On Nov. 8, the students and teachers of Wapanohk Community School paid tribute to Indigenous military members during their annual Aboriginal Veterans Day ceremony.
Wednesday’s festivities started out with the usual wreath-laying and flag-carrying rituals from local dignitaries such as elder Jack Robinson and newly minted deputy mayor Colleen Smook.
While this scene will also take place during Thompson’s larger Remembrance Day ceremony on Saturday, emcee Ron Cook told the crowd of students, teachers, parents and air cadets that this event is meant to shine a light on the sacrifices made by Canada’s First Nations population.
“We First Nations, Indigenous people have fought to keep our way of life and to keep our country strong,” said Cook. “Right from the Red River Resistance … to the First World War, the Second World War, the Korean War, the war in Afghanistan, First Nations soldiers have been there and today we remember them all.”
In fact, according to Veterans Affairs Canada, more than 7,000 Indigenous men and women served in the First Wolrd War and Second World War and the Korean War. Some veterans groups even claim that the number is as high as 12,000.
Pikwitonei resident Percy Laubmann was one just one of the Indigenous servicemen who fought in Korea with the Royal Canadian Infantry and receive four medals for his service.
Laubmann died Oct. 28 at the age of 89, which means that Wednesday’s ceremony doubled as a tribute to his memory.
This loss especially stings for Thompson and the surrounding region. Because the city was founded after these major conflicts concluded, the area didn’t have a large number of veterans to begin with.
However, guest speaker Sheila North Wilson, Grand Chief of the Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, told the Wapanohk students it’s still important to honour the memory of Indigenous veterans like Laubmann, especially because of the inequality they faced outside the battlefield.
“They didn’t have to go fight in other countries for Canada, but they did,” she said. “And when they came back they didn’t get the same treatment as other people that they fought with.”
Thompson’s Remembrance Day service is taking place Saturday, Nov. 11 at the C.A. Nesbitt Arena. Public seating begins at 10 a.m.
