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Native war veterans in Northwestern Ontario say a proposed monument in their honour is well-deserved.

The plan for a monument in Ottawa was unveiled earlier this week.

"It's a good thing to be recognized," said Lloyd Michon of Geraldton. "We all fought for the country."

He said there were many people on reserves who were in the service and who after their campaigns just sort of disappeared.

Michon, a paratrooper who served in Korea and in Germany with NATO, said many of those people who should have been recognized are now dead.

"All Natives were volunteers," said many of those people who should have been recognized are now dead.

"All Native were volunteers," said Thunder Bay's Ivan Martin, "so why shouldn't we be recognized if just for that sake."

The monument project, spearheaded by the National Aboriginal Veterans Association, has been given $80,000 as seed money by Ottawa to fund the start-up costs, but NAVA must raise more than $700, 000 for it.

The monument, designed by Lloyd Pinal of Saskatchewan, includes four bronze panels framed by stone pillars topped with bronze figures of a wolf, a bear, an elk and a cougar. Each panel will deal with a separate theme-the two world wars, Korea and peacekeeping operations.

In addition to the monument, the federal government is pitching in $1.15 million to a Native veterans scholarship trust. Funding for the initiative was provided for in the 1996 budget.

The scholarships will be open to all aboriginal people, including status and non-status Indians, Inuit and Metis, as an incentive to post-secondary students studying aboriginal self-government and economic self-reliance.

Michon said the scholarships are a good place to start the process of establishing Native self-governance.

"We don't have enough people educated enough to do it yet," he said.

The awards will give Natives in remote areas financing to attend schools away from their reserves.

"It's hard for students, especially from the North, to come down into society," said Martin. "This will be an incentive."

He said education is an important part of breaking a cycle for many young people in remote communities who have turned to bad habits like drugs and alcohol.

"Educating youth will make their lives better, but also better the lives of all Natives," said Michon.

Meanwhile, Aboriginal Support Services at Confederation College has set up a display to honour Native Veterans.

The display, near the main entrance of the Shuniah Building, features memorabilia from those who served in both world wars and the Korean War.