Table of Contents
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Indigenous veterans served Canada with extraordinary distinction across every major conflict from WWI through Afghanistan, yet faced systematic institutional discrimination for decades—denied benefits, excluded from Legion halls and Remembrance Day ceremonies, and barred from laying wreaths at the very cenotaphs commemorating the wars they fought.[1]
More than 12,000 Indigenous people served in the major conflicts of the 20th century, with at least 500 giving their lives,[2] while their families shouldered immense burdens on the home front.[3]
This discrimination, enabled by the Indian Act and administered through Indian agents, persisted until the 1990s,[4] ultimately catalyzing the creation of Indigenous Veterans Day in 1994 as both commemoration and acknowledgment of historical injustice.[5]
Why this matters: Understanding this history is essential to reconciliation and recognizing the full contribution of Canada's military families. Indigenous enlistment rates in WWI reached approximately 33-35% of eligible men—two to three times higher than many non-Indigenous populations[3][6]—yet these veterans returned home to systematic exclusion from the benefits and recognition afforded their non-Indigenous comrades.[3] The legacy continues to shape military-Indigenous relations today, even as Indigenous peoples now serve in the Canadian Armed Forces at rates higher than their proportion of the general population.[7]
Context: Canada's military history spans from the First World War, which mobilized 650,000 Canadians and claimed 66,000 lives, through Afghanistan, where 40,000 personnel served over 13 years.
Throughout this century of service, military families—particularly spouses who become de facto single parents during deployments—have provided the stability enabling operational readiness.
But for Indigenous families, this service came with additional burdens: discrimination, loss of status, land expropriation, and exclusion from commemoration.
Canadian military service across a century of conflict
Canada's military contributions have been substantial relative to the nation's population, with service members participating in conflicts that shaped the 20th and 21st centuries.
During the First World War, 619,636 Canadians enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, with approximately 424,000 serving overseas from a national population of only eight million.
The war claimed 66,000 Canadian lives and wounded 172,000 more.[8]
The Second World War saw even greater mobilization, with 1.1 million Canadians serving from a population of 11.5 million, resulting in 45,000 deaths and 55,000 wounded.[8]
The Korean War brought 26,791 Canadians to the theatre between 1950 and 1953, with 516 deaths[9][10]—Canada's third-deadliest conflict.[10][11]
Canada's longest war, Afghanistan, spanned from 2001 to 2014 and engaged over 40,000 Canadian Armed Forces members.[12]
Unlike earlier conflicts with mass conscription, Afghanistan represented a professional military deployment, yet it still claimed 158 military lives[13] and resulted in over 2,000 wounded or injured.[14][15]
The first Canadian female soldier killed in combat, Captain Nichola Goddard, died in Afghanistan in May 2006.[13]
Beyond combat operations, Canada distinguished itself in UN peacekeeping, contributing over 125,000 military and police personnel to more than 70 UN peacekeeping operations[16] since 1948.[11][16]
During the Cold War, Canada was the only country to contribute to all peacekeeping operations, maintaining an average deployment of 1,000 personnel per month for 40 years.[17] This peacekeeping legacy cost 130 Canadian lives,[16][18] including nine CAF members killed when their aircraft was shot down over Syria in August 1974.[11]
The veteran population has transformed dramatically over recent decades. As of the 2021 Census—the first to count veterans since 1971—461,240 veterans lived in Canada, including 386,300 men and 74,935 women.[19]
The population of war service veterans has declined precipitously: as of 2025, only 3,691 Second World War veterans and 1,909 Korean War veterans remain alive, most now in their nineties.
Since November 2010, Veterans Affairs Canada has served more modern CAF veterans than war service veterans,[20] reflecting this generational shift.
Today's veteran population is younger, more diverse, and includes 23,075 Indigenous veterans (5.2% of all veterans)[19] and growing numbers of women veterans, who now comprise 16.2% of the veteran community.[20]
The invisible labour of military families during deployment
Military families constitute a distinct population facing challenges unknown to civilian families: mobility, separation, and risk.[21][22]
The 2021 Census identified 345,180 military families in Canada, with over 57,000 families raising 64,000 children under age 18.[23][24]
Military families relocate three to four times more often than civilian families,[21][25] with 76% of spouses having moved at least once to accommodate a posting[22] and more than 10,000 families relocating annually.[26][27]
The employment consequences are severe: only 46% of Canadian military spouses report full-time employment,[22] despite 78.4% possessing postsecondary credentials—significantly higher education levels than non-military counterparts.[24]
Frequent relocations disrupt career continuity, create provincial licensing challenges for regulated professions, eliminate seniority, and result in resume gaps that civilian employers struggle to understand.
