Indigenous Veterans Day on November 8 is a meaningful opportunity to reflect on the remarkable contributions and sacrifices of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit individuals during Canada's military operations and peacekeeping projects.
Indigenous service members displayed remarkable resilience, overcoming language barriers, cultural disparities and significant journeys to serve in the Canadian Armed Forces. Post-war, many Indigenous war veterans did not receive the same care as others.
Today, Indigenous individuals continue a legacy of service. Take a moment to acknowledge service and sacrifice with a title from this list.
Indigenous Peoples in the World Wars by Simon Rose
This title discusses the role of Indigenous soldiers during World War I and World War II and how they were treated when they arrived back home in Canada. Ages 9-12.
Bones of Crows directed by Marie Clements
Told through the eyes of Cree matriarch Aline Spears as she survives a childhood in Canada's residential school system to continue her family's generational fight in the face of systemic starvation, racism and sexual abuse. She applies her ability to understand and translate codes to her position in the Canadian Air Force as a Cree code talker in World War II.
Sounding Thunder: The Stories of Francis Pegahmagabow by Brian D. McInnes
Stories from the life of Ojibwe Francis Pegahmagabow, who became Canada's most decorated Indigenous soldier during the First World War and then settled in Wasauksing, Ontario, where he served his community as both chief and councillor and belonged to the Brotherhood of Canadian Indians.
Fighting with the Empire: Canada, Britain, and Global Conflict, 1867-1947 by Steve Marti and William J. Pratt
As French Canadians, Indigenous Peoples, and those with roots in Continental Europe and beyond mobilized to support the war, their participation challenged the imagined homogeneity of Canada as a British nation. From soldiers overseas to workers and volunteers on the home front – and from the cultural ties of imperial pageantry to the social bonds of race and class — Fighting with the Empire examines the paradox of a national contribution to an imperial war effort.
