New memorial in Saskatoon planned for Indigenous fallen soldiers

Local Journalism Initiative

July 3, 2024 at 12:43 p.m.·3 min read

Saskatchewan has a rich history of Indigenous soldiers serving, and giving their lives, for their country. Unfortunately history has shown that many of those soldiers go unrecognized. The Canadian Fallen Heroes Foundation is working to change that.

This year, the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 63 on Spadina Avenue in Saskatoon are dedicating a wall in their building to honour Saskatchewan’s fallen Indigenous soldiers.

“I think the story of these soldiers has been under-told,” said Mike Dalton, Researcher at the Canadian Fallen Heroes Foundation.

“They deserve recognition for what they went through.”

The display will feature individual memorials for each solider printed on metal art panels, with a photograph and biography.

The process of finding information and photographs for each soldier is slow, said Dalton. They have a list of about 100 Indigenous Saskatchewan soldiers that they would eventually like to include on the memorial. The short-term goal is to have 20 ready by this years’ Remembrance Day.

“Most of these soldiers were young and they sacrificed their future. So we try, whenever possible, to outline their childhood and life before the war, so we can see what their future could have been,” said Dalton.

The Canadian Fallen Heroes Foundation has a similar memorial on display at the Saskatchewan Aviation Museum, with about 150 memorials from air men and women who died during World War II.

With a list of about 10,000 names of fallen soldiers from Saskatchewan, there is no shortage of soldiers to honour.

“Life wasn’t easy for a lot of these soldiers from the prairies, because of the Depression and the Dust Bowl. Sometimes when we research soldiers, we find that we can put them in five different towns, because they had to move around. Life was hard, for Indigenous soldiers even more so,” said Dalton.

“By grouping (these Indigenous soldiers) together, this way it’ll make people understand that despite being treated so unfairly, when called upon they were loyal comrades and fought side by side.”

One of the soldiers that Dalton most regularly highlights is Alexander Decoteau, from Red Pheasant First Nation, who died in 1917 during the Battle of Passchendaele during the First World War. But before serving in the war, Decoteau accomplished a great deal in his short life – competing in the Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden in 1912 for long distance running. He was also the first Indigenous police officer in Canada, and the first motorcycle police office in Canada.

Alexander Decoteau, from Red Pheasant First Nation, served in WWI

Decoteau is one of the fallen soldiers that will be memorialized in Saskatoon.

“(It’s incredible) what he accomplished. When I send out memorial information out, I like to attach that one because of what Decoteau was able to accomplish in his short life.”

The Canadian Fallen Heroes Foundation is without photos for the following soliders. Please contact their Saskatoon branch with any information about photos of these soliders:

Adams, Clarence
Anderson, Patrick Louie
Baldhead, James Luke
Bangs, John
Baptiste, Edgar Herbert
Bear, Thomas
Belanger, John George
Bell, Roy Munroe
Bellegarde, Maurice
Big-Man, (Misteyenew) Alexander
Bird, Charles (Charlie)
Bird, Thomas Vivian
Bloomfield, Frederick
Boyer, Harry (Hormidas)
Bryant, William John
Cameron, James
Cromartie, Peter Andrew
Crow, (Crowe) Joseph
Daniels, Charles
Daniels, William
Deegan, James
Desnomie, Joseph Noel
Dreaver, Frank Nickle
Eyahpaise, Edward Stanley
Flamend, John
Flamond, Joseph
Fleury, Clement
Gerard, John
Grey (Gray), Malcolm
Halcrow, Sam (aka Samuel Halcro)
Hodgson, Arthur
Irvine, Charles Frederick
Irvine, Stanley Charles
Kakaway, Albert
Keewatin, Maurice William
Ladret, Bruno
Landry, Stanley Joseph
Marion, Ambroise Louis
Masaskepew, Charles
McKay, Colin Inkster
McKay, Samuel
McLeod, Albert Alexander
McNabb, David
Nahbexie, Austin Joseph
Nelson, Edward John
Noskeyi, Benjamin Joseph
Pratt, Kenneth Wilfred
Ross, Victor
Sabiston, William Wallace George
Sanderson, William Charles
Settee, Alexander
Standing Buffalo, Joseph Arthur
Sutherland, Malcolm Arnold S.
Taylor, James Curtis
Thomas, Donald
Walker, Norman Stanley
White, Louis
Whitford, Alfred Thomas
Whitford, David
Whitford, Wilfred

