On the walls of the Menin Gate memorial in Ypres, Belgium, are engraved the names of 54,896 Allied soldiers who were lost in the Great War and knew no grave.

Under its stately arches, every night at precisely 20:00, a team of local buglers sound the forever haunting salute to the fallen warrior.

Tuesday, Nov. 1 marked the 26,460th time since 1928 that The Last Post played. It also marked the first time some of Canada's Aboriginal war veterans heard its cadences echo in a land their loved ones fought and died in.

Metis veteran Joseph Clement lost an uncle in the third and final battle of Ypres in July, 1917.

"Before, we didn't know where he was killed. But now we know," Clement told CTV.ca from his home in Grimsby, Ont. upon his return from Europe. "We found his name up in the wall of Menin Gate."

"It was emotional. It was very, very emotional."

Clement was part of a delegation of Metis, First Nation and Inuit veterans taking part in the eight-day Aboriginal Spiritual Journey to Europe -- an initiative by Veterans Affairs Canada to pay tribute to the role Canada's aboriginal veterans played in both world wars. For many of them, it marked the first time they had stepped foot onto European soil since serving in the Second World War.

Rain of poppies

Clement was asked to read the Act of Remembrance in French at the ceremony at Belgium's Hill 62. Also known as Mount Sorrel, Canadian soldiers captured and held the hill against repeated German attacks in the Battle of Hooge 89 years ago. But it came at the cost of 8,430 Canadian lives.

The first wreaths to honour those soldiers were laid after two minutes of silence; and as the veterans marched to the Menin Gate, many of them were seen wiping away tears as red felt poppies floated gently from skylights in the gate's ceiling.

"I can honestly tell you, when the poppies came down, everybody cried," said Clement, who was a member of the Royal Canadian Navy. "There was one poppy for every name on that wall."

Veteran Eddy Wabie told CTV.ca he was marching into the gate's tunnel, taking in the immensity of the columns of dead soldiers' names when the poppies started falling.

"It was amazing. I didn't know what was happening at first. The road itself leading into the archway turned red as you walked in. And I was thinking of all the blood the soldiers shed."

"And I felt like I wish I could have been there to help them," said Wabie, who was in Belgium and France representing the Algonquin First Nations of North Temiscamingue, Que.

"But we were too young."

Wabie and the veterans were warmly greeted by Belgian locals, with about 1,000 turning up at performances by Metis, Indian and Inuit singers and dancers during the remembrance ceremony.

Ypres mayor Luc Dehaene has been attending Canadian remembrance services for soldiers who died fighting for Belgium's freedom for years. This time around, he said he was thrilled to host such a unique event.

"The deeds of Canadians are well known in my city and those stories have been passed on to the future generations," he said. "Aboriginal soldiers served their country and ours. We are extremely grateful that the First Nations people have come here to tell us the true accounts of their deeds."

It isn't known how many aboriginals fought in both wars, as of many of them, especially the Metis and Inuit soldiers, were enlisted without their backgrounds recorded. But among status Indians (those who were considered to be legally Indians under the federal Indian Act legislation), more than 4,000 volunteered to fight in the First World War; and more than 3,000 in the Second World War.

Bringing them home

At the Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery in France, 33 of those aboriginal soldiers are buried. Most were victims of the D-Day landings and the invasion of Normandy.

To awaken their spirits and those of other aboriginal soldiers from their sleep in a land far from home, the veterans, led by spiritual leaders and elders, took part in the first ever Calling Home Ceremony for fallen warriors held on a foreign battlefield.

Performed on Oct. 28 on a small hillside in Mont Kemmel, the ancient ritual is intended to begin the process of bringing the soldiers' spirits back to Canada to rest.

Then, in another ceremony in Beny-sur-Mer, aboriginal participants called forth the souls of their ancestors and honoured them through song, prayer and dance. This Ceremony of Remembrance was witnessed by Governor General Michaelle Jean, who was promised the veterans, "I will always stand by you."