During deployments, which typically last one to fifteen months, military spouses effectively become single parents managing all household, domestic, and parenting responsibilities without the deployed member's support.
Seventy percent of Canadian military spouses have experienced at least one deployment, and 17% have experienced deployment more than five times.[22]
CAF personnel spend upward of a quarter of their time separated from families for training and deployment.[25]
The Military Ombudsman's 2013 report "On the Homefront" documented that "the adjustments that non-serving partners, especially those with children, make to assume all the household, domestic and parenting responsibilities for the extended period of a deployment are considerable."
This burden extends beyond the deployment itself to include the intensive pre-deployment training period, often conducted in isolation or distant locations.[21]
The at-home spouse manages not only routine childcare and household maintenance but also all emergency situations, financial decisions, medical appointments, school transitions, and crisis management independently.[28]
Research from Oromocto, New Brunswick found that adolescent children, particularly girls, take on additional household labor during deployment, including "emotional work" of caring for the at-home parent and censoring communication with younger siblings when news from Afghanistan was troubling.
One-fifth of military spouses have been diagnosed with depression at some point during their partner's CAF career, and 12% have been diagnosed with anxiety disorders. The mental health impacts intensify with deployment length—the greatest increase in mental health cases occurs among spouses whose partners deployed for more than eleven months.[22][29]
Children of deployed parents also face documented challenges to their wellbeing.
U.S. research cited in Canadian studies found mental and behavioral health visits increased by 11% in children aged three to eight when a parent deployed, with behavioral disorders increasing by 19% and stress disorders by 18%.
Approximately 25% of children experience depressive symptoms during parental deployment, and academic performance suffers—military children with a deployed parent test substantially lower than civilian counterparts across subjects.[22][25]
Three-quarters of military families reported that the first three months after coming home was the most stressful part of the deployment cycle, as families navigate reintegration and role readjustment.[22]
Despite these challenges, research consistently shows that four out of five military families demonstrate remarkable resilience, with children often developing enhanced adaptability, maturity, and self-sufficiency compared to civilian peers.[21][22]
Recognition of military families' contributions has evolved significantly.
For much of the 20th century, military spouses were expected to embody "the supportive homemaker," with institutional housing and stay-at-home expectations aligned with broader societal norms.
By the 1990s, families managed frequent moves every three to five years with little notice as societal expectations shifted. Contemporary recognition includes the Canadian Forces Family Covenant,[30] the establishment of Military Family Resource Centres providing deployment support and counselling, and the creation of Military Family Appreciation Day in 2019 following a unanimous House of Commons vote.[26][27]
The 2017 defence policy "Strong, Secure, Engaged" explicitly prioritized supporting CAF members and families, including $6 million in annual new funding to modernize family services[31] and employment initiatives like the Military Spouse Employment Network connecting spouses with over 6,500 job opportunities across 40+ employers.[32]
Indigenous peoples answered the call despite facing discrimination
Indigenous peoples have served with distinction in every major Canadian military conflict despite facing barriers to enlistment, systematic discrimination, and uncertain acceptance.[3] In the First World War, more than 4,000 Indigenous people served in uniform from First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities.[3] The enlistment rate was extraordinary: approximately one-third of eligible First Nations men aged 18-45 enlisted, representing about 35% of the Indian male population of military age in nine provinces.[3][33]
This rate was two to three times higher than many non-Indigenous populations.[3]
Some communities saw near-total enlistment—the Head of the Lake Band in British Columbia saw every man between ages 20 and 35 volunteer,[6] while the Mi'kmaq and Maliseet in the Maritimes saw roughly half of eligible men enlist.[3]
This remarkable participation occurred despite official policy discouraging Indigenous enlistment, rooted in concerns about enemy reaction due to "traditional association with scalping."[3]
