Actors dressed in period costumes helped bring the War of 1812 theme alive at the Tall Ships Festival in Halifax, but the re-enactment left out Canada's aboriginal allies.

Professional re-enactors hired by Parks Canada marched on the Halifax waterfront as if braced for an American attack, but no one represented the First Nations soldiers who fought for the British colony.

Thousands of First Nations soldiers helped turn the tide of the war in British and Canadian favour

"(We) certainly would not have been able to save our territory if not for the native contribution," said Parks Canada site manager Rob Roe.

The missing re-enactors don't surprise Betty Ann Lavallée of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples.

"Most Canadians do not know the significance of the aboriginal commitment to the formation of this country to begin with," she said.

"It's not taught in schools."

The Tall Ships and re-enactors were in Lunenburg Wednesday. They'll visit Pugwash and Pictou later this week.