The Nanton Bomber Command Museum is hosting an event this weekend, which will honour the Indigenous air crew that fought in the Second World War.
According to the Museum Curator, Karl Kjarsgaard, the museum hosts events throughout the summer to celebrate the bomber command contribution and sacrifice during the second World War.
"We love to run the Lancaster bomber, and that's the focal point of the event," Kjarsgaard explains. "But, we usually have a theme. And this year, June 21, there is an exciting announcement."
Because of their large archive, they have discovered over 125 Native and Métis aircrew flew in the Second World War, with most of them on bombers.
"And we have a national memorial wall with all the names of the 10,800 Canadians killed in combat in bombers. And we found out 46 of these 125 Native and Métis that served in the Royal Canadian Air force, 46 of them were killed in action, and they're on our wall. And we didn't know that 'till we sifted through our archives. So, it's a revelation to us. And it's exciting news."
Kjarsgaard says that while it's a wonderful event at the museum, it is also a spotlight on the Native and Métis that flew in the Canadian Airforce during the Second World War, and because it's happening on National Indigenous Day, they have a ceremony planned at the museum.
At the event, they will have two teepees setup on the south side of the memorial wall, and they will be marking all the names of the Native and Métis airmen who were killed in action with special markers so people can easily see the names.
At lunch time, Kjarsgaard will be giving a speech in the main hanger, where there will be chairs setup alongside a sound system and a slideshow of two of the top ranking Native and Métis airmen who flew in the war.
"I've been doing this for a long time, and it's fun to find history that's been hidden for years."
Kjarsgaard says that they want to include everyone that flew in bombers in the Second World War on their national memorial.
"We felt that we needed to show people just how great was the sacrifice of Canadians flying combat and bombers. So, there's 10,800 plus names engraved on the 40-foot black granite wall. And we have 20 or 30 pages on each man on the wall. So, if you had an uncle that was killed in action in a Halifax bomber with 426 squadron, we can tell you everything about it."
To visit the museum, it's by donation, but it's suggested that people pitch in $10 per person or $20 per family.
In past events where they would run the Lancaster bomber, they have had upwards of 4,000 people standing on the grass in attendance.
The event on Saturday, June 21, will begin at 11 a.m., and at 12:30 p.m., they will have a rear gun turret demonstration, followed by a smudge ceremony at 1 p.m. and a Land Acknowledgement and prayer.
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