As we enter Native American Heritage Month in this semiquincentennial (250th) year of the United States, it is interesting to reflect on the contributions Native Americans have made to the development of our nation over time.
All too often, historical accounts stress periods of conflict between Native Americans and other groups whose areas of settlement were spreading, whether Europeans in the colonial period or whites and African Americans pressing westward throughout the 19th century. Accounts of such events, such as the ambush of General Braddock and his men during the French and Indian War, Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa’s defeat by William Henry Harrison at Tippecanoe, the Trail of Tears, the Buffalo Soldiers’ engagements in Kansas and Texas, and General Custer’s defeat at Little Bighorn are well-known. However, perhaps far less appreciated in our history is the collaboration of Native Americans that has been indispensable to the growth of our country.
Contributions to American Independence
Native Americans played a critical role in the early wars that helped secure the nation’s independence. For example, after the American Revolution’s first shots were fired at Lexington and Concord, the Native American community at Stockbridge, Massachusetts, sent several men to serve in the siege of British forces around Boston. As the initial British strategy of dividing the United States by seizing total control of the Hudson River failed in the fall of 1777 at Saratoga, the Oneida Indians of New York hastened that momentous victory by helping to stop the British advance at Oriskany in August. As allies of the Continental Army, Oneidas and Tuscaroras were opposing their Iroquois brothers, the Mohawks, Senecas, and Cayugas. Since they lived the farthest east of all the Iroquois nations, they had cultivated closer commercial and, thanks to Presbyterian missionaries, cultural relationships with their white neighbors.
The War of 1812
Native Americans were important to American success in the War of 1812 too. The slaughter of militia and civilians by hostile “Red Stick” Creek Indians at Fort Mims in southern Alabama is well-known, but in the aftermath, friendly Creeks opposed to those militants aided General Andrew Jackson, his Tennessee militia, and U.S. Army regulars as they defeated the “Red Sticks” at Horseshoe Bend in 1814. From there, Jackson’s men repulsed the British amphibious assault on New Orleans in January 1815, thanks in part to allied Choctaws among the defenders.
Economic Growth and Development
In more recent history, Native Americans have contributed greatly to the nation’s economic development. The sad story of the Trail of Tears is well-known, as the Indian Removal Act of 1830 authorized the forced removal of Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Seminoles from their ancestral homes in the Southeast to reservations in present-day Oklahoma. Despite being forced to leave, the tribes were resilient and worked to establish thriving farms, governments, schools, and ventured into oil and mineral leasing in the 1880s. The federal government saw its potential and opened the Indian Territory to general settlement in 1889. According to a study by economist Dr. Kyle Dean, Oklahoma’s tribes still employed 55,659 workers in 2023, paying out wages and benefits totaling $3.3 billion, and supported $23.4 billion in state production of goods and services.
Here in Florida, the Miccosukee and Seminoles are among the tribes that provide additional examples of Native success, leadership, and resiliency, as the Miccosukees added to Florida’s uniqueness as a tourist destination with their Indian Village and museum established along the Tamiami Trail, and airboat rides into the Everglades.
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Dr. Wes Borucki teaches history and humanities at PBA. He specializes in the antebellum South, the Civil War and Reconstruction, Colonial America, and presidential history. He is the author of two books and several articles, and book reviews for several publications including The Journal of Southern History and The Alabama Review. He holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Alabama, a master’s in history from the University of Massachusetts, and a bachelor’s in history from Michigan State University.
