The hilarious thing about this to me is that the reason the US Army became one of the most powerful forces on the planet for better worse or worse is because the US Army was thoroughly beaten in war by the Indigenous peoples of the United States and it never really forgot why, this is the reason the US military was so much more powerful than similar European militaries for decades, there was an institutional through line about war being NOT ABOUT soldiers in neat lines with badass manly uniforms lining up to die in a properly masculine way... which is what people like Pete Hegseth are terminally obsessed with ....and so in 2026 to then say that the First Nations needs to be conquered vastly misunderstands the reality of power while leading into a still ongoing Genocide of Indigenous peoples taking place in Canada and the US.

If the US Army hadn't realized how First Nations conquered them it would have never been so unilaterally powerful for so long as it was, so take it as a warning and a call to human rights, the First Nations have to be lived with and celebrated in our cultures, not conquered lest we will be destroyed as surely as "they" will (they being our neighbors).

To most people this sounds like tacky jingoism disguised as a celebration of Indigenous peoples but I am dead serious when I say there is a very good reason the US Army decided to name its helicopters, The Apache needs no explanation, the Huey (including Cobra attack helicopters) is a nickname for the Iroquois, the Black Hawk is NOT named after a bird but after a specific Indigenous person by the name of Black Hawk who played a major role in US history, the Chinook, Lakota, Commanche, Kiowa, Cheyenne and Cheyenne II the list goes on.

This is who the Black Hawk helicopter is named after, it wasn't named to be evoke a cool, badass stealthy bird of prey or something, it was named for a specific Indigenous person because the namers believed this tool evoked the nature of power that Black Hawk had, which specifically was not just for violence.

Consider the fact that Europeans had an immense amount of time to figure out how to use the horse best for war and within a short handful of decades the Indigenous peoples of North America learned how to use horses far better and kick Europe's ass by exploiting maneuver and the capacity to concentrate force with speed that the horse provided. The modern day concept of air cavalry is a direct response and integration of that idea. The Cheyenne II tiltrotor is a direct embodiment of how the Indigenous peoples of North America understood the horse brought to its most technologically advanced context yet, but the technology is details it is about what the "tool" is for, and that was defined by the intellect of Indigenous warriors in North America.

edit Note the US Marines notably do not name their helicopters after Indigenous people's or tribes which is why they tend to also have dumb names like the V-22 Osprey or King Stallion... and it does also reflect on the doctrinal differences between how the US Marines perceive themselves and how the US Army perceives itself in terms of war.

https://www.army.mil/article/240476/why_army_helicopters_have_native_american_names

According to the museum official, Howze wasn’t a fan of the names of the first two helicopters – Hoverfly and Dragonfly. So, he laid out instructions for naming the helicopters after their abilities.

Howze said since the choppers were fast and agile, they would attack enemy flanks and fade away, similar to the way the tribes on the Great Plains fought during the aforementioned American Indian Wars. He decided the next helicopter produced -- the well-known H-13 of “M.A.S.H.” fame -- would be called the Sioux in honor of the Native Americans who fought Army Soldiers in the Sioux Wars and defeated the 7th Cavalry Regiment at the Battle of Little Bighorn.

Again I don't say all of this to indulge in trying to disguise military jingoism under a superficial appreciation for Indigenous peoples, I am not defending the military industrial complex or the US Army, I am just pointing out the naming scheme here was very intentional as a reference to the people those people looked up to as the most skilled and intelligent at war and adaption, which were Indigenous tribes. The people high up in the US Army who truly understood war DEMANDED their helicopters be named after Indigenous tribes as a reminder of their power and what we learn from it.

https://www.neh.gov/article/code-talkers-were-americas-secret-weapon-world-war-ii