Rendering (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Michael Reeve

INDIGENOUS WAR MEMORIAL

New memorial set to honour the Nicola Valley’s Indigenous veterans

Oct 11, 2022 | 4:09 PM

LOWER NICOLA, B.C. — A simple boulder, just feet from Highway 8 in Lower Nicola, is currently the only form of recognition for Indigenous soldiers from the Nicola Valley who fought and died for the freedoms we enjoy today.

“It was time for us to recognize our Nicola Valley First Nation veterans. What they did was they put up a boulder by the Catholic church. And since then we have been having our annual celebrations over there. Every year, we have had annual Remembrance Day celebrations where our Nicola Valley First Nations people get together,” said Carol Holmes from the Nicola Valley First Nations Veterans Association.

But thanks to some federal grant funding and the generosity of the community, a new memorial will soon be erected just down the street.

Seventy-seven names will be inscribed into the new eight-foot-tall granite memorial, honouring veterans who fought in every major conflict of the 20th Century, including Holmes’ own father who fought with the B.C. Dragoons.

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“It was interesting bringing my dad out to those gatherings (with other veterans), along with my children and listening to the stories. Watching mostly men get together and talk and be comrades, laughing and sharing and talking. It was really remarkable being witness to that,” added Holmes.

Rona Sterling-Collins’ grandfather fought in the Great War before once again serving in Canada during WWII. She expects a wave of emotion to come over her and her family when they see the monument for the first time.

“A deep sense of pride, of course, and gratefulness for all of our war veterans including my grandfather. But I also had great uncles and uncles and cousins and friends and there are many, many people who have served us,” said Sterling-Collins.

Valerie Charters has had multiple family members serve, including three who never returned home. With their bodies buried in France and Italy, the monument will allow the Charters to be memorialized back home.

“To see the names and to have family recognized and honoured and it’s such a privilege to be here a part of history. And to include our children and everybody in the community to come together as one,” said Charters.

Indigenous soldiers from across the nation volunteered to fight for a country that didn’t recognize them as citizens. The hope is the monument will also serve as an educational site for the next generation.

“When I think about our veterans, whether they were in WWI, WWII, Korean War or Vietnam War or whether they served as Peacekeepers. Knowing that when I look around, this is why they are there and yet here we weren’t considered a people.”

The plan is for the new monument to be completed in Spring 2023.