THUNDER BAY — “We know that roughly 12,000 Indigenous people have served in the last three wars that Canada has been involved with..." said Denise Baxter, vice provost of Indigenous initiatives at Lakehead University. "But we don’t necessarily think about how big of role they’ve had."
“This is something that’s very important.”
Since starting in 1994 in Winnipeg, Nov. 8 has been National Indigenous Veterans Day in Canada.
On Friday, Lakehead University marked the occasion with a ceremony at the Agora, where an exhibit honouring Indigenous Veterans from Treaty #3 is on display through Remembrance Day.
This is the fourth year that the school has held a formal ceremony for National Indigenous Veterans Day. They are teaming up with Confederation College this year, who have an exhibit in the APIWIN lounge.
“This is a chance for people to come and see those names, some of which might be their relatives or that might be from families that they know from Northwestern Ontario, and just see the vast number of people who served in the First World War, Second World War and the Korean War,” said Baxter.
In addition to the honour roll, there are also profiles of Indigenous service members and several historical artifacts on display at the exhibits.
“Whether the students here are studying history or something else, I think it’s really important that we’re not only looking forwards towards our futures but that we’re also looking back to see the shoulders that we stand upon and those people that served from our territories across the region,” Baxter said.
“I think for the students, particularly those who are coming to study here in Thunder Bay at the university or the college, it’s all a nice opportunity to see the vast reach and contributions of Indigenous people throughout this region.”
During Friday’s ceremony, Thunder Bay Museum executive director Scott Bradley announced plans for an Indigenous Veterans of Northwestern Ontario travelling exhibit.
The project is being put together by the Thunder Bay Museum, Lakehead University, Confederation College, the Thunder Bay Military Museum, Kay-Nah-Chi-Wah-Nung Historical Centre, The Muse: Lake of the Woods Museum, the Fort Frances Museum, the Museum of Atikokan and InterGroup Consultants.
“We were inspired by our work with the university over the past few years as we’ve helped them out with their Indigenous Veterans Day exhibit and we thought, ‘Why don’t we do something bigger,’” Bradley said.
“We want to do something that can really honour these veterans throughout the year and bring those stories to many more people.”
Bradley said that the goal is to officially launch the touring exhibit in late 2025 or early 2026.
Anyone who has any questions or wants to help out with the project can e-mail the Thunder Bay Museum.
