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Chapter Eight
First Nations Soldiers: So Many Served
They were denied land, rights as citizens and lived in poverty. Their children were forced into residential schools where the objective was to “kill the Indian in the child.” But when the war began, BC’s aboriginal people stepped forward in remarkable numbers, even after being told they were not wanted. Approximately six thousand aboriginal soldiers served from across the country; by the end of the war 35 percent of the eligible population had enlisted. A partial honour roll at the end of this chapter reveals that aboriginal men signed up from most regions of BC. Canada cannot forget them.
Contents
Above and Beyond: The Indigenous War Effort
Fighting for an Uncertain Future
Conscription—Enslavement?
Article: Aboriginal Soldiers from the North Coast
In Memory of Julian Boyce (1899–1976)
Article: A Piper Visits France
The Honour List of World War I Aboriginal Veterans
Sidebar: From Our Listeners
Above and Beyond: The Indigenous War Effort
By Katherine Palmer Gordon
From the very beginning of World War I, Indigenous volunteers enlisted in droves. Like thousands of other young men in Canada, they were motivated by a strong desire to protect the territories on which—in their case—their ancestors had walked for millennia. In total, more than four thousand Indigenous men fought for Canada. Three hundred would never return home.
These young men, all of eligible military age—between twenty and thirty-five years— accounted for more than one-third of the eligible male population at the time holding registered Indian status under the Indian Act. That is the only Indigenous demographic for which records exist; those numbers do not include non-status First Nations men, nor do they account for the Métis or Inuit people who fought for Canada. The proportion of the Indigenous population who enlisted was as high as (and in some local cases far higher than) the average enlistment rate for non-Indigenous men.
In British Columbia, as news of the war spread, First Nations communities across the province were emptied of their young fathers, uncles, brothers and sons. Many volunteers lived in remote areas, spoke little or no English or French and had never left their home territories to travel to another region, let alone a foreign country. That didn’t stop them. One man named John Campbell travelled thousands of kilometres by foot, canoe and steamer to reach Vancouver to sign up. Every eligible male from the Okanagan Head of the Lake Band enlisted, including Private George McLean, who single-handedly captured nineteen prisoners at Vimy Ridge in 1917.
McLean earned himself a Distinguished Conduct Medal, one of more than fifty medals for acts of bravery that were awarded to Indigenous soldiers. But the men were not the only ones who deserved recognition for their dedication to the war effort. Their wives, mothers, aunts and sisters in turn provided overwhelming support for the troops. Indeed, Indigenous communities raised so much money for the war effort that the federal government eventually ran a poster campaign encouraging non-Indigenous communities to follow their lead.
In other words, Indigenous men and women in Canada proved themselves patriots of the first order—despite the fact that their country had treated them so poorly since the earliest days of Confederation. It might have been more understandable if every one of them instead had refused to help. In 1914 status Indians were not permitted to be citizens (and would not gain that right for another forty-six years). They could not vote in federal or provincial elections. They were also deprived of many other fundamental human rights, including freedom of association and the right to raise their children in their traditional ways.
Indigenous men also faced barriers in enlisting that non-Indigenous volunteers did not. When Canada first entered the war, the government attempted to prohibit status Indians from enlisting on the basis that European nations might consider them “savages” and treat them inhumanely if captured (no such treatment was ever recorded). The attempt at prohibition proved fruitless, however. Most recruiters simply didn’t know about it or ignored it, recognizing the harsh reality that Canada needed as many soldiers as it could get. Indigenous volunteers were happy to oblige.
Sadly, the veterans who returned learned they had fought for a country that would take a very long time to thank them. Those who did come home faced continuing discrimination and disrespect. Assistance provided under the War Veterans Allowance Act (such as education subsidies, government employment and land grants) were not made available to status Indian veterans who returned to reserve communities. They remained disenfranchised until 1960, and continued to be constrained from exercising many rights that Canadian citizens enjoyed. Recalling the relative freedom of their existence overseas where they were able to mingle freely with their fellow soldiers as equals, some re-enlisted in the military.
National Aboriginal Veterans Day is celebrated on November 8 each year but is not officially recognized by the government. It was inaugurated in 1992 by Indigenous veterans’ groups from British Columbia and Manitoba to protest against the fact that at the time Indigenous veterans were not allowed to march or to lay wreaths in national Remembrance Day ceremonies as an officially recognized group.
By 1995 that finally changed. That year, Indigenous veterans were officially given the recognition they have always deserved in Canada for the enormous contribution they made— not only in World War I, but in every subsequent conflict in which Canada has been engaged.
Katherine Palmer Gordon lives on Gabriola Island and has written extensively on treaty issues. Her most recent book is We Are Born with the Songs Inside Us.
Fighting for an Uncertain Future
As Katherine has written, First Nations soldiers were at the forefront of the war effort. They were under the same economic pressures as the general population, and they probably understood the privations of military life much better. They were patient in hardship, accustomed to working in the elements and eating substandard food at irregular intervals. And they could shoot straight. In other words, they made perfect recruits.
Private Johnny Harris of Armstrong was typical. His father was a farmer and local Native leader. His mother was a daughter of local rancher Cornelius O’Keefe. Harris was married and had two children, both born in the earlier years of the war. He was a rancher and in his mid-twenties when he enlisted on January 22, 1917.
Harris was shipped overseas in the summer of 1917 and served with the 47th Battalion (now the Westminster Regiment). He saw some desperate fighting at Passchendaele and Amiens and was part of the now famous Hundred Days campaign, the Canadian Corps’ dash to victory.
