Hay River (Apr 14/03) - Lila Whelan is working for recognition of aboriginal veterans.

The Hay River resident, who herself is the daughter of a veteran, is the NWT representative of the National Aboriginal Veterans Association.

The father of Hay River's Lila Whelan, the NWT representative of the National Aboriginal Veterans Association, was a prisoner of war during the Second World War. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

News/North: What is the National Aboriginal Veterans Association?

Lila Whelan: It's an organization founded to help aboriginal veterans try to gain recognition -- to be recognized finally as heroes, even if they weren't injured in the war. They should still be recognized for their contributions to Canada.

N/N: Have aboriginal veterans not received just recognition?

LW: The federal government has compensation packages, but you have to meet certain criteria. There are not that many veterans left, and they're only trying to cover a certain percentage.

N/N: How many aboriginal veterans are in Canada and the NWT?

LW: We're looking at between 6,000 and 9,000 that weren't compensated. In the NWT, I think we're looking at probably about 60, including veteran families.

N/N: How have aboriginal veterans been treated?

LW: They were ignored. I believe they contributed quite a bit. Our organization is trying to cover any veterans that were treated unfairly, whether they were aboriginal or not. If they were not injured, the government never looked at the psychological injuries, and that's an injury in itself. They looked at covering the physical injury, and anybody was compensated for physical injury. These men, they gave their all to make sure Canada is Canada today. And the government made promises that it didn't even keep.

N/N: Why did that happen?

LW: I would probably think they never expected a lot of the aboriginal veterans to come back. From what I've read, they were put on the front lines, and given the really dangerous jobs. I've found out a lot of research like that. They would put the aboriginal veterans in harm's way first.

N/N: They expected most of them to be killed in the war?

LW: I believe that's what they probably would have expected. But I believe when they did come back, the government just threw them back into society. How could it understand what they went through over there?

They turned around and said, "Good luck and goodbye." They'd go back into society and the government expected them to raise families and just continue on with their lives. But how can anyone come back normal after that? You're normal the one minute and the next thing you're over there killing people, and you're killing for your life and you're killing for your country. So how do they expect normalcy in anybody?

N/N: Veterans weren't helped to adjust back into society?

LW: No, they weren't, especially the aboriginal veterans. A lot of them got turned away. They were supposed to have their treaty rights back, but they were never given them back ... They were promised compensation and houses and that their families would be looked after.

N/N: Why did the federal government treat the aboriginal veterans so differently?

LW: I think the aboriginal veterans were quite a bit of a minority, back at the beginning of the First World War and in the Second World War and the Korean War ... They were treated like a second-class people, but I'm not sure if it's to do with racism. But I would think that it could be. They've only started to be recognized for what they've done in the last 20 to 30 years ... These veterans, aboriginal or not, if they weren't physically injured, they still came back with the memories. They had to live the rest of their lives knowing what they saw. And trying to raise a family with those kind of memories, I could understand why today they wouldn't trust the federal government or any kind of promises.

N/N: Do you find a lot of Canadians don't realize the contribution of aboriginal veterans?

LW: Yes, I find that. Today, they're starting to get the recognition they deserve. There's more media attention on aboriginal veterans and non-aboriginal veterans that were injured.

N/N: How did you become involved with NAVA?

LW: My own father was a veteran of the war, Arsene Hector Gullion. He was in the Second World War and the Korean War.

N/N: Was your father compensated properly?

LW: No, he wasn't ... A lot of these veterans should have been helped right away for the post-trauma. He wasn't. How do you deal with it? How can a person deal with it without some kind of help? He expected to come back, raise his family and get compensation for his family. That is what he was promised. But when he came back, he received nothing and went back into society. He hated the government, he really did. Because they not only took away the promises they made, but they took his dignity. And he was a very proud man.

N/N: What did he tell you about his experiences in the war?

LW: He used to tell us stories about what happened to him in the war. I know a lot of what he went through. And through doing interviews with the other veterans, I know a lot of how they were raised. Basically, it's almost all the same. What they went through was incredible. I would not expect a person to be sane after coming back from the war. My father was no different. He tried his best to raise us, but he used to drink a lot and a lot of the time his memories would come out when he was drinking. He never talked about it with his first family, but he talked about it with us.

N/N: When you say compensation, what sort of things are you looking for?

LW: Basically, the recognition. And the monetary support they were promised. The monetary support would have helped them a great deal. They could have got themselves better health care and they could have raised their families in a much better way. My father only had a Grade 3 education, and he had to work right away. He just couldn't go back to school.

N/N: What made you get so involved in NAVA?

LW: I started talking to a lot of the children of veterans and even some of the spouses that are living ... It's phenomenal that each story is different, but the same. They should have not have had to go through half the stuff they went through growing up. They lived in poverty, because their fathers couldn't provide properly.

N/N: Is there a lot of bitterness among veterans and their families?

LW: There is a lot of bitterness, and I would say it's totally understandable.