Pandemic continues to limit Indigenous Veterans Day ceremonies
'It is a way of commemorating all of the ones who've gone before'
Legions and veterans across Canada are marking Indigenous Veterans Day on November 8, while those on Walpole Island First Nation will mark it on November 10 with an informal ceremony. The usual ceremonies were once again cancelled due to the pandemic.
"I'll be out here, put the flags up just after dawn and then I'll have the eagle staff out until noon, and I'll just kind of be sitting off to the side, and then at 10 o'clock, I'll do a very brief ceremony," said Dr. Judy Peters, head of the veterans group at Walpole Island. She added people can drop off wreaths later in the day.
Ceremonies usually include a procession with veterans and children from the children's centre to the cenotaph led by drumming. An elder also speaks and says some words in Ojibwe.
"It is a way of commemorating all of the ones who've gone before, the people who came from our reserve to fight for Canada or the United States. They fought for our right to exist," said Peters.
"Indigenous Veterans Day and Remembrance Day to me is a time of great honour and respect for our World War One veterans, World War Two veterans and the veterans of all the other wars," said Edwin Taylor, a cultural enrichment instructor at the children's centre on Walpole Island. He also served as a Master Corporal in the Canadian Armed Forces.
In 2005, The Royal Canadian Legion commissioned a special pin. Centered on a dream catcher, (originally an Ojibwe symbol of protection), is the Legion Poppy encircled by the Métis sash. Suspended on either side of the Inuit Inuksuk are two Eagle feathers, symbolic of the First Nations people.
Legions in the Windsor area are selling the pins at their branches.
"In the last few years we've been making an extra effort to make sure that they're [Indigenous veterans] included and make sure that they know they're included in our thoughts and our prayers and our thanks," said Tom Friesen, president of the Metropolitan Branch 594 of the Royal Canadian Legion.
The Legion also sells t-shirts with the same indigenous logo on them. Branch 594 held a ceremony Sunday to commemorate Indigenous Veterans Day.
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