Saturday November 8th, 2025, marks the 32nd year of recognizing National Indigenous Veterans Day, after the now country-wide occasion began in Winnipeg.
On November 8, 1993 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Mayor Susan A. Thompson signed an official proclamation declaring the day "Recognition and Remembrance Day for Aboriginal Veterans". Initiated by the National Aboriginal Veterans Association, the signing coincided with the opening of an exhibition at the Manitoba Museum.
National Aboriginal Veterans Association first began to push for the proclamation because Indigenous veterans were not recognized in Remembrance Day activities. Over 12,000 Indigenous people are estimated to have participated in both world wars and the Korean War, including 7,000 First Nations members, and approximately 300 died during these conflicts.
After the wars, enlisted Indigenous people returned home to continued discrimination, including in some cases denial of benefits, loss of Indian status, and expropriation of their land by the government for non-Indigenous veterans.
In 1994, the province of Manitoba officially recognized November 8th as Aboriginal Veterans Day, and the rest of Canada followed shortly after.
It was only in 1995 that Indigenous veterans were allowed to lay wreaths commemorating their fallen comrades at the National War Memorial in Ottawa. While National Indigenous Veterans Day is now recognized and observed across the country, the federal government has not officially made it a country-wide statutory holiday.
The first monument commemorating the role of Indigenous people during these three wars was dedicated in 2001 in Ottawa. On June 21, 2001 a national monument to the Indigenous Veterans was unveiled in Confederation Park in Ottawa. The unveiling is the result of the hard work and perseverance of the National Aboriginal Veterans Association, the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples and Senator Nick Taylor.
The monument was created by Cree artist Lloyd Pinay, and symbolizes the stories of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people who served in wars and peacekeeping operations from the First World War to the present day. The monument features an eagle, figures representing Indigenous men and women, and the wolf, the bear and the bison.
“These symbols represent the spiritual strength of Indigenous warriors,” states Veterans Affairs Canada.
It took until 2003 for the Government of Canada to provide veterans’ benefits to First Nations soldiers who had been denied them in the past, and until 2019 for Métis veterans.