Proud Indigenous mentor in the Canadian Armed Forces
By Kelly Anne Smith
NIPISSING FIRST NATION—The Indigenous Advisor to the Chaplain General of the Royal Canadian Chaplain Service of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) is Patrick Stevens, Anishinaabe of Nipissing First Nation. He was presented an Eagle Feather in the military and speaks proudly of presenting a community member with an Eagle Feather at the Nipissing First Nation Pow wow.
In good humour speaking from a busy Ottawa airport, Stevens explains his role with CAF.
“Part of my primary job summary as the Indigenous Advisor to the Chaplain is I advise the Chaplain on spirituality for Indigenous people throughout the Canadian Armed Forces.”
Stevens is available to members of the forces throughout Canada.
“My next destination is Halifax. I’ve been doing quite a bit of travelling to bases around Canada with the Chaplain team from Ottawa. This team consists of the Chaplain General Brigadier-General Guy Bélisle, Chief Warrant Officer Tracey Graham, and various other representatives,” he explains. “During these visits, I talk about cultural sensitivity with base chaplain teams and help foster an understanding of Indigenous spirituality within the Canadian Armed Forces. I draw attention to especially the history and diversity of Indigenous spirituality and relations.”
The Indigenous Advisor talked about regional exercises now planned.
“Because the pandemic was challenging for everybody, they are starting to get a lot of the regional exercises going. With that, I’m travelling to all of the bases for the chaplain exercises, which are divided by the different elements: the navy, the army, and the air force,” he says. “The Navy Regional Exercise for chaplains last year was based out of Victoria, but this year it’s based out of Halifax. We will go down there to support the team. I have a chance to go there, to engage with the chaplain teams and the Indigenous members, as well as to chat with the local Defence Aboriginal Advisory Board members.”
Stevens attends military events holding the Department of National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces (DND/CAF) Eagle Staff. He explains its significance.
“The Eagle Staff is a representation of Indigenous peoples within the Canadian military. It has multiple parts to it,” he notes. “Along the back of it, you’ll see the white ash bow is a representation of First Nations people… Through the entirety of the Eagle Staff, there’s a narwhal tusk. The narwhal tusk is the foundation of Inuit People. Wrapped around the narwhal tusk is the Métis sash. The Métis sash is a representation of the Métis.”
Stevens explains the Eagle Staff is Anishinaabe culture in origin.
“The creators of this Eagle Staff are from Batchewana First Nation. It has that all-encompassing Indigenous feel to it,” he explains. “The flags of the provinces and territories connect to the ash bow. There are 12 Eagle Feathers along the front. Eagle Feathers are part of the Indigenous calendar as they see 13 months of the year, not 12.”
“Along the top side of it, sacred medicines hang down in a pouch. As well, there is a sweetgrass braid on the top side,” he continues. “At the bottom of the narwal tusk, there is a deer antler carving of an eagle head. And on the back, there’s one small mark, generally where my hand goes; it’s a burnt-in hand print. The only actual mark on the Staff is there for the Veterans that came before us… Every time we carry the Staff, we carry it as we say, I’m holding your hand too… Normally, parts of the tradition of the Eagle Staff comes out of creation. It’s almost never taken apart until we’re done using it; however, as this one is truly military in origin and has the Indigenous theme; it travels in three separate cases. That’s for a safety concern because of the size of it. I’m 6’2″ myself and when I’m standing, it’s over my head… It gets broken down into two individual cases. A stand goes with it. I think it comes down to 22 different pieces. Primarily for the fact of safety so the feathers are taken care of and maintained and all the various items are taken care of, they are in sturdy cases.”
Stevens says the origin of the DND/CAF Eagle Staff began with two Indigenous military members having the same dream.
“One said we have to build an Eagle Staff and the other one said I had the same dream. He drew a picture of what the Eagle Staff would look like. They both had the same shared dream,” he explains. “It was so significant with the fact of both members believing so strongly. At that point in 2001, a now Honorary Captain, retired Chief Petty Officer 1st Class Debbie Eisan and Chief Petty Officer 2nd Class Chris Innis brought the Eagle Staff into creation. From there, it’s been serving the forces for over 20 years.”
On Remembrance Day, Stevens urges the youth and all generations to never forget.
“I think it’s so important when it comes to our history, looking at Indigenous history, we need to know where we come from and parts of our history. And we need to know the Indigenous people that served the military,” he says. “The Eagle Staff on Remembrance Day is an important piece of that. Throughout our history we have fought for our rights and the right to be here. For the Indigenous, the stewardship of the land has always been very important to us. We work hard to defend our land. We fought to help make Canada the way it is today. It’s part of our history. For those reasons, understand our past to build upon for our future.”
National Indigenous Veterans Day is observed on November 8 each year and is a time to remember and commemorate the stories and contributions of Indigenous Veterans in wars and conflict past and present.
Recently, Stevens attended the Pourville Memorial in France in 2022. He calls being in the city of Dieppe meaningful as he remembers and honours the 913 Canadians who died there on August 19, 1942, in WW2.
“I found out from the community, that one member passed there and never made it home. To be able to stand proud for them there, that was the highlight of my career.”