First Nations, Métis and Inuit in the Second World War

Hook: a hero who came home to a different country

Tommy Prince, from the Brokenhead Ojibway Nation in Manitoba, became one of Canada's most decorated Indigenous soldiers. In Italy in 1944, disguised as a farmer, he repaired a broken telephone wire within sight of the enemy so he could keep reporting German positions. He won the Military Medal from the King and the Silver Star from the United States. When he came home, he still could not vote federally without giving up his status, and he did not receive the same help as other veterans. Why did so many Indigenous people serve a country that treated them unequally, and what happened when they returned?

Enlistment and service

• Official records show more than 3,000 First Nations members enlisted. The real number of Indigenous people who served is higher, because Métis, Inuit and non-status people were usually not counted separately.
• Indigenous soldiers served in every branch and in every major campaign: Hong Kong, Dieppe, Italy, Normandy, the Netherlands, and with the RCAF and the navy.
• Many were scouts and snipers, using skills learned on the land. Cree speakers, such as Charles "Checker" Tomkins, a Métis man from Alberta, helped send messages in Cree that the enemy could not understand.
• Some recruits had to overcome barriers to enlist, such as language, distance from recruiting centres, and the medical or education standards of the forces.

Reasons people enlisted included loyalty to the Crown and to treaty relationships, a tradition of warriorship, a desire to fight fascism, family tradition from the First World War, and steady pay in a time of poverty.

Not everyone agreed

Indigenous communities were not all of one view. Some First Nations, such as many among the Haudenosaunee, argued that they were sovereign nations and allies of the Crown, not subjects, and that conscription violated that relationship. Others pointed to treaty promises that they would not be forced to fight overseas. Some First Nations people resisted conscription under the NRMA, and the government eventually exempted some First Nations from overseas service. Opposing conscription and supporting the war effort were not opposites: many communities both sent volunteers and defended their rights.

The home front

• Many First Nations communities donated money to the Red Cross and other war charities and bought Victory Bonds, even when they were poor.
• Indigenous people worked in war industries, on farms and in the fisheries, and some women joined the women's services.
• On the West Coast, many Indigenous men served in the Pacific Coast Militia Rangers, a volunteer force that watched the coast.
• In the North, the Alaska Highway (1942) and other military projects brought thousands of outside workers through the lands of Yukon and northern BC First Nations. They brought some jobs, but also disease, pressure on game and lasting changes to communities.
• Under the War Measures Act, the government appropriated reserve land for military use. The best-known case is Stoney Point in Ontario.

After the war: unequal treatment

• Veterans' benefits: the Veterans' Land Act (1942) helped veterans buy land and homes. First Nations veterans who returned to reserves could not get the same deal, because reserve land is held by the Crown; they received smaller grants through Indian Affairs, which were harder to access. Many say they were not told about all the benefits they were entitled to.
• Loss of status: some First Nations veterans, and their families, lost their Indian status because of time spent away or because they accepted benefits or rights only available to non-status people.
• Rights: veterans who had fought for freedom overseas returned to the Indian Act's restrictions at home. Many Indigenous veterans became leaders in the fight for rights and changes to the Indian Act after the war (Unit D).

Canada has since acknowledged some of this history. National Indigenous Veterans Day (November 8) has been marked since the 1990s, beginning in Winnipeg, and later governments offered some compensation and recognition to First Nations and Métis veterans.