For King and Kanata: Canadian Indians and the First World War by Timothy C. Winegard (review)

In the last decade there has been growing global interest in the histories of Indigenous peoples in the armed forces, with Indigenous communities especially pushing for recognition of their families’ contributions to defending their own countries. As the centenary of the First World War approaches, these histories are becoming central not only to Indigenous communities but also to wider national memories and commemorations of war. Across the British dominions and the United States in particular, Indigenous and non-Indigenous historians have been active partners in documenting the histories of First Nations peoples in the armed forces from colonial times through the present day. Writing such histories of Indigenous military service is no easy task; historians need to balance the methodologies and theoretical frameworks associated with Indigenous knowledge, (post-)colonialism, military history, and public policy. Among the new wave of historians who specialize in weaving these historical threads together is Timothy C. Winegard, and he has succeeded beautifully in his book For King and Kanata: Canadian Indians and the First World War.

For King and Kanata is an overview history of Aboriginal Canadians who served in the First World War. Winegard effectively draws on a variety of sources, including government policy documents from both Canada and Great Britain, tribal documents and correspondence, newspapers, Native writings, and oral testimonies. The book presents both macro- and micro-histories of military service among Canadian First Nations, telling a meta-narrative while also revealing the regional differences and the ways that individuals navigated government policies and war service. The life stories personalize the larger themes of the book: colonialism’s impact on Canada’s First Nations, interactions between Native enlistees and recruiting officers, stereotyping of Native Canadians as a martial race, the challenges and horrors of war, and the unfulfilled hopes for reforms in Native affairs after the war.

Winegard targets a generalist audience, and as such he provides a lot of context about Canada’s history of colonialism and, to a lesser extent, Canada’s role in the First World War. Winegard’s prose is easy to follow, so the book is accessible to a non-specialist reader. As a result, though, historians of Canada’s First Nations may find much of the historical context – particularly chapters 1–3 – to be basic knowledge of settler–First Nations relations in Canada from first contact through the Boer War. Though this material could potentially be abridged, it does make the book more marketable to non-Canadian audiences who are not familiar with the nation’s history.

It is from chapter 4 that Winegard really delves into the First World War material. Winegard divides the war and the position of Canada’s First Nations into three periods: 1914–15, when their participation was discouraged; 1915–16, when the Canadian Expeditionary Force was more open to Native volunteers; and 1917–18, when conscription engendered significant dissent from many First Nations communities. One of the strengths of Winegard’s analysis is the statistical data he presents, including breakdowns of Native Canadian participation by region, tribal financial contributions to the war effort, and comparisons between Native and non-Native Canadian participation in the war. Winegard also includes analysis of First Nations people on the home front and the post-war impact of First World War service on Native veterans and their communities. Winegard highlights the empowerment felt in Native communities as they challenged the restrictions they suffered under the Indian Act, while the Canadian government and individual Canadians continued to discriminate against them.

For King and Kanata’s preface clarifies that the content does not address the Aboriginal people of Labrador and Newfoundland, Inuit people, or the Metis (who were able to enlist under the same rules that applied to Europeans). The focus on Canadian Native Americans, with some references also to those from the United States, is not an oversight or a weakness of the book; rather, it reflects the data in the available...