(Jaryn Vecchio/paNOW Staff)

By Jaryn Vecchio

Indigenous Veterans

Indigenous veterans honoured at ceremony in P.A. ahead of Remembrance Day

Nov 10, 2021 | 4:00 PM

The sacrifices made by Indigenous men and women who fought for the country were honoured in Prince Albert.

A ceremony was held at Parkland Hall Wednesday morning where veterans from across the P.A. region were joined by members of city council, police services, RCMP, Prince Albert Grand Council, and the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations.

“The men and women didn’t have to volunteer but they went and fought and many of them died and those who came home are wounded and scarred because of all the horrors that they’d seen,” said David Pratt, 2nd Vice Chief of FSIN.

Every year since 2005, an event has been held in the community separate from the one on Remembrance Day to acknowledge the struggles Indigenous veterans have had trying to receive the same recognition as their non-Indigenous comrades.

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Farica Prince, Deputy Chief of the P.A. Police Service, told the story of Tommy Prince, an Ojibwa man from Manitoba, who served in the Second World War and the Korean War.

In 1951, he took part in the Battle of Kapyong with his battalion being awarded the United States Presidential Unit Citation, a rare honour for non-Americans.

“Family would say that Sergeant Tommy Prince’s worst battle was after his return home after serving a country that didn’t in return serve him,” added Farica Prince.

Brad Kelly, Staff Sgt. with the Prince Albert RCMP detachment, also shared a personal story about the struggles members of his family faced in trying to get proper recognition.

His family consists of Indigenous and non-Indigenous individuals, some of which served in the First World War and Second World War.

“Because of the mixed heritage, part of the family was being recognized and the other part wasn’t getting recognized,” Kelly noted.

P.A. Mayor Greg Dionne, PAGC Grand Chief Brian Hardlotte, and Steven Ross, Grand Chief of the Saskatchewan First Nation Veterans Association, also spoke at the ceremony.

Meanwhile, the P.A. branch of the Royal Canadian Legion is holding a small ceremony at the City Hall courtyard on Remembrance Day.

The personal and business wreaths will be laid before the ceremony due to COVID-19 precautions.

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Jaryn.Vecchio@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow