PLUMMER - The Coeur d'Alene Tribe dedicated a new Veterans Memorial on Saturday here to honor veterans who served and protected the United States.

Tribal veterans from across the Inland Northwest attended the dedication, and about 500 people in all were in attendance. The ceremony blended traditional U.S. military protocols and American Indian traditions.

"This memorial is dedicated to the Coeur d'Alene Tribal warriors. It is a celebration of their sacrifice and to show they have fought for freedom," Ernie Stensgar, tribe vice chairman, told the audience.

Defending the homeland has been a tradition handed down for thousands of years within the tribe, he said. Members of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe have served in every branch of the U.S. military in times of war, he said.

"They sacrificed their blood so that we can sit here today and breathe in freedom," he said. Stensgar, 65, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1966 to 1968, was one of the tribe's veterans who worked to have a memorial erected.

The newly constructed memorial is located at the trailhead of the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes, just off of U.S. 95, directly north of Plummer. The memorial includes a steel sculpture of a tribal warrior on horseback holding a peace pipe above his head, and a pair of engraved granite columns. Several stones at the memorial include the names of tribal members who served in combat for the United States and before that in the Steptoe Battle.

Louis Aripa, a 59-year-old tribal member and U.S. Marine from 1969-71 who served in the Vietnam War, said the memorial means a lot to him and his family and other families. He said he has family members with their names on the wall.

"I think it's great because I'll be up there one of these days on that wall," said Aripa, of Desmet. "That really feels good. It shows our tribe has taken a lot of pride in our veterans."

Idaho Gov. Butch Otter and U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo both spoke at the event.

The senator said, "What a fitting thing that you can see the memorial as you drive by (on U.S. 95), and as you are here in the Coeur d'Alene country to know of the commitment of the people in this tribe."

Otter congratulated Stensgar for his work on the memorial project.

"I know this has been a labor of love for you for a long time," Otter said.

Every war memorial visited this weekend in Idaho proves that, "In Idaho we value freedom. In Idaho we value this great republic," Otter said.

And Idaho residents have proven and continue to prove their willingness to defend freedom and the republic, he said.

Marc Stewart, a tribe spokesman, said American Indians have the highest rate of service per capita compared to all ethnic groups. There are 190,000 American Indian veterans in the U.S., he said.

The tribe's cultural resource department, tribal members, and veterans came up with the idea for the project. A group of architecture and landscape architecture students from Iowa State University worked to develop conceptual designs and plans. Those ideas were blended with ideas from the tribe's veterans committee and local artists. The steel sculpture in the memorial was created by Virgil "Smoker" Marchand of Omak, Wash.