Indigenous volunteers traveled great distances from remote communities, overcame language barriers, and enlisted despite facing uncertain acceptance.[3]
They served in the trenches of the Western Front, participated in the gas attacks at Second Ypres, fought through the Somme, and stormed Vimy Ridge.[1] At least 50 decorations for bravery were awarded to Indigenous soldiers in WWI,[3][34] though the actual number was likely higher as many Métis and non-status Indians were not systematically recorded.[6]
The Second World War saw at least 3,000 First Nations members enlist, including 72 women, plus unknown but significant numbers of Métis and Inuit recruits.[35]
By March 1940, over 100 had already volunteered despite strict health requirements—tuberculosis rates in Indigenous communities were more than ten times higher than among the white population—and racial restrictions that initially required Royal Canadian Air Force and Royal Canadian Navy volunteers to be "of pure European descent and of the white race" until 1942-1943.[36]
Indigenous personnel participated in every major battle: the Dieppe landings where Canadian forces suffered 3,367 casualties, the D-Day invasion at Juno Beach, the Italian Campaign which claimed over 25,000 Canadian casualties, and the liberation of the Netherlands.[37] More than 200 Indigenous soldiers were killed or died from wounds in WWII, and at least 17-18 decorations for bravery were earned.[38][39]
For the Korean War, several hundred Indigenous people served, with Indian Affairs agents recording 73 names by March 1951 though no comprehensive final count exists.[6][9] Indigenous soldiers participated in the Battle of Kapyong in April 1951, where Canadian forces earned a rare U.S. Presidential Unit Citation.[9][40]
In Afghanistan, specific Indigenous service numbers were not documented, but as of 2019, approximately 2,742 Indigenous members served in the CAF Regular Force and Primary Reserve, representing 2.8% of personnel.[7] The 2021 Census found that 5.5% of currently serving military members were First Nations, Métis, or Inuit—higher than the Indigenous proportion of Canada's general population (4.4%),[19][20] demonstrating that Indigenous peoples today serve at rates exceeding their demographic representation.[41]
Distinguished Indigenous soldiers exemplified extraordinary courage
The military contributions of Indigenous soldiers produced some of Canada's most decorated and accomplished service members, whose achievements stand among the greatest in Canadian military history yet remained underrecognized for decades.
Sergeant Tommy Prince (1915-1977), Ojibwa from Brokenhead Ojibway Nation in Manitoba, became Canada's most decorated Indigenous soldier.[42] Serving with the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion and the elite First Special Service Force—the "Devil's Brigade"—in WWII and later with Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry in Korea, Prince earned both the Military Medal (Canadian) and the Silver Star (United States). He was one of only three Canadians to receive both decorations in WWII and one of only 59 Canadians to receive the Silver Star.[42]
Prince's combat record was extraordinary. At Anzio, Italy in February 1944, he established an observation post 200 meters from German lines, running 1,400 meters of telephone wire. When the line was severed by shelling, he disguised himself as an Italian farmer and repaired it under direct enemy observation, earning the Military Medal.[43][44] In southern France in September 1944, he scouted 24 kilometers behind enemy lines, located German battalion positions, and walked 70 kilometers over five days to report intelligence. He then saved a French Partisan unit by engaging a German platoon, killing six Germans with his partner—actions that earned him the Silver Star.[43][45]
King George VI personally discussed Prince's exploits during a medal ceremony at Buckingham Palace, an unusual honor reflecting the king's recognition of Prince's "unparalleled forward combat achievement."[46] Prince earned a total of eleven medals across two wars.[47][48] Despite his heroic service, he died in poverty in Winnipeg in 1977,[49] illustrating the post-war discrimination Indigenous veterans faced.[6]
Corporal Francis Pegahmagabow (1891-1952), Ojibwa from Wasauksing First Nation in Ontario, became the most highly decorated Indigenous soldier of WWI and the most effective sniper of the First World War on either side.[1]
He earned the Military Medal with Two Bars—one of only 39 Canadians to receive this triple honor in WWI.[1] Credited with killing 378 Germans and capturing at least 300 more, Pegahmagabow served from 1914 to 1919 in the 1st Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, participating in the Second Battle of Ypres (where Germany first used chlorine gas), the Battle of the Somme where he was wounded in the leg, Passchendaele, and the Battle of the Scarpe.[1]
