History of Native American
National Contributions
In recognition of First Nation's people, 26 states have names of Native American origin. Nationally, a myriad of cities, counties, rivers, mountains, parks, buildings, signs, landmarks, sports teams, and numerous other identifiers were named in honor of our country's Native ancestors.
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THE GREAT LAW OF PEACE, the Constitution of the Iroquois Confederacy, was conceived by Dekanawidah known as "THE GREAT PEACEMAKER" and his spokesman Hiawatha. The democratic ideals contained in the GREAT LAW OF PEACE are believed by many historians to have provided a significant inspiration to Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, and other framers of the U.S. Constitution. In addition to providing a blueprint for the U.S. Constitution, many Native American symbols and related imagery were adopted by the nascent United States, including among them the American bald eagle and a bundle of arrows.
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In the modern era, the service member code talkers of the world wars played a vital role in their use of Native American languages as a basis to transmit coded messages. The Native American code talkers improved the speed of encryption and decryption of communications in front line operations during World War II.
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American Indians have a long history of U.S. military service dating back to World War I in particular. In fact, Native people have the highest per capita involvement of any population to serve in the U.S. military.
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