Utoo Radio with Other News Sources - July 2, 2024 - A Dutch researcher is working to identify Indigenous soldiers from Canada who helped liberate her country during World War II and connect with their loved ones.

Mathilde Roza, an associate professor of North American Studies and Literature, is working with Radboud University in Nijmegen, Netherlands, to complete a larger remembrance project.

She began by researching the history of her hometown, Nijmegen, and the Battle of Nijmegen, where she discovered many U.S. Indigenous soldiers.

Roza has compiled a list of around 120 names, with 30 being Metis and 90 being First Nations.

She has already managed to track down about a third of her list. Many of the individuals she is trying to track down hail from northern Ontario, with some born in Sudbury, North Bay, Moosonee, and Chapleau.

The goal is to create an exhibition in the Netherlands to accompany the 80th anniversary of the liberation and publish a book about all the soldiers buried in the Netherlands, including biographies and stories.