Tim Winegard at National History Forum

Tim Winegard, author of For King and Kanata, will be participating in a panel discussion at the 6th National History Forum, a part of the Governor General’s History Awards.

Held on December 9 at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, the theme of this year’s forum is “How the Centennial of World War I should be commemorated?”

Tim’s panel will focus “on what Canada was like when the war broke out. What were the social and economic conditions at the time, what was the level of preparedness Canada had for the war.” Tim will discuss the participation of First Nations in the war.

About the Forum
Canada’s History Forum brings together over 150 of Canada’s leading historians, educators, museum curators, community leaders and content producers in an annual discussion of issues and opportunities facing the Canadian history community. Among the participants are the recipients of the Governor General’s Awards for Excellence in Teaching Canadian History, the Pierre Berton Award recipient, and the Canada’s History Awards recipients. The event is open to the public, and students of media production, history and education in the Ottawa area are encouraged to participate free of charge.

About For King and Kanata
When the call to arms was heard at the outbreak of the First World War, Canada’s First Nations pledged their men and money to the Crown to honour their long-standing tradition of forming military alliances with Europeans during times of war, and as a means of resisting cultural assimilation and attaining equality through shared service and sacrifice. Initially, the Canadian government rejected these offers based on the belief that status Indians were unsuited to modern, civilized warfare. But in 1915, Britain intervened and demanded Canada actively recruit Indian soldiers to meet the incessant need for manpower. Thus began the complicated relationships between the Imperial Colonial and War Offices, the Department of Indian Affairs, and the Ministry of Militia that would affect every aspect of the war experience for Canada’s Aboriginal soldiers.

In his groundbreaking new book, For King and Kanata, Timothy C. Winegard reveals how national and international forces directly influenced the more than 4,000 status Indians who voluntarily served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force between 1914 and 1919—a per capita percentage equal to that of Euro-Canadians—and how subsequent administrative policies profoundly affected their experiences at home, on the battlefield, and as returning veterans.

About Tim Winegard
Timothy C. Winegard received his doctorate in History from the University of Oxford in 2010. He served nine years as an officer in the Canadian Forces, including a two-year attachment to the British Army. He is the author of Oka: A Convergence of Cultures and the Canadian Forces (2008) and Indigenous Peoples of the British Dominions and the First World War (2011). Dr. Winegard recently moved to Colorado, where he is professor of history at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction.