Photo credits: Veterans Affairs Canada. Retrieved from https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng//remembrance/people-and-stories/indigenous-peoples 

Pictured above: An excerpt from the publication, Indigenous Soldiers - Foreign Battlefields 

Remembrance Day gives Canadians the opportunity to pause and remember those who have served Canada, in times of war, military conflict and peace. This includes Indigenous Canadians, who have a long and proud tradition of military service to Canada.

As many as 12,000 First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples of Canada served and sacrificed during the First World War, Second World War and the Korean War.

Indigenous veterans had to overcome a multitude of challenges to serve in the military, including learning a new language, traveling large distances and adapting to cultural differences. Despite these challenges, Indigenous peoples continued to devote their lives and serve in uniform.

“The war proved that the fighting spirit of my tribe was not squelched through reservation life,” wrote World War I veteran Mike Mountain Horse, in his book My People: The Bloods. “When duty called, we were there, and when we were called forth to fight for the cause of civilization, our people showed all the bravery of our warriors of old.”

Indigenous Canadians brought valuable skills with them to the military, such as patience, precision and marksmanship, learned from being part of hunting communities. Some Indigenous peoples also served as “code talkers” who could encode and decode sensitive messages using Indigenous Languages, in order to not be understood by the enemy.

Indigenous Veterans Day was first recognized in Winnipeg in 1994. This year was celebrated on November 8, to commemorate the sacrifice of Indigenous Veterans who gave their lives in service of Canada and to pay tribute to the Indigenous Canadians who even today continue to devoutly serve in the military. To learn more about the publication of Native Soldiers Foreign Battlefields, please visit the Veterans Affairs Canada site.