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Today, June 21st, is National Aboriginal Day. 

In honour of Aboriginal soldiers who have served or continue to serve their country, the National Aboriginal Veterans Association is holding a Ceremony of Remembrance and Wreath Laying today at the National Aboriginal Veterans Monument in downtown Ottawa. 

It seems a suitable day to feature an excerpt from my memoir Excuse Us! Herr Schicklgruber, which concerns the invaluable contribution of the Métis to my regiment in World War II:

The Métis

The Royal Winnipeg Rifles (RWR) could boast of 102 Métis among its ranks.  These men were the direct descendants of the soldiers who fought under Gabriel Dumont, the ‘battle adjutant’ of the Métis in the North West Rebellion.  Dumont was the ‘number two’ man to Louis Riel.

The contribution of the Métis to the fighting troops of the RWR is described in the Regiment’s history and elsewhere.  How good were they?  It is said, with some truth, that they could bring down an enemy or a buffalo while riding full tilt.  Their tactics had been bred into them.

They were superb fighting men.  Their inborn skills produced in them a superb sense of fieldcraft.  Also, the Métis were skilled at the tactics of the battlefront.  For centuries they had been taught how to fight.  Their leaders, with their coloured feather lances, could produce a sizeable force of fighting men, emerging seemingly from behind bushes or rising out of mist-covered fields.  It is well known, from reading the history of the German Army, that a sudden appearance of Métis soldiers on a hitherto unknown battleground created an aura of mystery.

It is more than a coincidence that there were three members of the Choquette family who died while serving in the RWR.  The three Choquette boys were known to me.  They were:

Rfn Morris J. Choquette of Oakville, Manitoba:  He died on June 8 ‘44 at the age of 24 and is buried at Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery.  He was the son of David and Mary Choquette.  Choquette Bay (64 P/4) in Oolduywas Lake was named after him.  It is in the same square mile as Choquette Lake, named for Edmond Choquette (chronicled later); that is near Nueltin Lake.

Rfn Roland J. Choquette of St. Boniface, Manitoba:  He died on August 15 ‘44 at the age of 22.  He is buried in Bretteville-sur-Laize Cemetery.  He was the son of George and Aurora Choquette.  Choquette Point (64 I/13) on Shethanei Lake was named after him.  It is also in the square mile numbered 64.

Rfn Ed Choquette of Glenora, Manitoba:  Choquette Lake (64 N/6) carries his name; it is southwest of Nueltin Lake.  He is buried in Adegem Cemetery.  He lasted longer than the other two Choquettes, having died of wounds on October 28 ‘44 after a valiant battle at the Leopold Canal.  He was 26 years old.  Carrying on the tradition of the Choquettes, another cousin, Pte Lawrence Choquette served in the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders of Winnipeg and died on August 8 ‘44.

The documentary Against All Odds, which I produced in 1988, contains a short vignette.  I was filming grave sites, identifying the headstones of Winnipeg Rifles.  I pointed to the headstones of twelve of my Company, then came to the last headstone.   I was shocked and said on tape:  “My God, Edmund Choquette.”  Unbeknownst to me a German shell had killed him outright.  My nerves were in tatters for several days after seeing Ed’s grave. 

WORTHY OF NOTE!  It was common, prior to World War II, to call the Métis ‘half-breeds.’  The designation ‘half-breed’ fell into disuse when the RWR realized that it was a derogatory term.  The descendants of those fighters who had given such a stirring account of themselves against the ‘whites’ from the prairies in the Riel Rebellion of 1885 deserved a better nomenclature than the ignoble ‘half-breed.’  They were soon assimilated into the Winnipegs and certainly achieved equal status.  More to the point, those known as ‘half-breeds’ would resort to fisticuffs if challenged by this degrading term.  The name was first shortened to ‘breed’ and, before the Normandy campaign finished, they were ‘Métis’ – the proud descendants of a fighting tradition.

The manner in which the Métis could carry out a patrol left the regular Germans in awe and fearful.  As well, mentioned herein, is their ability as snipers and marksmen.

Their experience in the Armed Forces in World War II should have changed the public’s view of what they still termed the half-breed.  Unfortunately, the Métis could not take advantage of the generous rehabilitation plans offered to returning veterans.  If they wanted to enter trade school, they would need some basic education – a component which was denied them due to their nomadic existence and lack of schools.  In one now-famous anecdote, a Métis with what would amount to a grade three education, gained in four different schools as his family moved around the prairies, visited a Veterans Affairs office.  The counsellor ran through the options available under the Veterans Charter.  The interview ended by asking the Métis if he would like to become a lawyer or a doctor – this, to a man who had no education!  He had fought valiantly for his country and was among the top soldiers in the infantry.  Like most of his compatriots, he walked out of the DVA office in disgust – back to a canvas and two-by-four tent on a road allowance near St. Ambrois, just north of Portage la Prairie in the Brandon, Manitoba district.