His first Military Medal citation in 1916 noted "continuous service as a messenger from February 14th 1915 to February 1916. He carried messages with great bravery and success during the whole of the actions at Ypres, Festubert and Givenchy."[50]
His first bar came during the Second Battle of Passchendaele in November 1917 when he guided lost reinforcements to correct positions under fire.[51][52] His second bar was awarded at the Battle of the Scarpe in August 1918 when his company was nearly out of ammunition and surrounded: "Braving heavy machine gun and rifle fire he went out into no man's land and brought back enough ammunition to enable his post to carry on and assist in repulsing heavy enemy counter-attacks."[1][52]
After the war, Pegahmagabow was elected Chief of Wasauksing First Nation and became a prominent Indigenous rights activist. Parks Canada designated him a National Historic Person.[53]
Lance Corporal Henry Louis Norwest (1884-1918), Métis of French-Cree heritage from Alberta, became one of WWI's most feared snipers with 115 confirmed kills over nearly three years of service—the divisional sniping record for the Canadian Corps and the highest ever recorded in British Army annals at the time.[54]
The actual total was likely much higher, as only hits confirmed by a second person were counted.[55]
A former ranch hand and rodeo performer, Norwest served with the 50th Canadian Infantry Battalion from 1915 until his death in August 1918.[54]
He earned the Military Medal and Bar[34]—one of only approximately 830 members of the Canadian Expeditionary Force to be awarded this double honor.[54]
At Vimy Ridge in April 1917, Norwest's citation noted he "showed great bravery, skill and initiative in sniping the enemy after the capture of the Pimple."[54][56] In the three months preceding Vimy Ridge, he killed 59 enemy soldiers.[54][56]
Known and feared by German troops, Norwest spent most of his time in No Man's Land and behind enemy lines with an observer, demonstrating ability to remain perfectly still for very long periods and superb camouflage techniques.[57]
He was killed by a German sniper on August 18, 1918, just three months before the war ended, near Fouquescourt, France.[54] Upon his death, Major-General Arthur Currie ordered every available artillery gun to fire on enemy positions as tribute.[57] His comrades inscribed on his grave marker: "It must have been a damned good sniper that got Norwest."[6][57]
Other distinguished Indigenous soldiers include Brigadier Oliver Milton Martin (1895-1972), Mohawk from Six Nations Grand River Reserve, who achieved the highest military rank ever held by an Indigenous person at that time;[35][58] Lieutenant David Greyeyes (1913-1996), Muskeg Lake Cree, who earned the Greek Military Cross (3rd Class) for valor supporting the Greek Mountain Brigade during the Italian Campaign and later received the Order of Canada;[35] Willard Bolduc, Ojibwa, who earned the Distinguished Flying Cross as an air gunner during bombing raids over occupied Europe;[40] and Charles "Checker" Tomkins, Cree, who served as a code talker, translating sensitive radio messages into Cree language so they could not be understood if intercepted by the enemy.[40]
The John McLeod family exemplified the sacrifice of Indigenous families: John McLeod, Ojibwa, served in both world wars, and six of his sons and one daughter enlisted in WWII—two sons gave their lives and two were wounded. His wife Mary McLeod became the first Indigenous woman named Canada's Memorial Cross Mother in 1972, placing a wreath at the National War Memorial on Remembrance Day on behalf of all Canadian mothers who lost children to war.[35]
Systematic denial of veterans' benefits created lasting inequity
Indigenous veterans who returned from war discovered that their service did not guarantee equal treatment.
The discrimination was not incidental but systematic, embedded in federal policy and administered through overlapping jurisdictions of Indian Affairs, Veterans Affairs, and National Defence.[5]
The foundation of this discrimination lay in the Indian Act, particularly an 1898 amendment that gave the Department of Indian Affairs authority to control how benefits "for the benefit of Indians" were administered, directing "how the payments or assistance to which the Indians are entitled shall be made or given."[59]
This legal framework provided the basis for Indian agents to control Indigenous veterans' pensions and benefits, creating a parallel administrative system that denied Indigenous veterans the direct access to Veterans Affairs that non-Indigenous veterans enjoyed.[5][59]
The most egregious discrimination involved the Veterans' Land Act (VLA), which offered dramatically different benefits based on whether Indigenous veterans remained on reserves.
