Saskatchewan veterans air national concerns on provincial tour

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On an eight-week tour sponsored by Indian Affairs and the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN), members of the Saskatchewan First Nations Veterans Association (SFNVA) have been meeting with veterans from across the province.

Stopping at every powwow and First Nation event that could be crammed into a busy summer itinerary, representatives of SFNVA have been spreading an urgent message to all Saskatchewan First Nations and tribal councils.

SFNVA is seeking the names of the First Nation veterans from World War II and the Korean War, and the names of women dependent on veteran compensation to be used as the basis of a comprehensive compensation package, including spousal benefits, that is being co-ordinated by the federal government.

Howard Anderson, grand chief of SFNVA and national chief of the Round Table of Veterans of Canada, with FSIN support staff Roberta Soo-Oyewaste, Spencer Greyeyes and Kariah Windigo, has been spreading the word in Saskatchewan, seeking information on First Nation veterans.

Anderson, recently returned from five months in Ottawa, attended meetings of the National Round Table with First Nations veteran representatives from across Canada.

"We met with Indian Affairs, Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defence. Now they want to make it official, put it in official language, working together so that the veterans can hopefully get a compensation package by Nov. 11.

"We need help and support from everyone who has First Nation veterans on their reserves, in their towns and cities. We need their regimental number and treaty number. Many got enfranchised when they joined the army. They were no longer Indians. We need them too. Some of them might be Bill C-31s. We have to check to make sure that they are part of this organization," said Anderson.

Many First Nation veterans have testified that the government of Canada made no distinction between Native and non-Native personnel who served in the Canadian Armed Forces. Once discharged, however, First Nations veterans found that they had left one war and come back to another.

Confronted with racial prejudice and inequality, First Nations veterans in Saskatchewan did not receive the same benefits of free grants of land, loans from the government and the advantages of programs designed to assist returning veterans in re-establishing their lives, as were made available to non-Native veterans.