OTTAWA — A delegation of aboriginal veterans, elders and young people began a pilgrimage to the battlefields of Europe on Wednesday with a lunch at Rideau Hall.

Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean, who will join the group for parts of its tour in France later in the week, told the group that the role of aboriginals in the two world wars has often been forgotten.

"With the aboriginal spiritual journey to the battlefields of the First and Second Wars, at last we have the opportunity to recapture the vital role played by Aboriginal Peoples in helping many countries to freedom," she said.

She paid tribute to the sacrifices made by aboriginal soldiers in the two wars.

The journey, she said "is an opportunity to speak out loud and clear, recalling their heroic deeds for the people of Canada and the whole world."

She said the participants in the trip will conduct spiritual ceremonies "calling the spirits of so many fallen warriors back to their homeland."

"I am pleased that you will conduct other spiritual ceremonies in your own communities after you return from Europe. "These will allow everyone to welcome home the spirits of the warriors who never made the journey back."

Prime Minister Paul Martin also paid a tribute:

"There is no doubt of the tremendous contribution that you have made in the unfortunate great wars of the last century.

That you are embarking upon this journey tonight, calling back the spirits is . . . not only incredibly touching to any Canadian, but must mean so much to you children and to your grandchildren.

"For the ability to remember and the ability to bring back the stories, the history and indeed the spirits of those who have gone before us is the essence of what makes us people."