Corrine Koshiway Goslin

Corrine Koshiway Goslin's training, like other Native American SPARS, appeared in various newspapers

Tulsa World, August 29, 1943. Pg 31.

Quick Facts

Significance:

One of six Native American women to enlist in the US Coast Guard SPARS during World War II

Place of Birth:

Hugo, Oklahoma

Date of Birth:

November 20, 1920

Place of Death:

Topeka, Kansas

Date of Death:

April 30, 1999

Corrine Koshiway Goslin Mzhickteno (Otoe) dedicated her life to serving her tribal nation and the United States, including by serving in the Coast Guard during World War II.  

Early Life

Corrine Koshiway Goslin (Otoe) was born in Hugo, Oklahoma, 10 miles north of the Texas border and on the boundary of the Choctaw Nation Reservation. Her parents, Jonathan (Jack) Koshiway and Carrie Jackson were members of the merged Otoe-Missouria tribe in Red Rock, Oklahoma. She attended Pawnee Boarding School in Oklahoma. This was an industrial boarding school meant to assimilate Native children from the Pawnee, Otoe, and Ponca Nations. Goslin attended Haskell College, an institution for Native Americans in Kansas. 

Serving in SPARS

Goslin enlisted as part of the Sooner Squadron in the SPARS, the Coast Guard branch for women. She joined in May of 1943. Taking advantage of a special program in Oklahoma, Goslin enlisted with her cousin Mildred Cleghorn Womack. Goslin joined the Coast Guard in part because her 17-year-old brother, George, was too ill to serve in the military. She could support the war effort in his place. Joining SPARS helped her free up men for sea duty. She also felt the Coast Guard offered better opportunities for women than other branches of the military. Goslin was one of 87 Otoe-Missouria who enlisted. She and Womack were the only two Otoe women. Goslin’s first husband also served in the Navy.  

Along with other members of the Sooner Squadron, Native and non-Native, Goslin went to Palm Beach, Florida. They trained at the repurposed Biltmore Hotel, which is a National Historic Landmark. Newspapers reported the women were training in “luxury” but first-hand accounts tell of military discipline. Goslin told the local newspaper that she “liked being a SPAR from the first day.” She only regretted that there were “not more Indians here.” 

After training, Goslin was stationed in Tampa, Florida. She worked in the radio and communications for the office of the Captain of the Port. She was promoted to Yeoman, Second Class. She also helped transport service members around the area. Press coverage of Goslin’s service noted her Otoe heritage but commented that she “was not at all reminiscent of her blanketed forebears.” This outdated and stereotypical language was common for Native members of the Sooner Squadron and other Native Americans in the armed forces during World War II. We don’t know how Goslin felt about this type of press coverage.  

Life after World War II

Goslin’s parents and community were proud of her service. Goslin’s mother founded the Otoe Chapter of the War Mothers, an organization for supporting servicemembers. It was the first Native American branch of this organization. Both Goslin and her cousin, Womack, joined the group after the war. Goslin’s father commissioned a veteran flag song for her service. This tradition celebrates military accomplishments while working to preserve the Otoe language. 

After the war, Corrine Koshiway Goslin married another Native American Coast Guard veteran, Joseph LaRue Mzhickteno (Prairie Band Potawatomi). Together, they worked at the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) as counselors, financial aid officers and residential advisors on different education projects.

Corrine Koshiway Mzhickteno passed away in 1999. 

Sources:

“Indian Girl SPAR.” The Enid Daily Eagle. Oklahoma. November 10, 1943. Pg 8.

"Joseph LaRue “Kitchkommie” Mzhickteno (1920-1992)." Find a Grave Memorial. Accessed December 22, 2023.

“Meet the SPARS, Newest Military Women in Tampa.” The Tampa Tribute. October 31, 1943 pg 3.

Sarah G. Morris. “SPARS From Oklahoma Anxious to Do Duty, Get Back Home.” Tulsa World, August 29, 1943. Pg 31.

The Perry Daily Journal and the Perry Republican and the Noble County Sentinel. Perry, Oklahoma · Thursday, March 16, 1944.

Donna Vojvodich. “The Long Blue Line: ‘Sooner Squadron’—First Native American Women to Enlist in the Coast Guard.” United States Coast Guard. November 5, 2021. The Long Blue Line: “Sooner Squadron”—First Native American Women to enlist in the Coast Guard > United States Coast Guard > My Coast Guard News (uscg.mil)