Indian Tribe Civil War Soldiers Native American Menominee Wisconsin GAR Photo

  

Incredibly rare image of fourteen Native American Union veterans. They were members of Joseph A. 261, the first-ever Native American G.

Chapter, located in Keshena, Wisconsin on the Menominee Reservation. One of the American flags has the words JOSE... One noted member was Moses Ladd of the 21st Wisconsin infantry, Co. He acted as a scout during Sherman's March to the Sea and was recognized by the general after the war. Other Menominee men served in Company K, 37th Wisconsin Infantry.

Many of them (including Ladd) had both European and Amerindian ancestry. The photograph dates to around 1889 and was made into a magic lantern slide. Let me know if you have any questions. Excerpt from the Wisconsin Veterans Museum: More than 40 members of the Menominee Nation volunteered for service in Company K, 37th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment in 1864. These men deployed to Virginia and took part in fierce fighting at the Battles of the Crater and Weldon Railroad, among others.

According to the oral history tradition of the Menominee Nation, several Menominee non-commissioned officers, such as Corporals Seymour Hahpahtakwahnoquette and Meshell Kayso, translated orders from English into Menominee in training and in battle. Hahpahtakwahnoquette, Joseph Nahwahquah, Amable Nashahkahappah, and Felix Wahtahnotte were among the Menominee who were killed during the Battle of the Crater.