National Indigenous Veterans Day was marked in Rama First Nation on a grey, chilly morning Wednesday.
Military veterans, local dignitaries, first-responders and community members gathered around the cenotaph on Rama Road to honour those who have served and are currently serving our country.
Gerald Henry, a British Army veteran from 1956, led the Royal Canadian Legion's Orillia Branch 34 colour party during the ceremony and parade.
"I was in the army for five years or so," he explained. "Before me, my father served in World War Two and fought the Japanese."
Now over 75 years removed from the Second World War, Henry feels that Remembrance Day isn't recognized the same way as it once was.
"I used to go to schools and tell the youth that we served in the army to protect all the people so we could have a better life in Canada," he said. "That sort of thing doesn't happen anymore."
Henry fears that five to 10 years from now, youth won't have any understanding of Remembrance Day.
During Wednesday's ceremony, students from Mnjikaning Kendaaswin Elementary School (MKES) sang the national anthem in Ojibwe and took part in the service.
"I think it's good," Henry said. "These kids understand because the Native schools educate a little better."
On Remembrance Day, Henry says his father will be on his mind and in his heart.
Audrina Ritchie-Stinson, a Grade 4 student from MKES, recited In Flanders Fields during Wednesday's ceremony.
"It is important to be here to represent all of the soldiers who went into the war," she said. "I have a few family members who served in the war so it's important to honour them with this thoughtful poem."
Ritchie-Stinson says she owes her freedom and peaceful life in Canada to military veterans.
"It's important to honour them," she said. "I will remember their sacrifice for the rest of my life."
On National Indigenous Veterans Day, Ritchiestinson says it's important to reflect on the sacrifices made by Indigenous soldiers.
"They weren't acknowledged the same way as other soldiers," she explained. "When they came back to the land, they weren't respected like other veterans."
Ritchie-Stinson has learned in school that Indigenous soldiers made for great snipers and code-breakers.
"They would speak in Anishinaabe or Cree and would translate it to English to tell the other soldiers what's going on in enemy territory," she explained. "That was an advantage for our military."
During the ceremony, Rama First Nation Chief Ted Williams said every day is Remembrance Day to him.
"This time of year should not be the only time that we think of our veterans," he said. "We need to remember, we need to educate, and tell their stories as hard as it may be."
National Indigenous Veterans Day is an emotional day for Williams whose father was a military veteran.
"I asked him one time, 'What was it like Dad?' All he said to me was 'Son, I hope you never ever have to experience war because all life is precious,'" he recalled.
Orillia's Remembrance Day ceremony will be held at the cenotaph outside Orillia Soldiers' Memorial Hospital at 11 a.m. Saturday morning.
