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This year’s Remembrance Day ceremony at Cambie Secondary School will include a tribute to the Indigenous peoples who served in the First World War and Second World War.

Photo courtesy Cambie secondary

Indigenous tribute part of Cambie’s Remembrance Day

By Don Fennell

Published 2:44 PDT, Fri November 5, 2021

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When Canada assembles this Nov. 11 to remember the sacrifices made in the name of peace, those of the Indigenous peoples will be top of mind.

Thousands upon thousands of First Nations, Inuit and Métis soldiers served with British forces during the First World War and the Second World War. Participating in every major battle and campaign, including the Dieppe landings and pivotal Normandy invasion in the Second World War, at least 200 Indigenous soldiers gave their lives. And in Hong Kong, at least nine more died when 2,000 members of the Winnipeg Grenadiers and Royal Rifles became prisoners of war, notes a post on the Veterans Affairs Canada website.

On the home front, in British Columbia many Indigenous peoples joined Pacific Ocean defence units which patrolled and surveyed the coast. Others worked in war factories and increased agricultural production on their reserves. The post also notes that Canada’s Indigenous population donated their own money and raised additional funds totalling more than $23,000 to the Red Cross and other charities along with gifts of clothing and other items.

In Richmond, Cambie Secondary School’s Nov. 10 Remembrance Day will weave the theme of Indigenous contributions throughout a ceremony that will include the traditional renderings of O Canada, In Flanders Fields and the Last Post. Student council president Amrit Singh and vice-president Jeannie Huang will serve as masters of ceremony, while Grade 12 student Saniya Mann will speak about her trip to the Kamloops Residential School last month where she dropped off a $600 donation to the Kamloops Aboriginal Friendship Centre.

“Throughout the ceremony, we are intentionally using the Indigenous poppy called Remembrance, which was created by Indigenous artist Andy Everson, and pays particular homage to the Indigenous veteran,” explains vice-principal Nik Nashlund. “As to be expected, we are showing the Canadian flag, but also a Canadian ‘native’ flag, which was designed by Kwakwaka’wakw artist Curtis Wilson. His design for the flag is meant to represent First Nations in Canada to the public.”

Nashlund says the hope is that one of the students, who has been a grass dancer since he was nine years old, will perform. Another student will perform her rendition of Taylor Swift’s song, epiphany. Swift wrote this song to empathize with doctors and nurses who serve on the frontlines during COVID-19. Their harrowing work and the mental trauma they have to experience is compared to the emotional anguish and physical exhaustion of soldiers during the Second World War.

“We wanted to highlight for students the story of Indigenous service in the First World War and Second World War, the Korean War and later Canadian Armed Forces efforts is a proud one,” Nashlund says. “While exact numbers are elusive, it has been estimated that as many as 12,000 First Nations, Métis and Inuit people served in the great conflicts of the 20th century, with at least 500 of them sadly losing their lives.”

Nashlund says despite the deplorable conditions and purposes of the residential schools, many young Indigenous men were still inspired to volunteer and fight for their country and for democracy and freedom in places overseas. Meanwhile, within their own country, the systemic racism of residential schools was taking away their culture and language and destroying families.

Cambie students and staff will take time to talk about a number of individual Indigenous soldiers by name, and speak to their accomplishments.

“We mention the tragedy that lies in the fact that their battlefield comrades respected the First Nations soldiers and relied on each other in a way that only brothers in arms could,” Nashlund explains. “Sadly, more often than not, when they returned home, these Indigenous Canadians were once again relegated to their second-class status. Veterans' benefits and support from the Canadian government were put in place but the implementation of the programs on reserves was vastly different than elsewhere in Canada. So once again, the inequity and systemic discrimination was apparent. Our school community is listening and learning.”