'All I can say is thank you': Students honour Indigenous veterans

Schools across Canada held special ceremonies Tuesday in honour of Indigenous Veterans Day, including Quebec’s Mary Gardner School in Châteauguay, on Montreal’s South Shore.

“It’s about remembering those who fought in the war,” said Grace Sutton, a Grade 2 student.

Ray Deer was among a group of veterans in attendance. He served with the Canadian Armed Forces from 1978 to 1979, and then joined the U.S. Army where he served for 21 years until he retired.

Deer, the president of Mohawk Branch 219 in Kahnawake, Que., says this is a day to remember all veterans who came before and the veterans serving now.

“The slogan for Remembrance Day is ‘lest we forget.’ Our Aboriginal veterans, when they came back from war, were forgotten. So there wasn't any ‘lest we forget’ for them,” said Deer. “A lot of them suffered on their own. Whether it was PTSD, coming back home after what they experienced with wounds, we didn't get the same outlook that non natives had that served.”

Mohawk student Cameron Nolan was one of several students who laid a wreath at the ceremony.

“It means a bunch to me because I know family who has been in the war. It just feels good to be here. It means a lot,” he said. “Really all I can say is thank you to them. It’s the least I can do.”