Jean said it was important to finally grant aboriginals the recognition they deserve for their efforts in the war, and to heal the wounds inflicted on those who felt they were treated like second-class citizens after returning home from overseas.

"It felt good to get that recognition," said Clement. "I have to be honest with you, it felt good."

Clement enlisted in 1939 and rose to the rank of Able Seaman at the end of the Second World War. He said he enrolled because he wanted to join his brother, who enlisted six months before him.

"And you want to do what everyone wanted to do in those days, and that's to support our country and support our freedom," he said.

But for veteran Elmer Sinclair, it was enough to be recognized for his years of service to his country.

"We went to the war as Canadian soldiers," he told CTV.ca from his home in Nanaimo, B.C.

"We didn't go there as aboriginal soldiers."

Sinclair, who would address his Cree background only when asked, was born in Selkirk, Man. 84 years ago. He enlisted on June 6, 1940 in Winnipeg and began his military career as a regimental signaller with the Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry.

He was later attached to the 50th British Infantry Division and landed on Gold Beach, the centre beach of the five landing areas of the Normandy Invasion, shortly after D-Day.

"The British were short of men," said Sinclair. "We were on loan to them for about a month." He returned to the Canadian army in July, 1944.

The veteran said although he greatly appreciated Jean's presence last week, he didn't see the need for her effort to "bring as much visibility as possible" to the unique contribution of aboriginals to Canada's war effort.

"After the war, I'd say only in the last 20 to 30 years, came the idea of aboriginal veterans," said Sinclair. "Prior to that, in Memorial Day parades, we took part as Canadian veterans."

Sinclair noted the spiritual dimension of the trip, but said he was most impressed by visiting the battlefield sites and attending the ceremonies of remembrance at Beny-sur-Mer, Hill 62, Vimy and Juno Beach.

"To see all the young men's names on the crosses, so many of them in their teens and early 20s ... It's a shame that all those men had to go."

Youth delegation

Sinclair, like many of the veterans, said he was also taken by the 14 members of the aboriginal youth delegation that accompanied them on the journey.

Many of them are at the age when the veterans had enlisted, which seemed to make a deep impression on them as they listened to the veterans' stories and saw the tender ages of the fallen soldiers on the tombstones.

"People sacrificed their most precious years," said Dae Fawn Assinewe, a First Nations youth attending high school in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. "I'm 18, an age when I'm learning things and making choices that will affect the rest of my life. And people sacrificed that choice."

Assinewe said she developed a close bond with veteran Clement during the journey.

"We were walking around Dieppe Memorial together and he said to me, 'Thank you for being here. It really means a lot to see that a younger generation is learning from us. ... You've given me closure by being here and I'm happy that our stories are being passed on."

Youth delegate Ryan McBride said he had mixed emotions as he stood in the spot where many people died fighting.

"It was really hard to be in a place where so many great people fought for us, and so many of them had to die," said the 17-year-old Metis from Mississauga, Ont. "But it was great to be there together with the war veterans, and they must have felt what I was feeling 10 times over."

Seventy-two-year-old veteran Wabie, whose been living away from reserve life since he was 16 and never heard of Calling Home ceremonies, said it wasn't just the youth whose eyes were opened during journey.

"It's been a wide awakening for me, too," he told CTV.ca. "I never participated in anything spiritual save for some powwows a few years back. So this has been amazing."

Wabie said he intends on following up his experience at the Calling Home ceremony in Mont Kemmel by attending a similar ceremony in his home province.

"The whole experience, getting to know other aboriginals from across the country, made me feel like I've bonded back to my nation."

Clement had a similar experience. "It was the first time I've seen aboriginal veterans from across Canada, including Metis, Inuit, and First Nations. They were all so extremely humble, approachable and gentle," he said.

"I did more hugging than I ever have in my life."

For Clement, the journey was not just one of remembrance, but one of reclamation, healing and, most surprising and welcome of all, learning from the youth.

"They were absolutely great. And our future, from what I saw there, is in good hands."