BEAUFORT, S.C. – November is National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month in the United States. The month celebrates the contributions made by Native Americans to the history and foundation of our nation.

Native Americans were the original inhabitants of the U.S. and there is extensive history of early settlements in the Beaufort area. Evidence of Native American culture ranges from the town of Yemassee, to Parris Island and Port Royal.

Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island has a history of early Native American settlers and has national landmarks recognizing them aboard the depot.
According to historical archives from the Parris Island Museum, early European settlers encountered Native Americans around Parris Island in the 1500s. Shortly after, Jean Ribaut, a French explorer, established a colony named Charlesfort in the Parris Island – Port Royal area.

The French presence was short lived and the colony was taken back and reestablished by the Spanish, calling their colony Santa Elena. In 1576 the town of Santa Elena was burned down by Native Americans. The Spanish returned, and were devoted to attacking and destroying native towns within a 50-mile radius of Port Royal, according to museum archives.

Native Americans fought many battles trying to keep their territory and way of life, including major conflicts in Yemassee.

In 1942, the Marine Corps began recruiting Native Americans from reserves in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. The Native American Marines encoded, transmitted, and decoded a message in 20 seconds which took other radiomen 30 minutes. These Marines became known as the Navajo Code Talkers, for their language and tribe origin.

[xyz-ihs snippet=”adsense-body-ad”]The first deployment of Code Talkers was at Guadalcanal. By the end of the war, over 400 Navajo served in the Marine Corps as Code Talkers. Their code was never broken, and their service remained classified until 1968 when their achievements were publicly acknowledged as a part of Marine Corps history. A year later all Native Americans were granted citizenship.

Nearly 25,000 Native Americans fought in World War II, and of the more than 3,400 Medal of Honors awarded to the nation’s service men and women, 28 of them have been given to Native Americans, according to museum archives.

“American Indians and Alaska Natives enrich every aspect of our country, and have helped make America what it is today,” said President Barack Obama in a proclamation for National Native American Heritage month, 2015.

The U.S. is made of many cultures and backgrounds. Each plays its role in history and has made America strong.

“This month, let us affirm our responsibility to ensure each generation is defined by a greater sense of opportunity than the last, and let us pledge to maintain our strong relationship with tribal nations across America,” said Obama.

Source : DVIDS

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  Alaska, americans, national heritage, native