War at the Margins: Indigenous Experiences in World War II

2022·2.8 MB·English

by  Lin Poyer

War at the Margins

War at the Margins
Indigenous Experiences in World War II
•
Lin Poyer
University of Hawai‘i Press
Honolulu
© 2022 University of Hawai‘i Press
Library of Congress Control Number: 2021062389
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Asian Studies, UC Berkeley.
Cover art: Soldiers of the New Guinea Infantry Battalion crossing stream in
New Guinea en route to attacking a Japanese position, July 1945. Courtesy of
Australian War Memorial. Photo by Terry Gibson.
S H
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Chapter 1
Empires, Nation-States, and Global War at the Margins 1
Chapter 2
Military Service, Citizenship, and Loyalties 11
Chapter 3
Combat in Indigenous Homelands 29
Chapter 4
War Far from Home: Serving Abroad 49
Chapter 5
Strangers in the Homeland 60
Chapter 6
Deploying the “Primitive”: Images and Realities of Indigenous Soldiers 75
Chapter 7
“Martial Myths” and Native Realities 90
Chapter 8
Collateral Damages: Civilian Life in Wartime 101
Chapter 9
Working at War 119
Chapter 10
Building and Destroying the World through War 132
Chapter 11
Indigenous Status in the Postwar World 151
Chapter 12
Indigenous Veterans in Combatant Nations 165
vii
viii Contents
Chapter 13
The Pasts and Futures of World War II for Indigenous Communities 178
Chapter 14
Beyond Nation-States 193
Notes 203
References 259
About the Author 307
Acknowledgments
I must first honor those who lived the experiences described in this book, and
those who have preserved memories of the World War II era. I am grateful to the
historians, anthropologists, and other researchers, especially Indigenous schol-
ars; to librarians and archivists; and to the people who shared their recollections
for future generations. I have been able to use only a portion of the published
and unpublished resources available, which contain many historical treasures.
The scope of this work has been inspired by the Bahá’í “world-embracing
vision” of the oneness of humanity. Writing it, appropriately, has required the
generous assistance of colleagues and friends from around the world. In com-
pleting this book, I appreciate the comments and help of University of Hawai’i
Press Executive Editor Masako Ikeda, reviewer Lamont Lindstrom, and two
anonymous reviewers. Readings by David Poyer (whose own novels of the mod-
ern US Navy offer much insight into war and warriors), Naia Poyer, and Robert
Kelly improved the manuscript. For specific information, advice, and other sup-
port, I thank Judith A. Bennett, Robert Hitchcock, Veli-Pekka Lehtola, Anil
Raman, Oula Seitsonen, Roland Thorstensson, Futuru Tsai, Taarna Valtonen,
and others who spoke with me about their special knowledge of the topic, and,
for institutional support, the University of Wyoming. For permissions for use
of quotations, maps, photographs, and information about them, thanks to Car-
canet Press, Journal of Pacific History, the Center for Pacific Islands Studies of
the University of Hawai’i at Manoa, Stephan Dudeck, Robert Kelly, Robert and
Sylvia May and the Kohima Educational Trust, Alaska Museum of the North
(especially Mareca Guthrie), Australian War Memorial, and the Alexander
Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand (especially Pamela Lovis).
In memory of all our families, may the trials of the past bring us to a future
of greater freedom and peace.
ix