Army Website Removes Profile of Native American Military Service Member

Submitted by Shannan Mason

April 30, 2025

At a time when the Trump Administration is quickly altering public interpretations of history and removing references to the past on websites and public spaces, it is vital that historians keep track of what is changing. The Early Republic Tracker is dedicated to documenting instances where the federal government is removing facts and stories essential to the public’s understanding American history from public historical sites, museums, websites, and executive agencies.

Where/When did the changes take place?

US Army Website, sometime between February 12th and March 14th, 2025

What changed?

An Army News Service Profile of Brigadier General Doug Lowrey which highlighted his Cherokee ancestry and emphasized Native American military service since the Revolutionary War, was removed or made inaccessible from the Army’s website.

Why does the change matter?

Originally published in 2021 in acknowledgment of Native American Heritage Month, the service profile provided one of the few official acknowledgments of the Cherokee Nation’s deep involvement in the early history of the United States both as military allies and as subjects of federal displacement policy. It discussed Lowrey’s descent from a Cherokee chief active in the 1700s and his great-grandfather’s role in negotiating treaties during Indian removal in the early 19th century. The page’s removal eliminates the account of how Cherokee leadership, diplomacy, and treaty negotiations shaped and were shaped by the expanding U.S. state. The removal conceals not only military contributions and achievements like those of General Lowery, Indigenous presence in the founding period, but also the extent to which the Early Republic depended on, yet ultimately undermined Native governance.

Website/location/document where change was made?