Aboriginal filmmaker. NFB's special programs:.Aboriginal Filmmaking Program. (Financial support from Studio One - see Maria de Rosa's report "The NFB's Studio One: Future Directions, 1995, p.6). Agency - English program:.North West Centre.

Director, Loretta Todd ; script, Loretta Todd ; producer, Carol Geddes, Michael Doxtater, Jerry Krepakevich ; executive producer, Graydon McCrea ; camera, Jim Jeffrey, Ali Kazimi, Jean-Pierre Lachapelle, Kirk Tougas ; sound, Chris Aikenhead, Brian Avery, Lindsay Bucknell, William Butler, Garrell Clark, Leon Johnson, Michael McGee, Hans Oomes, Don Paches ; editing, Shirley Claydon, Gerald K. Wilson ; sound editing, Marc Benoit ; sound mix, Marc Benoit ; music, Wesley Lowe, Russell Wallace.

Narrator, Gordon Tootoosis ; participant, Gordon Ahenakew, Chief Joe Apassin, Nora Apassin, Chief Gerry Attachie, John Bradley, Leroy Little Bear, George Doxater, Mary Greyeyes Reid, Gordon Ahenakew, Wilfred Brass, Wilfred Brass, Harry Lavalle, Bernelda Wheeler.

Recorded 1997.

Although they could not be conscripted, when World War II was declared, thousands of Indigenous Canadian men and women enlisted and fought alongside their non-Indigenous countrymen. Ironically, they fought for freedom for others while being denied equality in their own country. As a reward for fighting, the Canadian Soldier Veteran's Settlement Act allowed returning soldiers to buy land at a cheap price. However, many of the Indigenous soldiers were never offered nor told about the land entitlement. Some returned home to find the government had seized parts of their own reserve land to compensate non-Indigenous war veterans. Whole First Nations communities still mourn the loss of the thousands of acres of prime land they were forced to surrender. With narrator Gordon Tootoosis providing an historical overview, Indigenous veterans poignantly share their unforgettable war memories and their healing process. We join them as they travel back to Europe to perform a sacred circle for friends left behind, but not forgotten, in foreign grave sites.

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Award - Category: Best Biography / History Documentary, 1997 Antoinette (Nettie) Kryski Canadian Heritage Award - with a cash prize of 500$, 1997 Best Short Documentary Program, 1996 Honorable Mention - Category: Social Issues, 1998 Honorable Mention, 1997

Description based on online resource; title from title screen (National Film Board of Canada, viewed 2023-08-10).