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As Remembrance Day approaches, Saturday, Nov. 11, much of the country will take a moment to pause and look at paintings of members of the armed forces who have died in the line of duty. Among them were the sacrifices made through First Nations, Métis and Inuit soldiers.
The sacrifices, says Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation), an elected member of the Sxwíxwtn Council (Wilson Williams), we would make to remember them.
Last month, Williams returned from the Netherlands, where he represented the Squamish Nation as a component of the Canadian Veterans Affairs Indigenous Heritage Project.
The initiative identifies and marks the graves of Indigenous foot soldiers who fought for the liberation of the Netherlands, one of Canada’s major contributions to World War II.
“This is an initiative about studies and memory, aimed at recognizing, honouring and educating Indigenous infantrymen who sacrificed their lives,” Williams said, adding that of all the “more than one million Canadians” who served in World War II, 3,000 of them have been known as Indigenous infantrymen.
Williams visited four cemeteries, including the Canadian Holten War Cemetery, where 17 Indigenous graves are known so far. Among the 17 are other people, including Pte Daniel Cheer, a member of the Squamish Nation and a distant relative of Williams.
“I think the task has been completed in the right way, by reconnecting infantrymen with their families. We now know that Daniel Cheer was one of 30 members of the Squamish Nation who volunteered to serve overseas during the war, we know all his stories and everything about who he was,” Williams said.
A rite of remembrance began at dawn. A “sacred circle” where he and his family members and members of other indigenous infantrymen came up and told the story of the soldier they were connected to. It’s an emotional moment for everyone involved, he said, especially when it came time to share his own words.
“I was one of the last two to speak, and at that moment it was cool with only a light drizzle. Immediately after I showed up, the rain came here like a storm,” he said.
“Through our culture and each of our beings, when the climate changes dramatically or drastically, it tells us something. Mother Nature, the creator, told us that we were meant to be there. We were meant to be there for everyone else, but not only, to make a stopover in our enjoyments.
Prior to the creation of the Indian Legacy Project, no one had stopped at Cheers since his death in the war in 1945, Williams said. It’s a similar story for many of the indigenous infantrymen buried there.
As family members laid their offerings of flowers and tobacco at the graves, Williams, dressed in his country’s insignia and drum in hand, took a quiet moment at Cheers’ final resting place.
“I spent a little time there with our beloved. I put our Squamish Nation flag on his grave and laid the offerings. I shared a song with him and prayed in our language. I talked about the connection and reunion, and how much his circle of family members in our network was thinking about him.
Williams said there’s still “a long way to go” to ensure Indigenous infantrymen get the same popularity and respect as their comrades, but projects like Canada’s Indigenous Heritage Project are key to bridging that gap.
Education could improve, he said, if school curricula include greater engagement with indigenous communities. Imagine a long term in which academics can simply participate in an exchange program and spend a week or two in a country more tied to the World War. II.
“War has never been fought in our backyard. You go to Europe and war is everywhere. Here we are undermining the value, the commitment, the center and the soul that has been invested to move abroad,” he said.
“We want to do more. We have to travel. We want to see what resources can be obtained from Veterans Affairs Canada and bring those stories to life.
Williams emphasizes that we also provide the same care to injured and sick members who have returned home.
Following his trip to the Netherlands in September, Squamish Nation Counselor traveled to Düsseldorf, Germany, for the final rite of this year’s Invictus Games. Representing the four host First Nations, he handed a ceremonial shovel to the German team and won the flag along Team Canada, taking the torch and setting things in motion for the 12-day Invictus Games in Vancouver and Whistler in 2025.
A few days later, on an occasion held at Canada House, Prince Harry, founder of the games, asked Williams to give a speech. He would be the person, the monarch explained, who would address the importance of remembering those who have lost. their lives in the line of duty.
“I was pretty upset, because I was looking to do things right and in the right way, and hold the center accountable for why we were all there,” Williams said.
“I wanted to communicate about the symbolic and unifying nature of those Games. But not only that, how much healing can be discovered by recognizing the infantrymen who returned and detecting the infantrymen who did not.
Everyone is affected by war in one way or the other, Williams said, and so everyone can be a voice and an ambassador, a witness to pay tribute to and “support everyone. “
Mina Kerr-Lazenthrough is a Civic and Indian Affairs reporter for North Shore News. This rhythm of reporting is made imaginable through the Local Journalism Initiative.
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