[LINK] "Overlooked First Nations war heroes recognized 2 centuries later"

[rfmcdonald]

CBC News' Havard Gould reports on a new, belated memorial to John Brant, a First Nations leader who played an important if neglected role in Upper Canada's defense in the War of 1812.

More than 200 years after a courageous group of First Nations warriors and war captains saved the day at the Battle of Queenston Heights during the War of 1812 between the Americans and the British, their accomplishments are finally getting large-scale recognition.

A massive memorial, Landscape of Nations, is being dedicated and opened to the public on the site where the battle against the American invaders, who were trying to capture territory on the Canadian side of the Niagara River, was fought.

[. . .]

"It's almost the missing piece," said Niagara Parks Commission chair Janice Thomson. "We need to fill in that piece of history."

The project is supported by the federal, Ontario and local governments, the Six Nations Legacy Consortium and many donors.

British army officer Maj-Gen. Sir Isaac Brock was killed in action at Queenston Heights on Oct. 13, 1812. His memorial, a soaring column, overlooks the battleground and is a popular tourist attraction. It is actually the second monument to Brock on the site; the first was damaged by an explosion.

But until now, much less has been done to acknowledge the efforts of the First Nations in the battle, efforts most historians believe were decisive.