“Fighting for Their Freedom At Home”

This chapter provides a discussion on the intersections of three interrelated and overlapping fields: Red Power activism, Native Americans in the US military and masculinity studies. It relies on a cross-disciplinary approach that combines oral history with the analysis of written sources. The chapter examines how military service impacted Native American Vietnam veterans and their subsequent protest activism, and assesses the role that Native veterans played in the evolving Red Power Movement (RPM). In fighting for their freedom at home through protest activism, Native veterans pushed hegemonic society for change, yet without the dire consequences of the past. Scholars have firmly established the significance of the RPM within Native American history. Native Americans have an extraordinary military service record. Oral testimonies indicate that Native servicemen viewed the Vietnam War every bit as critically as their non-Native counterparts. The "Red Power" slogan meant something entirely different from the "Black Power" slogan that rebutted integration and called for separation.