WHEREAS, on June 21, 1775, soon after the Battle of Bunker Hill in the early stages of the American Revolution, Penobscot Chief Joseph Orono met with General George Washington at Watertown and agreed that his tribe’s warriors, as well as others in the Wabanaki Confederacy, would join forces with the Continental Army to fight a common enemy in the struggle for freedom; and

WHEREAS, members of 33 tribes served as code talkers in World War I and World War II; and

WHEREAS, more than 44,000 Native Americans served with distinction between 1941 and 1945, including members of Maine’s Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Maliseet, and Mi'kmaq tribes; and

WHEREAS, Native American men and women on the home front were also an integral part of the WWII effort, with more than 40,000 leaving their communities to work in ordnance depots, factories, and other war industries; and

WHEREAS, Native Americans invested more than $50 million in war bonds and contributed to the Red Cross and the Army and Navy Relief societies; and

WHEREAS, Native American women served in the Army Nurse Corps during WWI, and nearly 800 Native American women served with units such as the Army Corps, the Army Nurse Corps, and the WAVES throughout the duration of WWII; and

WHEREAS, Native American men and women, including those from Maine, have continued to serve in the armed forces in every war since, including Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Afghanistan, and Iraq, and in current operations to enhance the security of American partners around the world; and

WHEREAS, according to the 2000 Census, 15 percent of Maine’s Native American population were serving on active duty or veterans; and

WHEREAS, as of 2022, there were an estimated 453 Native American veterans living in Maine; and

WHEREAS, in accordance with 1 MRSA § 150-C, the State of Maine and its citizens observe June 21st as Native American Veterans Day in remembrance of the courage and dedicated service of Native American members of the United States Armed Forces;

NOW, THEREFORE, be it resolved that I, Janet T. Mills, Governor of the great state of Maine, do hereby proclaim June 21st, 2023 as

Native American Veterans Day

throughout the State of Maine, and I urge all citizens to recognize this observance in suitable places and with appropriate ceremony and activity.

In testimony whereof, I have caused the Great Seal of the State to be hereunto affixed GIVEN under my hand at Augusta this twenty first day of June Two Thousand Twenty-Three