Non-Indigenous veterans could receive loans up to $6,000 to purchase land, with $2,320 forgiven if repaid on schedule—essentially a grant of almost $2,400 plus a subsidized loan.[3]
Indigenous veterans faced a cruel choice: they could receive the $2,320 grant only if used on reserve land (land their communities collectively already owned), with strict conditions that the land remained under First Nation control and any equipment purchased remained under Indian agent control for ten years, and the land could not be bequeathed to family members.
Alternatively, they could access the full $6,000 loan but only if they gave up their Indian status through enfranchisement—losing all rights associated with status, severing ties with their communities physically, geographically, socially, spiritually, psychologically, and emotionally, and ensuring they could not pass status to their children.[60]
An economic study by Doug Kalisnakoff demonstrated the long-term impact of this discrimination: farm benefits granted to non-Indigenous veterans in Saskatchewan are now worth $88,000 to $368,000 per veteran, with missed opportunity value estimated at $250,000 to $650,000 in current dollars.[61]
Meanwhile, between 35,000 and 75,000 hectares of "Indian lands" were expropriated by the federal government under the Soldiers' Settlement Act to provide land grants to non-Indigenous veterans,[37] creating the bitter irony that Indigenous veterans gave away their communities' land to provide farms for non-Indigenous veterans.[6]
Educational and vocational training benefits were systematically denied or blocked. Veterans testified that Indian agents never informed them about educational options or actively dissuaded them from accessing training programs.
Many Indigenous veterans wanted to attend university but were denied access. Non-Indigenous veterans could receive university funding if they had completed matriculation. One veteran on Vancouver Island wanted to use his $2,320 to attend university but was instead told by his Indian agent to buy a boat and go fishing.
Re-establishment credits that non-Indigenous veterans received were either not communicated to Indigenous veterans or blocked by Indian agents from being accessed.
Even benefits intended to reach families were intercepted and misappropriated. Dependents' allowances for military families provided non-Indigenous veterans' spouses with up to $79-80 per month sent directly to the family. For Indigenous veterans, these cheques were sent to Indian agents instead of families, and many spouses never received the money.[62]
Archival evidence reveals Indian agents writing letters stating "an Indian woman was not worth the full amount of the Dependants Allowance" and preferring to reduce it to $20 per month.[5]
Disability pensions faced additional barriers—Indigenous veterans entitled to pensions had to first prove their disability was service-related, then separately prove to their Indian agent that they were "financially responsible" before receiving payments. This double-screening process had no equivalent for non-Indigenous veterans.[59]
Indian agents wielded discriminatory power as gatekeepers
Indian agents served as the administrative mechanism through which systemic discrimination operated, wielding enormous discretionary power over Indigenous veterans' re-establishment with little accountability.
After the Second World War, non-Indigenous veterans dealt directly with the Department of Veterans Affairs and received support from advisors who understood the diverse programs available.
Indigenous veterans were told to "return to their reserves and see their Indian agents," creating an extra layer of bureaucracy between the veteran and benefits.[3]
Indian agents were not experts in veterans programs, had almost total control over veterans' re-establishment, and possessed "enormous scope for independent action, or inaction," according to the 2001 Senate testimony.
Information suppression was endemic. Indian agents told veterans only what the agents thought they should receive or were "capable of," rather than informing them of all available options. Information about re-establishment programs publicized in major cities never reached reserves.[61]
Veterans consistently testified that "the Indian agent never told them what was available, but only what the agent thought they should get."
The 2019 House of Commons Standing Committee report documented that Indian agents held "dominant attitudes and low opinions of the capabilities of First Nations people," assuming financial irresponsibility without evidence.[61]
These prejudiced attitudes produced barriers preventing Indigenous veterans from receiving the full value of the Veterans Charter.[62]
Financial control created opportunities for mismanagement and criminal fraud. Spousal allowances paid to Indian agents operated with few guidelines or accounting procedures and no way to determine if money reached families.
Archival records reveal strong circumstantial evidence of irregularities, mismanagement, abuse of power, and criminal fraud.[62]
Veterans consistently maintained they "ran into problems getting all the money they were due,"[61] though the full extent of financial misappropriation remains difficult to document given the lack of accountability mechanisms.
