During WW1, many native americans enlisted in the military even though they were not allowed because they were not considered citizens. Their participation in the war made people consider giving them citizenship. Although they gained citizenship, they were still treated unfairly. Many native veterans came home still facing discriminatory policies and social challenges such as limited economic opportunities, living in poverty stricken areas and trying to make them go to boarding schools where they will eventually be stripped of their identities. Many native americans joined because of their warrior traditions and their cultural values. They believed that serving in the military would honor their ancestors’ warrior legacy and that serving would help prove their loyalty and bravery. Many native Americans were given false hope that upon serving in the military, they would be seen as equals and wouldn’t be treated with discrimination but despite their service, they were still discriminated against. The Dawes act of 1887 broke native american lands apart and because of this, many native americans were left without land, economic resources and not enough land for farming. Many veterans who came home faced unemployment problems and the government did very little to help them out. The USA government also continued to attack native american Sovereignty. The native americans tried to assert their rights and autonomy but the government seized control of their land and their resources and since the BIA took control of many aspects of life upon native american lands which gave little to no authority to native americans which resulted in them having no control over their own land. The BIA’s control limited the tribal self-governance and ignored the needs of native american communities. Even Though the Indian citizenship act of 1924 was a result of native americans joining the military and granted citizenship for every native american, it still was limited to what they could get and had some problems upon the community such as not granting voting rights, economic challenges and loss of identity.
To sum everything up, native americans joining the military played a big role in passing the Indian citizenship act of 1924. This act helped to an extend, the way people viewed native americans but it didn’t solve their problems and had more disadvantages than advantages