Memorial Day

Great Uncle Frank Sixkiller

Frank Sixkiller with his friends Jack and Rabbit Bunch

My biological father served in the U.S. Navy during World War 2 and afterwards. My foster father also served in the Navy his tour of duty during the Vietnam War. My adopted father served in the Marines during the Korean War. All of my fathers served their country during wartime. But this memorial day I am thinking of my Great Uncle Frank Alvis Sixkiller one of my great grandmother Martha’s three younger brothers, a man I never met.

Frank enlisted in The United States military in June of 1918 and was sent to Camp Cody, New Mexico, a basic training camp named after the recently deceased entertainer William B. Cody, commonly known as “Buffalo Bill”. Born in the Cherokee Nation, to Cherokee parents, Frank Sixkiller’s U.S. World War 1 draft Registration Card 1917-1918 listed him as a natural born citizen, who was white, tall, and with black hair and black eyes. When I look at photos of Frank and his daughters I see myself in their eyes. On September 1, 1902, nine-year-old Frank was listed with his parents and siblings on the U.S. Native American Enrollment Cards for the Five Civilized Tribes, 1898-1914 as being Cherokee by blood. Native Americans would not become citizens of the United States until 1924 with the passage of the Indian Citizen Act, also known as the Snyder Act. The 14^th Amendment of 1868 excluded most Native Americans. Some attained U.S. citizenship by serving in the military, marrying whites, or by accepting land allotments such as those granted under the Dawes Act.

Nine-year-old Frank Sixkiller was listed with his parents and siblings on the 1902 Dawes Rolls which included an assessment for land allotment eligibility. Frank never saw battle and was discharged in December of 1918 a month after Armistice brought the first World War to an end. For the census of 1930 when Great Uncle Frank was 36 years old his race is described as Indian (Native American) his Spoken Language as Mixed Cherokee. Able to speak English-Yes. Occupation: Roustabout Industry: Oilfield. Frank must have been proud to serve in the U.S. military, even briefly, as he made sure his rank and division were listed on his tombstone. I wish I’d met Frank. I was six years old in 1958 when Frank Alvis Sixkiller died at the Veteran’s hospital in Muskogee, Oklahoma after suffering injuries from an explosion at this daughter Waneta’s home, where he lived in his later years. Frank was sixty-four years old.