NC Raine, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Eagle Feather News

Business Insider
A NATO sub hunter captured these shots of a Russian submarine in waters newly surrounded by the alliance
NATO's Allied Maritime Command released photos Wednesday after a Portuguese P-3 Maritime Patrol Aircraft found a Russian submarine in the Baltic Sea.
Business Insider
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps gets powerful ships to confront adversaries well beyond the Persian Gulf
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) added missile corvettes and a mothership for special forces to its fleet, enabling new capabilities.
Business Insider
China-made military drones similar to the MQ-9 Reaper were disguised as wind turbines in shipments to Libya: Italian officials
The Times of London reported on Sunday that the drones were the Chinese-made Wing Loong, aligning with specifications released by Italian officials.
Business Insider
Russia is using devastating 'meat assault' attacks to find out where Ukraine's firepower is hidden: report
Russia is throwing troops into high-casualty attacks for marginal tactical gains.
Reuters
Ukraine navy chief says Russia is losing Crimean hub in Black Sea
The Russian navy's Black Sea Fleet has been forced to rebase nearly all its combat-ready warships from occupied Crimea to other locations, and its main naval hub is becoming ineffectual because of attacks by Kyiv, Ukraine's navy chief said. Vice-Admiral Oleksiy Neizhpapa said Ukrainian missile and naval drone strikes had caused heavy damage to the Sevastopol base, a logistics hub for repairs, maintenance, training and ammunition storage among other important functions for Russia. More than 28 months since Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv has dealt a series of stinging blows to Moscow in the Black Sea although Ukrainian ground troops are on the back foot across a sprawling front.
Business Insider
Russia has forced the West to ramp up production of older weapons — even gear it wasn't making any more
Demand and manufacturing of older Western weapons systems is up as countries want to boost their own stocks with Russia in mind, and help Ukraine.
The Canadian Press
Philippine military chief warns his forces will fight back if assaulted again in disputed sea
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine forces will defend themselves with “the same level of force” if they come under assault again from China’s coast guard in the disputed South China Sea, where Chinese personnel armed with machetes and spears injured Filipino navy personnel and damaged two of their boats in a chaotic faceoff last month, the Philippine military chief said Thursday.
The Canadian Press
NATO leaders will vow to pour weapons into Ukraine for another year, but membership is off the table
BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO leaders plan to pledge next week to keep pouring arms and ammunition into Ukraine at current levels for at least another year, hoping to reassure the war-ravaged country of their ongoing support and show Russian President Vladimir Putin that they will not walk away.
The Daily Beast
Why Putin’s Private Army Ordered Soldiers to Torture Me
BÉLOKO, Central African Republic—They were all wearing military fatigues and armed with Kalashnikovs when they showed up suddenly at about 5 o’clock one Friday evening at the start of December. The four men were soldiers from the Central African Armed Forces (FACA) who drove right up to where I was interviewing about a dozen people hoping to get cross the border.Among those I was interviewing were a couple of artisanal miners who had gathered in front of a security checkpoint in the Central Afri
Reuters
Taiwan reports more Chinese military activity, calls for de-escalation
Taiwan on Friday reported renewed Chinese military activity nearby with another "combat patrol" as the government called on Beijing not to escalate tensions after the seizure of a Taiwanese fishing boat. China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, has stepped up its pressure over the past four years, both militarily and politically. On Tuesday, Chinese officials boarded and detained a Taiwanese fishing boat for illegally operating in the country's waters, in what a senior Taiwan official said may be act of psychological warfare.
Euronews
Poland and Lithuania seek EU and NATO assistance in defending their borders
The latest remarks on border protection come in the face of the threat posed by Russia's war in Ukraine.
CNN
Ex-Israeli military spokesman blames Netanyahu for ‘loss of international trust’ during war
A former spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces has sharply criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conduct of the war against Hamas, in the latest sign of growing tensions between the military and the government.
CNN
Russia captures part of a key hilltop town in Ukraine, opening door to further advances
Russian troops have taken control of parts of a key hilltop town in eastern Ukraine, a strategic gain that could pose major problems for Ukrainian troops trying to defend the area from further advances.
Business Insider
Sea drones could 'radically' change warfare, giving smaller navies a chance to 'flip the chessboard,' expert says
Sea drones could revolutionize naval warfare, giving smaller navies an edge over much larger fleets, a retired Ukrainian naval officer said.
The Canadian Press
Fierce fighting breaks out as militias launch new attacks against regime in Myanmar's civil war
BANGKOK (AP) — New fighting has broken out in northeastern Myanmar, bringing an end to a Chinese-brokered cease-fire and putting pressure on the military regime as it faces attacks from resistance forces on multiple fronts in the country's civil war.
Business Insider
Putin and Kim Jong Un are getting alarmingly close, and it's put US ally South Korea in a predicament
South Korea has threatened to go all-in on supporting Ukraine as Russia and North Korea get closer. Putin's response put it in a tough spot.
France 24
Ukrainian forces withdraw from part of strategic town in eastern Donetsk region
The Ukrainian military announced on Thursday that its forces had withdrawn from part of Chasiv Yar in the eastern Donetsk region, a day after Russia claimed control over a district of the strategic town. Russian troops have been steadily advancing in the Donetsk region for several weeks. Ukraine's military said on Thursday its troops had pulled back from part of Chasiv Yar in the eastern Donetsk region, a day after Russia said its forces had taken control of a district in the strategic town.Chas
Reuters
Russia conducts mobile nuclear missile launcher drills
Russia's Defence Ministry said on Friday it was conducting drills involving Yars mobile nuclear missile launchers, less than a month after it held tactical nuclear weapons deployment exercises alongside ally Belarus. The ministry said Yars missile launcher crews in at least two different regions were set to move over 100 kilometres (62 miles) and practice camouflage and deployment. It published video showing a mobile launcher manoeuvering along forest roads and taking up position before troops covered it in camouflage netting.
BBC
DR Congo soldiers sentenced to death for desertion
Twenty-five soldiers are sentenced for fleeing battles against the notorious M23 rebel group.
Reuters
US nuclear missile program costs soar to around $160 billion, sources say
The cost of an Air Force program to replace aging nuclear missiles has ballooned to about $160 billion from $95.8 billion, three people familiar with the matter said, threatening to slash funding for other key modernization plans. The project, now named the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program, is designed and managed by Northrop Grumman Corp and aims to replace aging Minuteman III missiles. Its latest price tag has risen by around $65 billion since a 2020 cost estimate, according to a U.S. official, an industry executive and a hill aide briefed on the matter.

Latest Stories