nomadic that White's great-great-grandmother was, by heritage, amendable to adapting to new lands, such as Hell's Kitchen.
Unlike his great ancestors, White did not grow up learning how to use his hands to create the tools that would put food on the table or to sustain his family. But he did have a grandmother who was working at the arsenal and it would be her that planted the seed that would someday return White back to his roots.
In 2009, White joined the arsenal's apprentice program and during the program's four years of training and education, White not only learned how to design products, he also learned how to machine a raw piece of steel into a product that makes our troops more survivable on the battlefield.
White said that it is kind of cool to think about how the skills of his ancestors and his machinist skills are in some way connected. As Native Americans leveraged their hand skills to live off the land, White is leveraging his hand skills to provide for his family.
White is a good example of what has made America and the Micmac tribe so great. He makes things. With great appreciation and respect, the Watervliet Arsenal honors during this American Indian Heritage Month those who were and still are the builder of things, the makers of life, and the nurturers of land.
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Watervliet Arsenal:
-The Watervliet Arsenal is an Army-owned-and-operated manufacturing facility and is the oldest, continuously operating arsenal in the United States, having begun operations during the War of 1812. It celebrated its 200th anniversary in July 2013.
-Today's arsenal is relied upon by U.S. and foreign militaries to produce the most advanced, high-tech, high-powered weaponry for cannon, howitzer, and mortar systems. This National Historic Registered Landmark has an annual economic benefit to the local community in excess of $90 million.
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