Elbow & District Museum & Historical Society
229 Saskatchewan Street S0H 1J0 Elbow, SK, Canada

Saskatchewan Multicultural Week - "Who is your Multicultural Superhero?" We all benefit when our communities welcome people from many cultures. Check out this ...website for more information on the Multicultural Council of Saskatchewan: https://mcos.ca/events/sask-multicultural-week/superhero/ See more

When visiting our area, be sure and stop in the Village of Strongfield to pay your respects: Taken from the Veterans Affairs Canada website: " In 1946 Gordon McPherson and William Lett, two First World War verterans, initiated a memorial project in the Strongfield community. A committee was formed and named the "Strongfield War Services Association." Fred Clarke, a welder and welding instructor, was asked to build the soldier for the top, and the community recruited volunteers to construct the base of concrete. Fred Clarke and his students at Moose Jaw Technical High School constructed the steel soldier. The Cenotaph was unveiled and dedicated on Decoration Day - August 3, 1947." Picture thanks to Jodie Simonsen

I was chatting this summer with an Indigenous friend when he mentioned almost casually that his grandfather and his two brothers volunteered for the Korean War ... and had to give up their so-called Indian Status in order to enlist. A WTF moment for me. Say again - the three brothers VOLUNTEERED to put their lives on the line for this country and had to sign away official recognition of their culture and heritage? Impossible. So I vowed to do some digging. And I found it was true. And then I decided to post about the special courage of Indigenous soldiers this Remembrance Day. Some 10,000 Indigenous men and women enlisted to fight for Canada in the two World Wars. But technically you could not call them Canadian because there was no citizenship for Indigenous peoples during the First or Second World Wars or during Korea for that matter. While Indigenous peoples in the U.S. attained citizenship and the right to vote in 1925 (partly in recognition for their service in WWI), Canada withheld citizenship until 1960 when John Diefenbaker finally acted. But that sad information was just the start for me. Of the 4,000 Indigenous men and women who enlisted in WWI, none were provided the post-war benefits available to non-Indigenous vets land, loans, education. As so-called wards of the state, Indigenous veterans were considered ineligible. In fact and this is beyond callous information about government programs for WWI vets was usually posted in local Legions. And for most Indigenous vets at that time, the Legions were off limit. Edith Anderson Monture from Six Nations in Brantford (pictured here in her WWI uniform) is celebrated as Canada's first Indigenous registered nurse. And she was. But she had to take her nursing degree in the U.S., since any Indigenous person in Canada seeking education beyond grade school was required to give up Status, which she refused to do. So in WWI, as an American-educated registered nurse, she served on the front lines with the American Army Nursing Corps - note the U.S. on her shoulder. Sergeant Tommy Prince from Manitoba (pictured here with his brother Morris) was the most decorated Indigenous soldier in WWII. In fact he received medals for valour from both the Canadian and U.S. armies. And he received them at Buckingham Palace from King George. After the war and before he volunteered for Korea - he said he wanted to show that (First Nations soldiers) were as good as any white man. And he did. But he died penniless in 1977, very likely suffering PTSD. Following World War II, a truly remarkable program was announced for Indigenous veterans. They could be enfranchised! But only if they gave up their Status. It seems just 250 chose to do so. Others did not get the choice. Incredibly some Indigenous vets returned from WWII to discover they had lost their Status as a result of being absent from their reserves for more than four years, a provision of the Indian Act at that time. I know this madness is difficult to believe. My friend’s grandfather got his Status back in the mid-1950s after the Korean War. He had to apply for it. And five years later Parliament made him a citizen and allowed him to vote. On this the 60th anniversary of Indigenous Canadian veterans being permitted to call themselves Canadians, I would like to salute the First Nations, Metis and Inuit men and women who loved and bravely served this country that was so slow to reciprocate their love. Their greatness along with the greatness of all veterans should never be forgotten. And just as they fought for a better world, so must we.

Indigenous Peoples have served our country across all major wars, and they've brought many unique and valuable skills to the Canadian Armed Forces. During WWII,... for instance, Indigenous "code talkers" used languages such as Cree to send coded messages back and forth to Allied Forces. These messages were nearly indecipherable to German/Axis codebreakers - giving us a vital upper-hand. Today, on National Aboriginal Veterans Day we pay respect and honour these brave men and women for their service. #LestWeForget

The original Ector Homestead circa 1951, now the site of Sunset Beach at Lake Diefenbaker and the inspiration behind having one of the main roads within the dev...elopment named Ector Drive #sunsetbeach @sunsetbeachatlakediefenbaker #homestead #history #lakediefenbaker #lakedief #ectordrive See more

Something for everyone in our area.....