Taanishi. Hello. My name is Danielle Teillet, and I am a Red River Métis and settler originally from Treaty No. 1 territory. I am now a guest here on the unceded and unsurrendered Algonquin Anishinabe territory. I'm also the inaugural historian of indigenous military history at the Canadian War Museum.
Mr. Chair and members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to contribute to this important study. As a historian, I can offer a historical overview of some experiences of indigenous military service, but I'm not well positioned to speak to more contemporary issues.
Understanding the historical context of indigenous military service can provide us with crucial insights into present-day issues. As you can imagine, five minutes can only scratch the surface of this very complex history. To understand the challenges indigenous service people faced in the early 20th-century World War era, it's critical to consider the broader context of how indigenous people were treated in general through systemic discrimination and colonial policies and legislation. The government and society's treatment of indigenous veterans was inextricably linked to the treatment of indigenous people in general.
There were certain barriers that shaped the voluntary enlistment and service of indigenous people during this era. For example, initially during the First World War, first nations people were dissuaded by the government from enlisting. This was partly based on unfavourable and racist depictions in popular literature at the time, which led to a paternalistic logic that the Germans might refuse to extend the supposed “privileges of civilized warfare” to first nation soldiers. In the Second World War, recruitment for the navy and air force initially required enlisters to be “of pure European descent and of the white race”. Restrictive policies like these were not applied universally, and as casualties mounted in both wars, these types of barriers were abandoned in an effort to boost recruitment.
Conscription, once introduced in both world wars, was intended to include all indigenous people, or at least the government did not see any reason that it would not. Petitions from first nations communities across the country argued that the lack of full citizenship rights of first nations people meant that they should not be forced to go to war like enfranchised Canadians.
Eventually, the government exempted all status Indians from being conscripted in the First World War. There was no such blanket exemption during the Second World War, so only first nations individuals from certain treaty areas, where verbal promises were made to not have to fight in future wars, were exempt from being compelled to serve overseas.
For many indigenous individuals who served during this era, wartime service was the first time they had experienced a sense of equality with their white settler peers. However, they would return to Canada, after their service, to the same discrimination they had known before they enlisted.
Indigenous veterans did not generally receive equal treatment after returning to civilian life. Status Indian veterans, specifically, returned home to a life as wards of the state. Restrictions such as the prohibition on the sale of alcohol to status Indians meant that many first nations veterans could not participate in Legion activities, since liquor was served at many functions. Furthermore, the right to vote federally did not come for status Indian men until 1960. They did not have the full rights and benefits of citizenship under Canada's Indian Act, but had voluntarily enlisted to go to war for Canada anyway.
There was a shared feeling among many indigenous veterans that there was a disconnect between the significance of their wartime service and sacrifices and the political, economic and social realities they returned home to. This was in large part because they were excluded in many cases from accessing veteran supports. Pensions and benefits, such as land and financial grants that the government set up to support veterans after both wars, were notionally available to all veterans; however, most indigenous claims were denied.
These injustices had lasting impacts for many indigenous veterans, some of whom went on to organize politically to lobby for indigenous and veterans rights after their service. These experiences are well documented in the literature and in interviews with indigenous veterans.
Hopefully, this very brief historical overview has provided some context as you explore more current issues in this study. The challenges indigenous service people faced in the post-world war era's discriminatory social, legislative and policy structures persisted for a long time, as did the lack of recognition they received.
Marsi, and thank you for your time.