A memorial to Native veterans is being dedicated in D.C., this WA tribe will be attending
The National Native American Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., will be dedicated on Friday morning, two years after its opening.
The memorial, located at the National Museum of the American Indian in the Smithsonian Institution, opened on Nov. 11, 2020, to honor American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian veterans and their families.
A procession featuring Native veterans along the National Mall to the ceremony stage in front of the U.S. Capitol will precede the ceremony, beginning at 4 p.m. local time (1 p.m. Pacific Time) on Veteran’s Day. It’ll be the first time a memorial to Native veterans is recognized nationally, according to the Smithsonian Institution.
Members of Washington state’s Puyallup Tribe will be present at the dedication ceremony. They will also make rubbings of names from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall from Nov. 11 to 14. Rubbing is the process of placing a piece of paper over a name on the memorial wall and rubbing pencil or pen over the top to obtain an image of the name from the wall onto the paper.
The dedication on the National Mall will include a veterans seating area and standing room for the public, but will also be livestreamed on the Smithsonian Institution’s website.
About the memorial
More than 120 designs were submitted to a group of Native and non-Native jurors, with Harvey Pratt’s “Warriors’ Circle of Honor” selected as the winner.
The design features an elevated stainless-steel circle balanced above a carved stone drum filled with water. The water is used for ceremonial purposes, and benches encircle the memorial for gathering and reflecting. Fire may also be lit at the base of the steel circle during ceremonies.
Four lances surround the memorial, where veterans, family members and others can tie a prayer cloth.
Pratt is a member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma and was inducted as a traditional Peace Chief, the Cheyenne Tribe’s highest honor.
The memorial is open 24 hours a day year-round, according to the Smithsonian Institution, and does not require a ticket or entry fee to visit.
