How can a veteran’s memoir engage students in conversations about settler colonialism, residential schools, and the ethics of war?
What is the Source?
What is the Story? (Podcast)
Join Dr. Isabelle St-Amand (Queen’s University) as she shares Eddy Weetaltuk’s memoir From the Tundra to the Trenches (University of Manitoba Press). Eddy Weetaltuk, an Inuk man, joined the Canadian military to fight in the Korean War (1950-1953) under a false name.
This exciting and funny memoir covers his experience at war, as well as his experiences growing up in James Bay and attending a church-run day school and his experiences returning home from war to increased racism. Dr. St-Amand brings her enthusiasm and passion to this conversation, to talk about we can use the memoir as a whole to challenge Canadian history.
In Eddy’s autobiography he is a hero. He is not a victim at all. Athough he had to endure a lot he is the hero of that story. - Dr. Isabelle St-Amand
Lesson Suggestions from the video – Comment to add your own!
Remembrance Dog Tags: Fallen Indigenous Service Members – Government of Canada
Unikkausivut: Sharing Our Stories Initiative Educators Guide – NFB
Récitus, La situation des autochtones de 1945 à1980 (French) – Government of Quebec
Indigenous Veterans Day – Trent University
Deepening Knowledge: Resource for and about Aboriginal Education – University of Toronto
Helpful Links
More information here:The Korean War – Canadian Encyclopedia
Indigenous Pilots Lost in the skies of WW1 – Legion Magazine
Unikkausivut: Sharing Our Stories Initiative – NFB
Indigenous Veterans: From Memories Of Injustice To Lasting Recognition – Government of Canada
Dick Patrick: An Indigenous veteran’s fight for inclusion – Canadian Museum of Human Rights
