Fort Jackson honored Native Americans Nov. 3 during the National American Indian Heritage Month luncheon at the Non-commissioned Officers Club on post.
The heritage month is observed from Nov. 1 -- 30 each year to show respect for American Indians because of their reverence of natural resources and the Earth.
Lt. Col. Jason Finch, commander of Headquarters, Headquarters Battalion, U.S. Army Training Center, said the month "celebrates and honors the many ways American Indians and Alaskan natives … kept their identity while getting equal opportunity to achieve the American dream."
The luncheon, hosted by ATC and Fort Jackson, also honored those who fell defending the country, Finch said.
"Through our history Native Americans have served and shown the military great courage," he said. "Native Americans have fought in every war … and taken their rightful place as heroes in our nation's history."
Roughly 4,000 Soldiers of American Indian or Alaskan native decent currently serve in the Army with 24 having received the Medal of Honor throughout U.S. history. "They are valued members of the Army team," Finch added.
According to the National Congress of American Indians there are 562 nationally recognized Indian Nations, or tribes, in the United States with 229 of these being in Alaska alone.
Members of the Lumbee Tribe from North Carolina demonstrated the use of blowguns, played music and did various Native American dances in traditional dress to help educate luncheon attendees.
Chief Louis Chavis, chief of the Beaver Creek Indians, commissioner on the South Carolina Indian Affairs Commission, and member of the Tribal Advisory Committee, spoke about what it means to be an American Indian as well.
Chavis, a graduate of Lexington High School in 1966, talked about meeting Ira Hayes, one of the Marines who lifted the flag on Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima during World War II.
"We have been in virtually every war you can imagine," he said. "My great grandfather in the Revolutionary War, my grandfather was at the signing in Appomattox, my daddy in the Pacific theater." The people who served gave "me the freedom, the opportunity, to do what I want to do to represent my people."
John Oxendine, a member of the Lumbee tribe at the luncheon, expressed his thanks to the Soldiers present before leading his group in a traditional song.
"Thank you for putting your life on the line for my family," he said. "We are always told back home to show our gratefulness" and welcome our warriors home. "Thank you for what you do."
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