Unveiled Wednesday, Veterans Day, during a virtual ceremony, the National Native American Veterans Memorial was unveiled Wednesday, Veterans Day, to honor the tens of thousands of Native peoples who served in the US military over the centuries, NPR reports.
Native peoples, be they American Indian, Inuit or Hawaiian, serve in the US military at a greater proportion than any other American racial or ethnic group.
“It’s an article of faith in Indian country that Native Americans serve at a greater rate than basically any other group,” said Kevin Gover, the director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian and a citizen of the Pawnee Tribe of Oklahoma. “When people bring their memories and bring their prayers to a place, they make it sacred. We wish for this to be a sacred place, not just for Native Americans, but for all Americans.”
Located on the grounds of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian on the National Mall, the memorial features a stainless steel ring balancing over a carved stone drum, surrounded by a pool of water. A half-wall circles the sculpture.