Sculptor of Ottawa monument says anger over treatment of Indigenous veterans drove its creation – APTN News

Nov 08, 2024

For the past 23 years the National Aboriginal Veterans Monument has stood resolutely in an Ottawa park just blocks from Parliament Hill.

It’s where veterans and others gather for National Aboriginal Veterans Day each Nov. 8., in recognition of Indigenous contributions to military service, particularly in the First and Second World Wars and Korean War.

Sculptor Lloyd Pinay, who created the majestic and powerful piece, talked about how it came to be in a recent interview with APTN News. Pinay, from Peepeekisis First Nation in southeastern Saskatchewan, now lives near Borden, west of Saskatoon.

“Originally, I was asked by one of the veterans organizations and an Indigenous organization [the National Aboriginal Veterans Association and Congress of Aboriginal Peoples] to submit some ideas for a national monument they were trying for in Ottawa,” Pinay recalled.

Read More: https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/sculptor-of-ottawa-monument-says-anger-over-treatment-of-indigenous-veterans-drove-its-creation/