Isn't it fantastic when you're digging for historical information and you've found someone has written a book based on the very topic you're after? Such was my luck when I discovered that Grace Poulin has written about Aboriginal women in Canada who served in WWII. I chatted with Grace on the phone today and she told me that she became interested in Canada's Aboriginal history after she took a course on the changing roles of Aboriginal women. The professor showed the class a photo of a woman in uniform and remarked "There's a thesis for someone...." Well, Grace decided she would research that photograph which lead her spending several months tracking down vets and traveling to interview them.
One of the women she interviewed was Mary Greyeyes, a woman from Saskatchewan who eventually married and settled in Vancouver. She was the first aboriginal woman to join the Canadian Women's Army Corps. After the war she became Mary Reid and eventually moved to Vancouver and lived on Commercial Drive for 36 years. Sadly, she died in March, 2011.
You can order the book directly from Grace Poulin and proceeds from the publication go towards the making of a documentary based on the book. I can't wait to read it!
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