Indigenous people continue to serve in Canada’s armed forces today.

The Indigenous Remembrance Day observance began in Winnipeg in 1994 due to a lack of recognition in Remembrance Day activities and has since spread to many communities across Canada.

National Indigenous Veterans Day is observed on November 8 to honor Indigenous veterans of the First and Second World Wars and the Korean War.

Canada’s first monument recognizing Indigenous roles in these wars was unveiled in Ottawa in 2001.

It wasn’t until 2003 that the Government of Canada began granting veterans’ benefits to First Nations soldiers who had previously been denied them, with Métis veterans receiving benefits only in 2019.

Today, CJWE acknowledges and expresses gratitude for Indigenous veterans’ contributions to Canada and the world.

More than 12,000 Indigenous people participated in the three wars, including about 7,000 First Nations members, with roughly 300 veterans losing their lives.

Indigenous veterans endured post-war discrimination, including denial of benefits, loss of Indian Status, and land expropriation in some cases, with wreath-laying at Ottawa’s National War Memorial only permitted from 1995 onward.