Upon signing the treaties conscription had been an issue for many First Nation communities. During negotiations in 1876 Alexander Morris told native chiefs that there would be no conscription for war. Although this is not stated outright in the text of Treaty 6 it was a promise nonetheless.
The Great War (World War One) began in 1914 and in 1915 W.C. Mckay wrote a letter to Deputy Superintendent Duncan Campbell Scott urging him to allow for a company of 300 Indians to go and fight on the front lines. Although Scott was favorable to the idea, the Militia Department had reservations about sending these men overseas. The department was weary because of concern that captured Indians would not receive "civilized" treatment.
Wordplay and loopholes allowed these agencies and agents to manipulate policy for their own wants and needs pertaining to the First Nations people. In 1916 recruitment campaigns were aimed at First Nations communities across Canada. Some community elders were appalled at the scare tactics used by recruitment personnel and advised the young men of their communities not to volunteer to go to war because it violated treaty rights. Scott suggested to Lt. Colonel Campbell that "if they are actively engaged in preventing youths from enlisting, they are really breaking their treaty obligations, as they promised to be loyal citizens, and it is anything but loyal to prevent recruiting." Regardless, many did volunteer because of the stifling and oppressive situations on the reserve.
In 1917 the Military Service Act was passed. This legislation had provided for registration and conscription of all males from twenty to thirty four years of age. Unfortunately the authors of the Act neglected to consider the special case of the Indian people when drafting it. Scott had changed his stand once again on conscription and sided with the Federal Government.
The Military Voters Act of 1917 had also caused much grief for Scott, it had allowed for the wives and children of Veterans the right to vote. This presented a dilemma in the already strained relationship between the First Nations and government bureaucracy. The Natives felt that if they were within the guidelines of Canada and not the British crown, they would be entitled to full citizenship based on military service.
The Act was revised to allow for the special needs of First nations people.
14a. Any British subject disqualified from voting is entitled to exemption from combat duties.
18a. Indians must register, but any Indian agent may apply for exemption of particular Indians without recourse to a tribunal.
This measure was legal in terms but it was important for the government to keep the Indians under their thumbs. Scott had only sent regulation 18a. to the Indian agents and deliberately kept 14a. under a veil of secrecy because it would have created an influx of Indian soldiers trying to return home.
These omitted regulations became public knowledge on the reservations and spawned an influx of soldiers willing to volunteer because of the promise of citizenship, and all the rights that go with it.
In retaliation Scott had suggested that Indians should not be allowed to volunteer. And that the ones currently overseas would have to suffer because if they were allowed to come home this would cause dissatisfaction amongst the white soldiers.
Therein lies Scott's dilemma. On the one hand he had Indian soldiers wanting to return home because of the fact that they were conscripted, and did not want to leave in the first place. If they were allowed to return home because of their "special" status, the white soldiers would become upset. And on the other hand, he had Indians willing to volunteer because of the promise of citizenship and voting privileges.
In the end it turned out that these regulations were not taken seriously by anyone but the Indians. Scott and the federal government always changed policy whenever it favored against them, and for the Indian peoples.
Following the war, soldiers returned to Canada to face more turmoil and strife. The Soldier Settlement Act had amendments in it to take land not used by Indian bands and turn it over to white veterans returning from the war. This process was systematic and relentless. Many bands had surrendered lands for a fraction of the lands true worth. In essence the government had violated it's own regulations and the Treaty rights of countless First Nations. The government had bought and gave away land that was to be protected for the Indian people by the Crown.
By Darwin Gardypie