Indigenous veterans honoured at ceremony
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/11/2024 (510 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
About 100 people gathered for Indigenous Veterans Day on Friday morning for a ceremony to remember the First Nations, Métis and Inuit people who served in conflicts of the 20th century.
At a monument for Indigenous veterans at Errol Black Park, locals and students gathered at 10 a.m. Frank Tacan led the ceremony by telling that his father was one of the veterans, estimated on the monument to add up to about 12,000 people, who served with the Canadian military in the 1900s.
“He didn’t like to share the stories he went through,” Tacan said. “My dad had a hard time coming home from war.”
Dakota knowledge keeper Frank Tacan leads a smudge for participants in the Indigenous Veterans Day ceremony at the teepee in Errol Black Park on Rosser Avenue East on Friday morning. The ceremony was organized by the Brandon Friendship Centre, included a pipe ceremony and prayer and was followed by a feast. (Photos by Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)
Tacan led the group to form a circle around the teepee monument at the park, and put on a smudging of the guests. He led a pipe ceremony, holding his hand to the north, south, east and west while saying a prayer.
“Today, remembering him is hard,” he said. “This is a hard day for us. A very hard day.”
His dad passed away in 2005 from cancer.
The ceremony was supported by drumming and singing from a group of four. They doused their drumsticks in the smoke coming off the smudge before playing.
The event was organized by the Brandon Friendship Centre. Jeremy Monias, executive assistant at the centre, told the Sun it was a good turnout this year.
“I would have been happy even just with 10 people,” he said. “With the kids that showed up, that was amazing to see.”
Students walked over from two local schools. Mayor Jeff Fawcett showed his respects and was in attendance as well.
Tacan speaks during Friday’s ceremony.
The event was followed by a feast at the Eagle Healing Lodge with soup and bannock. Tacan told the crowd the ceremony isn’t over until the feast is complete, urging everyone to join.
Monias said his goal for the Indigenous Veterans Day event is to spread the message. When it comes to the ceremony Friday morning, he said he hopes people warm up to the idea of attending, listening and learning. The monument in Brandon estimated that about 1,200 Indigenous people serve in the Canadian Forces today.
“The main thing, I hope, is education.”
» cmcdowell@brandonsun.com