Francis Pegahmagabow

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Template:Use Canadian English Template:Short description Template:Infobox military person Francis Pegahmagabow (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell; March 9, 1891 – August 5, 1952) was an Ojibwe soldier, politician and activist in Canada. He was the most highly decorated Indigenous soldier in Canadian military history and the most effective sniper of the First World War. Three times awarded the Military Medal and seriously wounded, he was an expert marksman and scout. Credited with killing 378 Germans and capturing 300 more, he is considered as one of the deadliest snipers in history.<ref name= "Brownlie p. 63">Template:Harvnb</ref> Later in life, he served as chief and a councillor for the Wasauksing First Nation, and as an activist and leader in several First Nations organizations. He corresponded with and met other noted aboriginal figures including Fred Loft, Jules Sioui, Andrew Paull and John Tootoosis.

Early life

Francis Pegahmagabow was born on March 9, 1891,Template:SfnTemplate:Efn on what is now the Shawanaga First Nation reserve in Nobel, Ontario.Template:Sfn In Ojibwe his name was Binaaswi ("the wind that blows off").Template:Sfn When Francis was three years old, his father died and his mother subsequently left him to return to her home in the Henvey Inlet First Nation.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> He was raised by elder Noah Nebimanyquod and grew up in Shawanaga, where he learned traditional skills such as hunting, fishing, and traditional medicine.<ref name=":0" /> Pegahmagabow practiced a mix of Catholicism and Anishinaabe spirituality.Template:Sfn

In January 1912 Pegahmagabow received financial aid for room and board to complete his public school education with the help of the Parry Sound crown attorney Walter Lockwood Haight.Template:Sfn He had left school at the age of 12 and worked at lumber camps and fishing camps; he eventually became a marine firefighter.<ref name=":0" />

Military career

Following the outbreak of World War I, Pegahmagabow volunteered for service with the Canadian Expeditionary Force in August 1914,<ref name= "Schmalz p. 301" /> despite Canadian government discrimination that initially excluded minorities.Template:Sfn He was posted to the 23rd Canadian Regiment (Northern Pioneers). After joining the Canadian force he was based at CFB Valcartier. While there he decorated his army tent with traditional symbols including a Caribou, the symbol of his clan.<ref name= "Schmalz p. 301">Template:Harvnb</ref> In early October 1914 he was deployed overseas with the 1st Canadian Infantry Battalion of the 1st Canadian Division—the first contingent of Canadian troops sent to fight in Europe.<ref name= "Hayes2005 p. 128">Template:Harvnb</ref> His companions there nicknamed him "Peggy".Template:Sfn

In April 1915, Pegahmagabow fought in the Second Battle of Ypres, where the Germans used chlorine gas for the first time on the Western Front; it was during this battle that he began to establish a reputation as a sniper and scout.<ref name= "Veterans Affairs Canada p. "/> Following the battle he was promoted to lance corporal.Template:Sfn His battalion took part in the Battle of the Somme in 1916, during which he was wounded in the left leg. He recovered in time to return to the 1st Battalion as they moved to Belgium.<ref name= "Veterans Affairs Canada p. "/> He received the Military Medal for carrying messages along the lines during these two battles.<ref name= "Veterans Affairs Canada p. "/> Initially, his commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Frank Albert Creighton, had nominated him for the Distinguished Conduct Medal, citing his disregard for danger and "faithfulness to duty",<ref name= "Veterans Affairs Canada p. "/> but it was downgraded.<ref name="Hayes2003 p.31">Template:Harvnb</ref>

On November 6/7, 1917, Pegahmagabow earned a Bar to his Military Medal for his actions in the Second Battle of Passchendaele. During the fighting, Pegahmagabow's battalion was given the task of launching an attack at Passchendaele.<ref name= "Veterans Affairs Canada p. "/> By this time, he had been promoted to the rank of corporal and during the battle he was recorded playing an important role as a link between the units on the 1st Battalion's flank. When the battalion's reinforcements became lost, Pegahmagabow was instrumental in guiding them and ensuring that they reached their allocated spot in the line.<ref name= "Veterans Affairs Canada p. "/>

On August 30, 1918, during the Battle of the Scarpe, Pegahmagabow was involved in fighting off a German attack at Orix Trench near Upton Wood. His company was almost out of ammunition and in danger of being surrounded. Pegahmagabow braved heavy machine gun and rifle fire by going into no man's land and brought back enough ammunition to enable his post to carry on and assist in repulsing heavy enemy counter-attacks.<ref name= "Veterans Affairs Canada p. "/> For these efforts he received a second Bar to his Military Medal,<ref name= "Veterans Affairs Canada p. "/> becoming one of only 39 Canadians to receive this honour.<ref name= "Veterans Affairs Canada p. "/><ref name= "Bethune p. ">Template:Harvnb</ref>

The war ended in November 1918 and in 1919 Pegahmagabow was invalided back to Canada. He had served for almost the whole war,<ref name= "Veterans Affairs Canada p. "/> and had built a reputation as a skilled marksman. Using the much-maligned Ross rifle,<ref name= "Pegler p. 139">Template:Harvnb</ref> he was credited with killing 378 Germans and capturing 300 more.<ref name= "Brownlie p. 63"/> By the time of his discharge, he had served in the appointment of sergeant-majorTemplate:Sfn and had been awarded the 1914–15 Star, the British War Medal, and the Victory Medal.Template:Sfn

Political life

older man with suit, tie, and medals on his chest
Pegahmagabow in 1945 while attending a conference in Ottawa where the National Indian Government was formed.

