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Tears and remembrance
Terry Kruger
They were put there by Tom Eagle, veteran and elder who took part in the Aboriginal Spiritual Journey to battlefields of Belgium and Europe. "I adopted that grave," said Eagle. It wasn't even the grave of a Canadian soldier, although many thousands of headstones mark the final resting place of Canadians who died on the fields and hillsides of the small European nation. "I sang my spiritual song, my Ojibway burial song." As he sang, a crowd gathered. When Eagle was finished, many in the crowd made the sign of the cross, in reverence of what they had just witnessed. After Eagle finished singing, he placed an eagle feather, sweet grass and ribbons in a nearby tree and asked if anyone wanted to pray with him. A man and his son came forward, said Eagle. "We prayed the Lord's prayer." The man said he comes to the cemetery every Sunday and promised to look after Eagle's shrine. "It was really amazing." Across Belgium and France, similar scenes played out as First Nations, Metis and Inuit travelled from the rolling hills of Belgium to the shores of Normandy, to the rocky beach at Dieppe and bomb-cratered crest of Vimy Ridge. The Aboriginal Spiritual Journey was a celebration of First Nations, Inuit and Metis contributions to Canada during two world wars, the Korean War and peacetime. At Mount Kemmel, Belgium, elders prayed and performed sacred rituals to summon home the spirits of warriors killed in battle. Veterans and youth visited monuments and cemeteries marking famous Canadian battles. Along the way, songs were sung, Inuit drums sounded and dances were performed. Tears flowed as memories overwhelmed veterans and others who accompanied them on the journey. And for many who participated in the Year of the Veteran tribute, this journey through time was about more than celebrating Aboriginal contributions through peace and war. "(War is) too horrible, my friends," prayed one veteran atop bomb-scarred Vimy Ridge. "Let's work together to make sure it doesn't happen again." Rebecca Plotner, a member of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, was one of 14 Aboriginal youth who took part. "I've always been a proud aboriginal woman," said Plotner, 18. "I knew it in my head, now I feel it in my heart." Like most of the youth, she had a chance to travel to Paris for quick visit. "It just didn't feel right. It seemed so much more important to be here, with the veterans." She was moved by what she experienced. "I'd look at the headstones and see, 15 years old, 20 years old, 26 years old. That's me and my brothers." Of everything, Plotner said she will remember the emotional remembrance ceremony at Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium. About 3,000 people gathered there Nov. 1 for the nightly playing of the last post. That night was the 26,460th performance. Making it even more special was the dropping of thousands of poppies through the top of the arch, built in 1927 to honour soldiers who died defending Ypres in the First World War, and whose bodies were never recovered. Eagle's grandson Richard, in Grade 7 at William McDonald school, was a pipe-bearer for the calling home ceremony. "I see my grandfather in a different way now," said Richard. Muriel Eagle said she was moved by the reactions of the Belgian people. "You saw tears in the eyes of some of the people," she said. "They just feel so grateful." Tom Eagle planned to teach young people around Yellowknife about his experiences and how the people of France and Belgium still appreciate the sacrifices of Canadian soldiers. "When I saw the poppies coming down (from the ceiling of the Menin Gate in Ypres) I thought to myself: 'Canada has to learn a lot. These people haven't forgotten since the First World War.'"
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