Hey folks! I hope everyone had an amazing Halloween full of spooky happenings and vast quantities of sugar. As we approach Remembrance Day, we take time to recognize and honor the sacrifices made by our nation’s veterans. It’s an important time for us to reflect on the human cost of war and strife when they rear their respectable hideous heads. In particular, we as Canadians cast our thoughts into the waters of the first two World Wars, where Canada earned a reputation as being a nation full of stalwart, resolute people able to overcome incredible odds (seriously look up Vimy Ridge if you don’t remember history class). World War 1 is recognized as a significant moment in the development of Canda from a dominion of the British Empire to a nation ready to stand on its own two feet.
We’re rightly proud of our nations contribution to ending the two World Wars. When our soldiers returned home, they were welcomed back with open arms and grateful hearts. Well…most of them.
November 8th is National Aboriginal Veterans Day, a day to remember and reflect on the indigenous people who have suffered the tragedy of war and the sacrifices they made. As an indigenously owned and operated business we’re going to take this week to talk about the experiences of the indigenous soldiers who answered the call and fought valiantly for our nation despite a history of being oppressed, assimilated and supplanted and what their experience was like when they returned home.
Together We Win
Let’s not mince words here, war is the worst thing humanity has ever and will ever do. It’s a slap in the face to the ideals most of us live by and a perverse waste of life where hate and misery are given form on fields of dust and blood. The two World Wars were the most audacious examples of this in our history and visited waking nightmares upon the people of Europe and the soldiers who fought there. Our First Nations countrymen were no exception, experiencing the atrocities of modern warfare alongside culture shock; many of the indigenous soldiers didn’t speak English, making this transition from life to war even more jarring. It was, however, in these insane circumstances that some of the indigenous soldiers experienced something resembling equality for the first time. The hunting and tracking skills passed down to them by their fore bearers proved to be incredibly useful and many of those soldiers were trained as scouts or often as sharpshooters.
In World War 2, several indigenous soldiers were made into “Code talkers”, which involved the transmission of secret and sensitive information using their native languages, which their enemies didn’t have access to or knowledge regarding. Many indigenous veterans were awarded medals and commendations for their valor and the unique skills they possessed. Skills which undoubtedly saved many lives and contributed to the end of the terror of those wars.
Their experience in the fields and forests of Europe during those tumultuous times was that of their fellow soldiers on both sides: a strange dichotomy of hellish depravity and tragic heroism.
Home Again
Where the experiences of most Canadian soldiers and their indigenous brethren differ the most dramatically is in the return home. I feel like it needs to be made clear that the indigenous soldiers who fought in the first world war were not people who were conscripted. The Canadian government only conscripted from families descended from “European stock”, cause racism is weird like that. Any indigenous veterans from WW1 were people who VOLUNTEERED for a country that had spent their entire interactive history committing long term genocide against them and their culture and they still showed up when the need was great.
How did our nation thank them you ask? While many veterans were offered land grants and financial support as compensation for the hell they just went through, indigenous soldiers were denied these privileges. Add to this the systemic racism prevalent then (and sadly still today) and it made it difficult if not impossible for many of these young people to integrate back into regular life. As a bonus, many indigenous soldiers lost their native status by virtue of signing up for the war, which is an insane way of honoring someone for their service to your country. Oh, and those land grants I mentioned earlier that were given to non-indigenous veterans, a lot of that land was taken from First Nations people. Depressed? I’m not done yet. Due to a law called the Indian Act from 1876, First Nations peoples were barred from consuming alcohol or from entering any establishment that serves alcohol. Places like the Legion branches, which almost all serve liquor. So, they were prevented from enjoying virtually all of the same benefits their fellow veterans were given, simply because of the color of their skin and the differences in their culture. This law was in effect until 1950, around which time the government began to slowly disassemble it. Also, up until 1995 indigenous veterans and their service was not recognized by the Canadian armed forces and so they were denied even the recognition they had earned. UNTIL 1995. That’s insane and a reminder that although our nation has a lot to be proud of, there is a black mark on our history as far as the treatment of our First Nations neighbors and fellows is concerned.
That just about wraps up this post about our indigenous veterans. So, November the 8th as well as the 11th, set aside a moment to reflect on the sacrifices made by these folks for the dream of a peaceful world, a world we’re still trying to work towards achieving. Which brings us to what Remembrance Day is really all about: Reflecting on the horror and futility of war and striving to walk the road to peace. I’ll leave you with this quote from Mike”Miistatisomitai”Mountain Horse, an indigenous veteran from World War 1: “The war proved that the fighting spirit of my tribe was not squelched through reservation life. When duty called, we were there, and when we were called forth to fight for the cause of civilization, our people showed all the bravery of our warriors of old.”
