The second annual presentation in the Alumni Lecture Series:

So, You Wanna Be a Soldier?
American Indian Warrior Tradition in the U.S. Military

Kimberly R. Huyser '03
Thursday, October 20, 2005

Listen to this lecture in RealAudio
52 minutes, 29 seconds
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Sponsored by the Sociology & Social Work Department
and the Alumni Association

Lecture Abstract:

“I think they [Indians] can be made of excellent use,
as scouts and light troops.”
— General George Washington, 1778

American Indians are the smallest pan-ethnic group in the United States, comprising 1% of the U.S. population, but have a 33% or 1 in 3 per capita military participation rate. Knowing this statistic, questions arise on what contributes to having such an outstanding military record. Are they motivated by the opportunity to gain educational and vocational skills? If the motivation for entering the military is not for clear socioeconomic gain, what are the education and economic outcomes for American Indian veterans?

To date, research literature has focused on African American and non-Hispanic white outcomes; it has not explored the participation or the outcomes of the military service of American Indians. Using the U.S. Census 2000, I examine the concept of the American Indian warrior tradition as an explanation for high military participation and American Indian socioeconomic attainment. My exploration starts by examining the socioeconomic attainment and participation rate of three groups of veterans: American Indian, African American, and non-Hispanic white. The focus of my analysis is on comparing American Indian veteran education and income outcomes to African American and white veteran outcomes.

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About the Lecturer:

Kimberly R. Huyser is a doctoral student in sociology at the University of Texas at Austin. Huyser studies race and ethnicity, social organizations, and American Indians. She is currently completing her master’s thesis on the socioeconomic attainment of veterans and will be tentatively completing her Ph.D. in 2008. In summer 2004 Kimberly worked as an intern for the USDA Office of Community Development. That summer she completed a research project comparing the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development and the USDA Rural Development Office of Community Development. Kimberly grew up on the Navajo Reservation in Window Rock, Arizona, and received a B.A. in sociology from Calvin College in 2003.