Page 11 - Desert Oracle June 2022

experienced. The spiritual leader then decides which ceremony will be best for

the veteran. The Squaw Dance is one Navajo ceremony used for soldiers who

were in combat, captured, or wounded.

There are 562 federally recognized American Indian tribes and Alaska natives in

the United States, the Navajo tribe located in Arizona is the largest tribe in the

United States. Every Tribe and Nation has its own form of government and

programs established to assist its Tribal and Nation members. Unfortunately, the

one program that is seriously lacking is one for Native American Veterans. VA

benefits and entitlements parallel many of the Tribal and Nation programs

including education benefits, medical treatment, housing assistance,

compensation for service-connected injuries, and non-service-connected pension

for qualifying veterans. Many of these programs are incorporated with existing

Tribal and Nation Programs.

Native American veterans utilize their VA benefits the least of any group of

veterans. There are several reasons for this unfortunate reality; the foremost is

that most Native American veterans are not aware of the benefits they have

earned through military service. Secondly, it is much easier to obtain these

benefits from their individual Tribe or Nation rather than having to deal with the

bureaucracy of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). There are other factors

involved, such as isolation because of reservation location and the lack of

accessibility from the outside.