"Indians Made Valuable Contributions in Wars"

Remembrance Day is a time to remember those who gave their lives in the armed forces. It is an appropriate time to discuss a recently published book about the contribution that Indian soldiers have made in Canada.

Forgotten Soldiers notes in alphabetical order literally hundreds of Indian soldiers who were killed in the two World Wars. It also notes each one's rank, battalion, Indian band, province and the date of death.

Since Indian men joined the armed forces by the thousands, this book is mainly about those who did not come back. And unfortunately there were many of them.

In the First World War 314 gave their lives. In the Second World War the number was 241.

The first Six Nations soldier in the First World War list was Pte. William Aaron of the 116th Battalion. He died Aug. 13, 1918. The first one mentioned in the Second World War list was Pte. Carmen Francis Barnhardt of the Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada. He died July 25, 1944. There are few Aarons left on the Reserve now and no Barnhardts that I know of.

Indians were good soldiers and were dependable under fire. In the First World War, there were 30 who received medals and awards for bravery. In the Second World War, which had less hand-to-hand combat, there were 13.

This book tells about many thrilling battles and details the courageous exploits of many Indian soldiers. Two particularly brave warriors, Charlie Byce and Tommy Prince, lived to return home to Canada.

Charlie Byce of the Lake Superior Regiment won both the Distinguished Conduct Medal and the Military Medal.

Tommy Prince of the Brokenhead Band in Manitoba was perhaps the best known Indian to have worn a Canadian military uniform. He won the Military Medal and he believed he would have won the Victoria Cross for his courageious expoits if he had not been an Indian. Tommy later served in the Korean conflict and again safely returned home.

To the credit of the author Fred Gaffen, a historian at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, this book also mentions the prejudice faced by the Indian war veterans after the wars were over. For example, on the Prairies, only one in 10 Indians who applied for a farm loan under the Soldier Settlement Act of 1919 was granted one.

In another case, Sam Gagnon from Maniwaka, Que., who had lost an eye in the fighting overseas, moved to Fort Assiniboine, Alta. He applied for a homestead in 1934, but was turned down on the grounds that he was an Indian. The good old Indian Act of 1906, Clause 81, section 164, was quite definite that this could not be done.

Even in death some Indian veterans were treated unfairly. The Last Post Fund had been established to prevent any veteran of His Majesty's forces from being buried in a pauper's grave.

In the 1930s, the Last Post Fund was only permitted to pay for a headstone. In one case here in Ontario, the Legion members found that a penniless Indian veteran was being buried without a rough box or a hearse. Clearly, some veterans were being deprived of a proper burial.

Indian veterans, during the Depression, did not receive the same assistance as other returned soldiers under the War Veterans Allowance Act. Only enfranchised Indian veterans, not living on an Indian reserve, received the $40 a month for a single and $70 for a married veteran. This, despite the fact that they probably needed it more. It was not changed until 1936 that this unfair policy was changed.

It is to our Indian boys credit that when the call came during the Second World War, so many hundreds again answered.