The names of more than 150,000 Indigenous soldiers who fought for Canada and the United States have been identified after a two-decade effort from a Quebec resident.
Yann Castelnot is an amateur historian from France, who has compiled one of the largest databases of Indigenous soldiers, including 18,830 who were born in Canada, as a way to learn more about their contributions to Canadian and American forces.
Mr. Castelnot is originally from the Vimy region of France and immigrated to Canada 13 years ago. According to a recent CBC report, “He has dedicated years to compiling names, photos, and documents on Indigenous soldiers as the president of the Association de recherche des aneiens combattants amérindiens.”
In 2017, Mr. Castelnot’s efforts earned him a Minister of Veterans Affairs Commendation, an award given to those who have contributed to the remembrance of the contributions, sacrifices and achievements of veterans.
All information compiled by the association is published on its Facebook page, Native American Veterans and Native Canadian Veteran Facebook page, which “sometimes includes facts unknown to soldiers’ descendants and communities.”
Private Louis Rulo, US Army, c1918. Otoe Nation. Photo courtesy of the Native American Veterans and Native Canadian Veteran Facebook page.
The database, launched a year ago, is available in English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, German, and Italian.
For genealogists, the downside to this website is that the information is not sourced item by item, although there is a lengthy bibliography provided in the Sources section. As with many databases, genealogists should use the information as a hint of where to look next.
Mr. Castelnot admits that sometimes searching the database is slow. He pays for it himself.
I was able to search names on Firefox, but not on Google Chrome. At first I had no difficulty searching on Chrome, but then I ran into a bit of difficulty.