“It was unquestionably the most decisive campaign ever fought by Canadian troops,” historian Jack Granatstein wrote in the Globe and Mail. “The cost in lives and wounded was terrible—45,000 casualties, 20 per cent of all Canadian losses in the war.”
One day stood out. General Erich Ludendorff called August 8, 1918, the Black Day of the German Army. Germany reported about thirty thousand casualties on that day alone. Over twelve thousand surrendered. The German high command knew that the end was near. But the fighting was fierce.
Johnny Harris would not see his wife and children again. Harris took a gunshot to the head during the height of the fighting. He died of his wounds on August 15 and is now buried at St. Sever Cemetery, near Rouen.
Men like Harris served and died without the right to vote or many of the other benefits of Canadian citizenship. They considered themselves loyal British subjects and enlisted willingly. But their deaths would take a terrible toll on First Nations communities back home.
With assistance from Leonard Gamble in Armstrong, author of So Far from Home.
Conscription—Enslavement?
On November 17, 1917, the Allied Indian Tribes of British Columbia sent a telegram to Prime Minister Borden:
The Prime Minister of Canada, Ottawa
We, chairman and secretary Committee Allied Tribes of British Columbia consider we should inform you [that] recently announced view [of] Canadian Government [of] Indians within Military Service Act has caused serious unrest among Indians of this Province, who, while loyal British subjects, yet on account [of] land question not settled and citizenship withheld have long thought rights of men denied them and now having no voice in Canadian affairs, regard enforced military service as enslavement. We are sure any attempted enforcement of Act against Indians would be forcibly resisted and probably cause bloodshed. We ask you [to] specially consider that oppression of any weak race would violate principles for upholding which Britain and Dominions are in war, and further fact that on account of Irish question [being] unsettled, Irish people [are] excluded from British Conscription Act. We hope you will accept this warning as sent in helpful spirit and take prompt action required by state of affairs.
P.R. Kelly, Chairman, J.A. Teit, Secretary
This telegram appeared in the Victoria Daily Colonist on November 20. On December 1, the Victoria Daily Times published an article headlined, “Indians Not against Conscription Plan.” The paper’s Duncan correspondent wrote that “great indignation was felt by the Indians where the [Allied Tribes] telegram appeared in the papers...The Chiefs would like it made known that while they do not wish to go to fight, the idea of bloodshed never entered their minds, as they enter only the kindliest feeling for the white people.”
Teit responded a few days later:
Your correspondent’s article is headed, “Indians Not against Conscription Plan,” but the article itself fails to prove this is the case. I believe it is well known that the same Indians whose names your correspondent mentions…had already protested against conscription before Mr. Kelly and I sent our telegram.
Teit continued:
I can unhesitatingly aver that the Indians of BC are against conscription. I have not yet met a single Indian in favor of it. The Indians are not, however, against the volunteer system and they raise no objections to individuals of their tribes enlisting...The fact that we have told the Government of this conscription trouble among the Indians is no proof that we created it. The trouble was here already and others are responsible for it—not we.
An election was under way and the Allied Tribes found themselves in the middle of it as some papers lined up with Borden’s government and others with the anti-conscription movement. The protests of Teit, Kelly and the Allied Tribes did eventually achieve their aim. In January 1918, a regulation passed by order-in-council exempted Indians from conscription.
James Teit continued to fight for the Native cause after the war ended but died of cancer in 1922. He was not yet forty. In 1927, the Indian Act was amended to prohibit First Nations from raising funds to pursue claims without the approval of the federal government. The Allied Tribes collapsed.
[Click here for Aboriginal Soldiers from the North Coast]
In Memory of Julian Boyce (1899–1976)
By Louise Alphonse, editor of Secwepemc News, Shuswap
Julian was born in 1899 to Sicwemtkwe. He was a self-provider, hunting and trapping to make a living. He worked as a ranch hand for the 105 Mile Ranch and the Buffalo Lake Ranch. Because of his experience, he was able to provide support and advice to early non-Native settlers who came to the area.
He served his country on two occasions, in World War I in active duty, and in World War II in Army Reserves back east. He received medals and was recognized for his courage and bravery. It has been said that even though he returned from a violent environment overseas, he remained a kind and gentle person and treated everyone with respect.
During that turbulent time in his life, in the midst of the war, he befriended a soldier from a neighbouring community. They supported each other and survived the return home. During their time of crisis they had made a promise, and upon returning home, Julian kept that promise.
He rode to Chu Chua. They were married and raised, not only their own sons and daughters, but many grandchildren.
We cherish our freedom today, and cherish the memory of Julian Boyce, and all he stood for.
[Click here for A Piper Visits France]
The Honour List of World War I Aboriginal Veterans
Indigenous people from across British Columbia signed up for service. What follows is a partial list of aboriginal people who served, their home First Nation community and, in some cases, when they died.
From these slim details we’re still able to see how some people served and the ultimate sacrifice that many aboriginal soldiers made.
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More information on aboriginal veterans is posted at www.vcn.bc.ca/~jeff rey1/tribute.htm.
From Our Listeners
My Grandfather, Peter Christopher (1896–1970): Like many other veterans, Peter was forever scarred by what he witnessed at war with all its tragedies. When he was in the Army Reserves, he served as a support for his fellow community veterans, who counted on him in their leave time. [Read more]
Sapper Major Angus W. Davis: During the train journey, he made a decision about the recent outbreak of war. “Let the young fellas go first. If fighting lasts more than a couple of years, I will get involved.” “Davis, we’ve enlisted you,” said his pals as he stepped off the train. [Read more]