Library and Learning Services: Military-connected at Georgian: Significant Days

Jason Kerr

Military-connected Coordinator
Barrie campus, K241
Email military connected campus

Indigenous Veterans Day

Indigenous Veterans Day is recognized annually on November 8th.

This day honours the contributions of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people who participated in Canada’s military efforts. Thousands of Indigenous Peoples served in the First World War, Second World War, the Korean War, and other conflicts.

Image: These beaded poppies were made by Ashley Lacourciere from Onizhishin Designs.

Aboriginal peoples and the Canadian military : historical perspectives by Lackenbauer, P. W. & Mantle, C. L.
Call Number: U21.5 .A26 2007

ISBN: 9780662458760

Publication Date: 2007
For King and Kanata: Canadian Indians and the First World War by Timothy C. Winegard
Call Number: D639 .I56 W55 2012 (Barrie) and online

ISBN: 9780887557286

Publication Date: 2012

When the call to arms was heard at the outbreak of the First World War, Canada's First Nations pledged their men and money to the Crown to honour their long-standing tradition of forming military alliances with Europeans during times of war, and as a means of resisting cultural assimilation and attaining equality through shared service and sacrifice. Initially, the Canadian government rejected these offers based on the belief that status Indians were unsuited to modern, civilized warfare. But in 1915, Britain intervened and demanded Canada actively recruit Indian soldiers to meet the incessant need for manpower.
Native soldiers, foreign battlefields by Summerby, J.
Call Number: D810.I5 S85 2005 (Barrie & Orillia)

ISBN: 9780662687504

Publication Date: 2005
Pegahmagabow:: Legendary warrior, forgotten hero by Adrian Hayes
Call Number: E99.C6 P455 2003 (Barrie)

ISBN: 9780968145289

Publication Date: 2003
The Comanche Code Talkers of World War II by William C. Meadows
ISBN: 0292798504

Publication Date: 2009

Among the allied troops that came ashore in Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944, were thirteen Comanches in the 4th Infantry Division, 4th Signal Company. Under German fire they laid communications lines and began sending messages in a form never before heard in Europe—coded Comanche. For the rest of World War II, the Comanche Code Talkers played a vital role in transmitting orders and messages in a code that was never broken by the Germans.
The Canadian Rangers by P. Whitney Lackenbauer
Call Number: UA602 .C29454 L33 2013 (Barrie & online)

ISBN: 9780774824521

Publication Date: 2013

The Canadian Rangers stand sentinel in the farthest reaches of our country. For more than six decades, this dedicated group of citizen-soldiers has quietly served as Canada's eyes, ears, and voice in isolated coastal and northern communities from coast to coast to coast. In this meticulously researched history, Lackenbauer reveals why the Rangers have evolved into a flexible, inexpensive, and culturally inclusive way to promote sovereignty, security, safety, and stewardship. This unique organization reflects a successful partnership between the modern state and residents of remote communities, a partnership rooted in local knowledge and crosscultural understanding.

Forgotten Warriors (film)
Although they could not be conscripted, when World War II was declared, thousands of Indigenous Canadian men and women enlisted and fought alongside their non-Indigenous countrymen. Ironically, they fought for freedom for others while being denied equality in their own country.

Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day is recognized on November 11. This commemorates the ceasefire signing of World War I (WWI) that occurred at the eleventh hour on November 11, 1918.

Read about the history of the poppy.

Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae wrote the poem In Flanders Field in 1915. This poem inspired the poppy as a remembrance symbol.

Read the poem on the Royal Canadian Legions website and the protocol associated with the poppy.

Military-connected at Georgian

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Jason Kerr

Jason Kerr

Indigenous Veterans Day

Remembrance Day