Edith Monture

Intro

Charlotte Edith Anderson Monture (often known simply as Edith Monture) was a Mohawk WWI veteran and the first Indigenous woman to become a registered nurse in Canada and gain the right to vote in a federal election.

Early Life & Education

Edith Monture was the youngest of eight children born and raised on the Ohsweken reserve of Brantford, Ontario. In her early twenties, she relocated to New York after being accepted to New Rochelle Nursing School. She left Canada because it was illegal for Indigenous Canadians to attend post-secondary programs. Edith graduated first in her class and became the first Indigenous registered nurse in Canada in 1914.

Military Nursing Career

After graduating from New Rochelle, Edith continued living in New York while working as a private school nurse. In 1917 when the United States entered WWI, Edith volunteered to join the U.S. Medical Corps. After training for three months, she was one of the few Indigenous women deployed overseas to Vittel, France, in February of 1918.

Return to Canada

Before leaving for France, Edith returned to her Ohsweken reserve. She received ceremonial Mohawk clothing as burial wear if she died overseas. Her community did not expect her to return.

Life During Wartime

Edith was a nurse at Buffalo Base Hospital 23, a former resort hotel. She was responsible for treating soldiers who were shot or gassed. At times, she served in other medical centers in France that required her to walk across battlegrounds looking for wounded, allowing her to see more of the country and the horrors of war. Her work was both emotionally draining and physically exhausting.

Earl King

In her diary, Edith expressed sadness over the loss of patient Earl King. The 20-year-old boy had a severe neck wound that was anticipated to mend but ended up causing his death. Edith wrote: "My heart was broken. Cried most of the day and could not sleep." The grief-stricken Edith wrote to King's mother in the United States, telling her she was with him when he died. After the war, King's parents contacted Edith, inviting her to visit them in Iowa. She did.

Postwar Nursing Career

After the war, Edith returned to the Ohsweken reserve in Canada. She continued to work as a nurse and midwife at a hospital in her community. In 1939 she was elected honorary president of the Ohsweken Red Cross. She continued to serve her community until she retired in 1955 at 65-years-old.

Voting Rights

Edith became the first Indigenous woman to gain the right to vote in a Canadian federal election. The Military Service Act (1917) had given wartime nurses the right to vote. However, Indigenous women could not legally vote federally until 1960.

Personal Life

Edith was married to Claybran Monture, and they had four children: Bud, Helen, Ron, and Don. A fifth child, Gilbert, passed away early in life. Edith's daughter, Helen, also became a nurse and was one of the founding members of the Canadian Indigenous Nurses Association.

Death

Charlotte Edith Anderson Monture passed away on the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve in 1996, a week before her 106th birthday. She had 14 grandchildren and many great-grandchildren. She now rests in St. John's Anglican Cemetery, located on the reserve.