About Us - History of NAAoG
Native Americans in the US Military
Up to this day, the majority of Germans are not aware of the fact that Native Americans have been stationed in Germany since 1945. Widely spread stereotypes are the main reason why Native Americans living in Europe are not even identified as such, unless they talk about their heritage and nationality.
Not noticed by the majority of Germans, Native Americans had get-togethers and organized powwows in Germany. In the beginning, most of those took place on US Military installations. They established the “American Indian Intertribal Society” in 1976, which was later, renamed “Native American Intertribal Society of Germany”, due to an increasing awareness of political correctness.
Over the years, more and more Germans have taken part in their activities. The get-togethers, powwows and other cultural events were open to the German public and took also place outside of US Military installations.
In 1994, Native Americans holding leadership positions within the Native American Intertribal Society of Germany had orders to go back to the United States. In order to maintain a meeting point and a first contact center over here in Germany, the Native American Association of Germany e.V. was founded. It is registered at the District Court (Amtsgericht) Kaiserslautern, Germany (Registration-Number VR Kai 2237) and recognized as a non-profit organization by the Finance Department (Finanzamt) of Kaiserslautern ("e.V. - eingetragener Verein" means registered association).
Since a couple of years, the Native American board members (three on the executive board and two on the board committee) are in the United States. The German board members ensure that NAAoG e.V. keeps providing this first contact and education information center in Germany by sharing first hand information and doing the administrative work that is required to maintain the registered and recognized as non-profit status. They are all connected by the World Wide Web.
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