Denise Baxter, Vice-Provost, Indigenous Initiatives, spoke during the ceremony.

November 8, 2023 – Thunder Bay, Ont.

Lakehead hosted an Indigenous Veterans Day ceremony and exhibit opening on Wednesday, Nov. 8 in the Agora – with speakers from the University and invited guests. 

The exhibit, which will be on display from Wednesday, Nov. 8 until Friday, Nov. 10, features photos and artifacts from the World Wars.

See below for more about the exhibit.

Lakehead University has been honoured to host the Indigenous Veterans of Treaty 3 Exhibit on campus for the past two years. 

This year, Lakehead is excited to announce, in partnership with the Native Veterans Association of Northwestern Ontario, Treaty 3 Indigenous Veteran Exhibit, Thunder Bay Museum, and the City of Thunder Bay, a new chapter of Charles “Willy” John’s vision. 

The late John founded the Native Veterans Association of Northwestern Ontario. He was an Ojibway of the Red Rock Band located at Lake Helen Reserve near Nipigon, Ont. 

John was a veteran of the Second World War. His dream of forming an organization of Native veterans became a reality when a founding meeting took place on November 11, 1988. 

Native veterans and families came across Northwestern Ontario and participated in a Remembrance Day service on Mount McKay in Fort William First Nation. Some of the images from that original ceremony will be on display. 

The above partners will be working together to create a permanent and portable exhibit in the coming year that they hope will be shared throughout the region to commemorate the important contributions of Indigenous veterans. 

We would like to acknowledge the entire team that brought the original project together: Beverley Alto, Graphics Design, Digitization Lead, Web Gallery; Greg Quachegan, Researcher, Contact, Web Contributions; Owen Zoccole, Researcher/ Writer, Artist, Web Contributions; Stan Alto, Team Leader, Editor, Webmaster; Brian Walmark, Project Consultant; and David-Michael Thompson, Research Developer & Project Manager.

 The exhibit, which will be on display from Wednesday, Nov. 8 until Friday, Nov. 10, features photos and artifacts from the World Wars.

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Media: For more information or interviews, please contact Brandon Walker, Media, Communications and Marketing Associate, at (807) 343-8110 ext. 8372 or mediarelations@lakeheadu.ca.

Lakehead University is a fully comprehensive university with approximately 9,700 full-time equivalent students and over 2,000 faculty and staff at two campuses in Orillia and Thunder Bay, Ontario. Lakehead has nine faculties, including Business Administration, Education, Engineering, Graduate Studies, Health & Behavioural Sciences, Law, Natural Resources Management, Science & Environmental Studies, and Social Sciences & Humanities. Lakehead University’s achievements have been recognized nationally and internationally, including being ranked in the top half of Times Higher Education's 2023 World Universities Rankings for the fourth consecutive year, and the number one university in the world with fewer than 9,000 students in THE’s 2023 Impact Rankings (which assesses institutions against the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals). Visit www.lakeheadu.ca.