Indigenous peoples primarily served in the infantry, both due to the amount of manpower the infantry required and the entrance restrictions many Indigenous people could not pass in other branches of the military. The first barrier Indigenous peoples faced was at enlistment. Image from Francis Godon via The Memory Project. Among those who served and were present on D-Day were Francis William Godon, a Métis man in the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, George Horse from Thunderchild First Nation who joined the Elite Sapper Battalion, and Tom Naphtahli “Little Chief” Settee with The Regina Rifle Regiment.įrancis Godon (on right) with two of his friends at Shilo, Manitoba, just before going overseas, 1943. Métis, Inuit, and Non-Status First Nations people were excluded from the count, along with Indigenous people who served in American Forces. This number only reflects a portion of those who served. Reportedly there were 3,090 Canadian Indigenous participants in the Second World War. In both situations, these experiences became decisive influences in the course of history. Likewise, the war was pivotal for Indigenous peoples in the fight for Indigenous rights and equality. When the Allied forces landed on five beaches in Normandy it signaled the beginning of the end of Nazi Germany. The difference was in the situation Indigenous soldiers came from and returned.ĭ-Day, 6 June 1944, was a pivotal day in the Second World War.
Indigenous soldiers fought in all major battles Canada participated in, including D-Day, side by side with non-Indigenous soldiers. When I came home I was an Indian.” These two lines illustrate the Indigenous experience in the Second World War. Indigenous veteran Clarence Silver once said, “When I served overseas I was a Canadian.
#War of beach tomboy series#
If you would like to contribute, contact series coordinator Alex Fitzgerald-Black at Shawkay Ottmann This is the fifth of several posts marking the 75th anniversary of D-Day and the end of the Second World War as part of a partnership between Active History and the Juno Beach Centre.
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