Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
As Canada marks Indigenous Veterans Day on Nov. 8, historian Cole Nolan from Garden River First Nation in northern Ontario says Indigenous soldiers were some of the first to enlist during the First World War -- despite facing prejudice at home.
The government initially prevented many minority groups from enlisting in the army, but that restriction was gradually eased as casualties mounted. From 1916 until the end of the war, the government began accepting some visible minorities, which included 1,000 Black Canadians, several hundred Canadians of Chinese and Japanese descent, and nearly 4,000 Indigenous soldiers.
“These guys, they enlisted in an army to fight for a country that didn't want them to exist at that point in time,” Nolan told CTVNews.ca in a video interview.
“First Nations men didn't have to join, they weren't compelled in any way to do so,” he said. “It's incredible. It's incredible to think about.”
Like in the First World War, thousands volunteered in the Second World War and with loosened restrictions, many were also conscripted. During the Second World War, at least 3,090 First Nations soldiers enlisted in the Canadian military, with thousands more Métis, Inuit, and non-Status Indian soldiers serving without their ancestry being officialy recognized.
Nolan noted that many of them survived residential schools or ended up having their children forcefully sent to residential schools. While many Indigenous soldiers faced prejudice in Canada, during the war they stood on equal footing with their white counterparts – which was the first time they experienced this type of equality, Nolan added.
Pte. Thomas Godchere, an Ojibwe man from Long Lake Band, fought in the 102nd Battalion during the Second World War. The 20-year-old was awarded the Military Medal and was killed in action at Vimy Ridge. (Library and Archives Canada)
Pte. Thomas Godchere, from Long Lake Band in Ontario, fought with the 102nd Battalion during the Second World War. The 20-year-old was posthumously awarded the Military Medal and was killed in action at Vimy Ridge.
“He was a pretty renowned scout within his battalion, and he won the Military Medal for scouting for daring and coolness,” Nolan said.
Ptes. Peter and Augustin “Gus” Belanger, from Indian Mission Reservation, both enlisted to fight for Canada early on during the First World War. Both enlisted in the 52nd Battalion. (Library and Archives Canada)
Ptes. Peter and Augustin “Gus” Belanger, from Indian Mission Reservation in Ontario, both enlisted to fight for Canada early on during the First World War. Both enlisted in the 52nd Battalion.
Peter was wounded in action and his younger brother Gus was killed in action on May 25, 1917. The latter was awarded the Military Medal posthumously. Nolan said that because of his daring work as a scout, he was exposing himself to a lot of dangerous situations.
Lt. Cameron Donald Brant was not only one of the first Indigenous soldiers to enlist in the First World War, but one of the first soldiers from Canada to do so. (Library and Archives Canada)
Lt. Cameron Donald Brant was not only one of the first Indigenous soldiers to enlist in the First World War, but one of the first soldiers from Canada to do so.
Brant joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force and arrived in France in 1915, but was killed during the second battle of Ypres. His name is listed on the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing in Ypres, Belgium.
Nolan noted that he was the great grandson of Chief Joseph Brandt, who led the Mohawk and other Six Nations during the American Revolution on the side of the British.
For more on what Indigenous soldiers went through, see the video above from historian Cole Nolan.
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.