Indian agents also used veterans' benefits as tools of coercion to enforce assimilation policies. In Nova Scotia, Indian Affairs implemented a "concentration" policy to relocate all Mi'kmaq to two reserves—Shubenacadie and Eskasoni.
Mi'kmaq veterans were only allowed to apply for VLA grants if they agreed to relocate to these designated reserves, transforming veterans' benefits into "a tool, a stick for Indian Affairs to coerce abiding by this policy."[63]
Some Indian agents coerced veterans into enfranchisement to access benefits, using the promise of full VLA benefits to pressure veterans into giving up their Indian status.[60]
The Indian Act's Section 164 forbade First Nations from homesteading outside their reserves, creating a legal barrier that forced this impossible choice: remain on reserve with minimal benefits, or surrender status and community ties for access to the same benefits non-Indigenous veterans received automatically.
Barred from Legion halls and denied presence at ceremonies
Beyond financial discrimination, Indigenous veterans faced exclusion from the physical spaces and commemorative ceremonies that recognized military service.
Royal Canadian Legion halls, which served as the primary source of information about veterans' benefits for non-Indigenous veterans and provided spaces for veterans to socialize with comrades, were closed to Indigenous veterans because Legion halls served liquor and Indigenous people were legally prohibited from consuming alcohol under the Indian Act.[64][65]
This exclusion removed Indigenous veterans from crucial information networks where non-Indigenous veterans learned about post-war benefits and received mutual support.
Tony Coté, Veterans Coordinator for Saskatchewan, testified to the Senate Subcommittee in December 2001: "The moment you walked into a Legion branch and they saw your brown face, they would say, 'You are an Indian. You are not allowed here,' because they were serving liquor. How were we to find out exactly what was available to us as veterans?"
The exclusion from Remembrance Day ceremonies represented the most visible erasure of Indigenous veterans' service.
On November 11, 1991, a group of Kanien'kehaka (Mohawk) veterans attempted to place a wreath during Remembrance Day ceremonies at the National War Memorial in Ottawa.
They were refused.[2]
They were also prohibited from laying wreaths at cenotaphs across the country.[66]
For decades, Indigenous veterans were barred from participating in Remembrance Day ceremonies as a group or laying wreaths to honor their fallen comrades.
As late as 2021, individual Indigenous veterans still reported difficulty getting invited to lay wreaths at local Legion ceremonies, with Scott Norton, a reservist with seven years of service, describing 2021 as "the first time an Indigenous veteran has been invited to participate at this legion's event" in New Hamburg, Ontario—after requesting inclusion for years and being met with silence.[67][68]
This exclusion persisted despite Indigenous soldiers' extraordinary service.
Tommy Prince, who earned eleven medals including the Silver Star and Military Medal and whose exploits King George VI personally discussed at Buckingham Palace, died in poverty in Winnipeg in 1977 with his service largely unrecognized by the broader Canadian public.[46]
Francis Pegahmagabow, the most effective sniper of WWI and holder of the Military Medal with Two Bars, spent his post-war years fighting for Indigenous rights while facing the same exclusions as all Indigenous veterans.[1]
The irony was devastating: men who had risked their lives defending Canada, who had stormed enemy positions under fire, who had been deemed worthy of the highest military decorations from their commanders, were told they could not enter Legion halls or lay wreaths at the cenotaphs commemorating the wars they fought.
The exclusion began to shift in the early 1990s. In October 1992, following the 1991 refusal, the National Aboriginal Veterans Association (NAVA) was formed specifically to create recognition for Indigenous veterans. In fall 1992, NAVA laid a wreath at the National War Memorial—the first time Indigenous veterans were officially allowed to do so.
On November 11, 1992, a recognized Indigenous veterans group laid a Remembrance Day wreath at the National War Memorial during official ceremonies for the first time.[69]
Randi Gage, a founding member, described the moment as "magical...I can't even explain it." By 1995—fifty years after the end of the Second World War—Indigenous veterans were officially allowed to participate in National War Memorial Remembrance Day ceremonies more consistently.[6]
However, change did not occur uniformly across Canada, and local Legion branches continued excluding Indigenous veterans well into the 21st century in some communities.
Indigenous Veterans Day emerged from exclusion and injustice
The 1991 refusal to allow Mohawk veterans to lay a wreath at the National War Memorial catalyzed the creation of a separate day of recognition.
