Tseshaht Hereditary Chief Edward Clutesi died in battle in WWII, but his legacy lives on

Edward John Clutesi was killed in battle on Aug. 29, 1944, according to a letter to his mother from the Canadian Forces. He was 26 years old. 

"That's young," Tseshaht Hereditary Chief Josh Goodwill said. "I'm 35, and I feel young. When I finally started … figuring out what I wanted to do with my life, I was like 25, 26. And he was over there doing big battles and fighting a war that I don't think I could handle at my age now.

"That's a very young age for someone to go over and put themselves in a situation like that."

Clutesi was one of thousands of Indigenous soldiers who served in the Canadian military in both the First and Second World Wars. He's also one of about 3,000 soldiers buried at Bretteville-Sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery, the final resting place for casualties of the later stages of the Battle of Normandy. 

Though Clutesi didn't make it home, his memory and legacy live on through stories shared by loved ones and family members working to preserve the Tseshaht language. 

WATCH | Tseshaht Hereditary Chief Josh Goodwill honours Edward Clutesi:

Building on the legacy of an Indigenous chief killed in WW II

19 days ago

Duration 6:38

Edward Clutesi’s gravestone in the Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery bears his name and rank when he was killed in the Second World War. It doesn't show that the 26-year-old was Indigenous, a residential school survivor, heir to one of his nation's hereditary chieftainships — and had a brilliant mind. 

Goodwill is one of the Tseshaht First Nation's hereditary chiefs, but he also happens to be Clutesi's brother's grandson. 

"The first stories my grandfather shared were about his older brother going to war," he said. 

"He talked about the moment he realized that his brother didn't make it home."

His grandfather, Albert Clutesi, was in residential school at the time; Goodwill said a police car came to the school, looking for help finding Albert and Edward's mother. 

"When they said that he knew it was about his brother, his brother was probably gone."

Edward Clutesi had also attended residential school, and despite having been forced to attend, he chose to serve the country in wartime, a move Goodwill said was probably inspired by his community. 

"I think he thought about his family. I think he thought about his younger brother, my grandfather Albert, and the life that they could potentially live if he didn't put himself forward and put himself in that situation," Goodwill said. 

"I'm pretty sure he probably thought about making sure that his community is safe and protected."

Legacy

Today, Goodwill is one of several Tseshaht members working to learn and teach their traditional c̓išaaʔatḥ (Tseshaht) language.

He was inspired by his grandparents, who spoke the language, but often in secret — a lasting impact from residential school, where Indigenous children were banned from speaking the languages of their communities. 

"I felt like a bit of a responsibility of mine that I needed to figure out how to learn the language," he said.  

"It's going to take a lifelong learning journey for me to be able to reach fluency, as fluent as I can get.  I'm growing and learning with my three sons."

Goodwill is also planning a potlatch to celebrate his grandparents, Albert and his wife, Bernice, who died recently.

He said it will also be an opportunity to send Edward Clutesi off in a good way. 

"This is a special occasion to celebrate and share who he was and who he would have been and where we are now as a community and where we are now as Tseshaht."