Indigenous Veterans’ Day was first observed in 1994 in Winnipeg and has since spread nationally.  It honours Indigenous contributions to service in the First and Second World Wars, the Korean War, and all military service. It is observed on November 8 each year

Selected Resources

Learn about Indigenous Veterans through the following suggestions from the Library.

Forgotten Warriors

VIDEO – NATIONAL FILM BOARD

Although they could not be conscripted, when World War II was declared, thousands of Indigenous Canadian men and women enlisted and fought alongside their non-Indigenous countrymen.

With narrator Gordon Tootoosis providing a historical overview, Indigenous veterans poignantly share their unforgettable war memories and their healing process. We join them as they travel back to Europe to perform a sacred circle for friends left behind, but not forgotten, in foreign grave sites.

Bernie Francis reads “In Flanders Fields” in Mi’kmaq

VIDEO – CBC CURIO

For Remembrance Day, Mi’kmaw linguist Bernie Francis reads his translation of John McCrae’s war poem “In Flanders Fields.”

Indigenous soldiers, foreign battlefields

ONLINE PUBLICATION – VETERANS AFFAIRS CANADA

Generations of Canadians have served our country and the world during times of war, military conflict and peace. Through their courage and sacrifice, these men and women have helped to ensure that we live in freedom and peace, while also fostering freedom and peace around the world.

Pegahmagabow : life-long warrior

PRINT BOOK

Francis Pegahmagabow was a remarkable Indigenous leader who served his nation in time of war and his people in time of peace — fighting all the way. In wartime he volunteered to be a warrior. In peacetime he had no option. His life reveals how uncaring Canada was about those to whom this land had always been home.

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By Linda Fox – Program Support and Promotion, Library and Academic Services