The National Aboriginal Veterans Association, established in October 1992, was tasked with creating this day.
November 8 was chosen as Indigenous Veterans Day, first observed in 1993 in Winnipeg in a small ceremony.[70]
The date holds symbolic significance—as Randi Gage explained, "if you flop an eight over, it looks like the infinity sign for the Métis and you take an eight, it breaks into fours," reflecting Indigenous symbolism.[69]
Mayor Susan A. Thompson of Winnipeg signed the first proclamation, and in 1994, the Province of Manitoba officially recognized the day, then called Aboriginal Veterans Day or National Aboriginal Veterans Day.[58][71]
In 2025, Manitoba enshrined Indigenous Veterans Day in provincial legislation.[70] While now recognized by the federal government and observed nationwide, it is not an official statutory holiday.
Indigenous Veterans Day was created explicitly as a response to discrimination and exclusion.
The documented rationale centers on the[72] systematic injustices Indigenous veterans faced: denial of pensions, grants, and benefits due to their legal status as "wards of Canada" under the Indian Act; expropriation of hundreds of thousands of acres of reserve land given to non-Indigenous veterans under the Soldiers' Settlement Act while Indigenous veterans received only certificates to use land their communities already collectively owned; barriers to accessing government programs due to remote reserve locations and being barred from Legion halls; and the decades of exclusion from laying wreaths at the National War Memorial and cenotaphs.[73]
Randi Gage emphasized that "Aboriginal Veterans Day is NOT a second remembrance day, it is a day for Aboriginal Veterans to remember, reminisce, and be recognized by their communities."
The day was designed to be done "Our Way, not the formal Legion way," allowing each community to observe it according to their own traditions with drumming, singing, storytelling, sacred fires, and sharing circles rather than strict formal military protocols.[74]
The federal government began formally acknowledging these injustices in the early 2000s. On June 21, 2002, Minister Rey Pagtakhan announced that $39 million would be set aside for compensation to First Nations veterans, with the government formally apologizing for the discriminatory treatment.[41][75]
Between 2003 and 2004, 1,298 First Nations veterans and survivors were identified as eligible for up to $20,000 compensation for each living First Nations veteran who returned to a reserve after the wars, or their surviving spouse.[63][76]
However, Métis veterans received no such recognition at that time. It took until September 10, 2019—sixteen years after First Nations veterans received compensation—for the federal government to apologize to Métis veterans at a ceremony in Regina, Saskatchewan. Minister Lawrence MacAulay acknowledged that benefits were "not well designed to meet Métis Veterans' specific needs" and announced $30 million allocated for compensation and a legacy fund.[77]
Indigenous Veterans Day serves multiple purposes that distinguish it from Remembrance Day. Veterans Affairs Canada states clearly: "It does not replace or supersede Remembrance Day in any way—it instead enhances Veterans' Week commemorations by shining a spotlight on the tremendous history of Indigenous service."
The day specifically acknowledges the historical injustices and discrimination Indigenous veterans faced—something not central to Remembrance Day observances—and provides space for Indigenous veterans to be recognized by their families and communities in culturally appropriate ways.[73]
It addresses that Indigenous veterans' service was "erased from collective acts of commemoration" for decades[78] and provides an opportunity to tell their stories without having them "changed to fit the mainstream idea of what they did." The creation of this day represented both a response to exclusion and an assertion of Indigenous veterans' right to recognition on their own terms.
Recognition and compensation arrived decades too late
The timeline of when exclusions officially ended reveals that meaningful change for Indigenous veterans came slowly, inconsistently, and often too late for the veterans themselves.
The 1991 wreath-laying refusal at the National War Memorial marked a documented turning point. The 1992 establishment of NAVA and first inclusion of Indigenous veterans in wreath-laying represented the beginning of change at the national level.
By 1995, Indigenous veterans had more consistent access to National War Memorial ceremonies.[66] However, there was no single national policy change that ended Legion hall exclusions or wreath-laying prohibitions across Canada—change occurred gradually, varied by individual Legion branch and community, and in some locations continued into the 2020s.
The Indian agent system that controlled Indigenous veterans' benefits was gradually phased out in the second half of the 20th century, though specific end dates for Indian agent control over veterans' benefits are not documented in available sources.
Compensation for benefits denial began with the 2002 federal apology and $39 million allocation for First Nations veterans, formalized in 2003-2004. The 2019 apology and $30 million compensation for Métis veterans came 16 years later, reflecting different timelines for recognition of different Indigenous groups' service and sacrifice.
Yet by the time these compensations were offered, most of the veterans who had served in WWII and Korea—the primary recipients of the discrimination—had died. Tommy Prince died in poverty in 1977, more than 25 years before the federal government apologized.
The $20,000 compensation offered in 2003, while acknowledging injustice, pales in comparison to the estimated $250,000 to $650,000 in missed opportunity value calculated for the farm benefits non-Indigenous veterans received.
No compensation scheme can fully address the loss of land, status, community connections, educational opportunities, and decades of exclusion from commemoration that Indigenous veterans endured.
On October 30, 2025, the Canadian Armed Forces delivered a formal apology for systemic racism and discrimination, acknowledging institutional failures that affected Indigenous service members and other racialized communities.
This apology came 80 years after the end of WWII and 72 years after the Korean War armistice. While recognition has expanded significantly—the National Aboriginal Veterans Monument was unveiled in Ottawa on June 21, 2001; Indigenous Veterans Day receives federal recognition; and Royal Canadian Navy ships have been named after Indigenous nations (HMCS Iroquois, Cayuga, Huron, Nootka, Haida, Micmac)—these acknowledgments cannot restore what was taken from Indigenous veterans and their families.
Conclusion: Remembrance requires acknowledging full history
Canada's military history over the past century demonstrates both the extraordinary contributions of those who served and the profound injustices embedded in how that service was recognized.
More than 12,000 Indigenous peoples served across the major conflicts of the 20th century, with enlistment rates in WWI reaching two to three times those of many non-Indigenous populations.
These soldiers included some of Canada's most decorated and effective military personnel—Tommy Prince with his eleven medals, Francis Pegahmagabow with his 378 confirmed kills and Military Medal with Two Bars, Henry Norwest feared by German troops as one of WWI's deadliest snipers.
They served despite official policies discouraging their enlistment, traveled from remote communities to volunteer, overcame language and cultural barriers, and participated in every major Canadian military engagement from the trenches of the Western Front through the mountains of Afghanistan.
Yet these same veterans returned home to systematic discrimination enabled by the Indian Act and administered through Indian agents who controlled their access to benefits, educational opportunities, land grants, and even the spousal allowances intended for their families.
They were barred from Legion halls, excluded from Remembrance Day ceremonies, and prohibited from laying wreaths at the very cenotaphs commemorating the wars they fought.
This exclusion persisted until the 1990s for many Indigenous veterans—meaning veterans of WWII and Korea lived through decades of post-war life unable to participate fully in commemorating their service and comrades.
Behind these veterans stood military families who shouldered the invisible labor of maintaining households, raising children essentially as single parents, managing crises independently, and sacrificing career opportunities through frequent relocations—challenges amplified for Indigenous families facing additional discrimination and barriers to accessing support services.
Authentic remembrance requires acknowledging this full history.
The creation of Indigenous Veterans Day in 1994 directly responded to the 1991 exclusion from wreath-laying at the National War Memorial, providing Indigenous veterans with recognition "Our Way" rather than being forced into mainstream commemoration structures that had excluded them.
Federal compensation beginning in 2003 for First Nations veterans and 2019 for Métis veterans acknowledged decades of discriminatory treatment, though these payments arrived too late for most of the veterans who experienced the discrimination firsthand and cannot fully address the economic and social losses imposed by systematic benefit denial.
As the population of war service veterans declines—only 3,691 WWII veterans and 1,909 Korean War veterans remaining as of 2025—the urgency of documenting and acknowledging this history intensifies. Today, Indigenous peoples serve in the Canadian Armed Forces at rates exceeding their proportion of Canada's general population, continuing a proud tradition of service while carrying forward the memory of those who served before them despite discrimination.
Honoring their service truthfully requires remembering both the extraordinary contributions Indigenous veterans made and the profound injustices they endured.
References
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[2] https://www.ictinc.ca/blog/14-facts-you-may-not-know-about-contributions-of-indigenous-veterans
[3] https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1414152378639/1607908713791
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