Upon his return to Canada he continued to serve in the Canadian Militia as a member of The Northern Pioneers (known today as the Algonquin Regiment) as a non-permanent active member.<ref name= "Veterans Affairs Canada p. "/> Following in his father's and grandfather's footsteps, he was elected chief of the Parry Island Band from February 1921. Once in office he caused a schism in the band after he wrote a letter calling for certain individuals and those of mixed race to be expelled from the reserve.<ref name= "Brownlie p. 65"/> He was re-elected in 1924 and served until he was deposed via an internal power struggle in April 1925. Before the motion could go through, Pegahmagabow resigned.<ref name= "Brownlie p. 68">Template:Harvnb</ref> A decade later, he was appointed councillor from 1933 to 1936. In 1933 the Department of Indian Affairs (DIA) changed its policies and forbade First Nation chiefs from corresponding with the DIA. They directed that all correspondence, as of the spring of 1933, go through the Indian agent.<ref name= "Brownlie p. ix"/> This gave huge power to the agent, something that grated on Pegahmagabow as he did not get along with his own agent, John Daly.<ref name= "Brownlie p. ix">Template:Harvnb</ref> First Nation members who served in the army during World War I were particularly active as political activists. They had travelled the world, earned the respect of the comrades in the trenches, and refused to be sidelined by the newly empowered Indian agent. Historian Paul Williams termed these advocates "returned soldier chiefs", and singled out a few, including Pegahmagabow, as being especially active.<ref name= "Brownlie p. 57">Template:Harvnb</ref> This caused intense disagreements with Daly and eventually led to Pegahmagabow being deposed as chief.<ref name= "Brownlie p. 63"/> Daly and other agents who came in contact with Pegahmagabow were incredibly frustrated by his attempts, in his words, to free his people from "white slavery".<ref name= "Brownlie p. 65">Template:Harvnb</ref> The Indian agents labelled him a "mental case" and strove to sideline him and his supporters.<ref name= "Brownlie p. 65"/>

In addition to the power struggle between the Indian council and the DIA with which Pegahmagabow took issue, he was a constant agitator over the islands in Georgian Bay of the Huron. The Regional First Nation governments claimed the islands as their own and Pegahmagabow and other chiefs tried in vain to get recognition of their status.<ref name= "Brownlie p. 98">Template:Harvnb</ref>

During World War II Pegahmagabow worked as a guard at a munitions plant near Nobel, Ontario, and was a Sergeant-major in the local militia.<ref name= "Mackey p. ">Template:Harvnb</ref> In 1943, he became the Supreme Chief of the Native Independent Government, an early First Nations organization.<ref name= "Mackey p. "/>

Family

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A married father of six children, Pegahmagabow died on the Parry Island reserve in 1952 at the age of 61. He is a member of the Indian Hall of Fame at the Woodland Centre in Brantford, Ontario, and his memory is also commemorated on a plaque honoring him and his regiment on the Rotary and Algonquin Regiment Fitness Trail in Parry Sound.<ref name= "Mackey p. "/> He was honored by the Canadian Forces by naming the 3rd Canadian Ranger Patrol Group HQ Building at CFB Borden after him.<ref name= "Canadian Forces p. ">Template:Harvnb</ref>

Legacy

Canadian journalist Adrian Hayes wrote a biography of Pegahmagabow titled Pegahmagabow: Legendary Warrior, Forgotten Hero, published in 2003,Template:Sfn and another titled Pegahmagabow: Life-Long Warrior, published in 2009.Template:Sfn Canadian novelist Joseph Boyden's 2005 novel Three Day Road was inspired in part by Pegahmagabow. The novel's protagonist is a fictional character who, like Pegahmagabow, serves as a military sniper during World War I, although Pegahmagabow also appears as a minor character.<ref name= "Wyile pp. 225-237"/>

A life-sized bronze statue of Pegahmagabow was erected in his honour on National Aboriginal Day, June 21, 2016, in Parry Sound, near Georgian Bay. The figure has an eagle on one arm, a Ross rifle slung from its shoulder, and a caribou at its feet, representing the Caribou Clan that Pegahmagabow belonged to.Template:Sfn The Eagle was his spirit animal.Template:Citation needed The artist Tyler Fauvelle spent eight months sculpting the statue, which spent a further year in casting. Fauvelle chose to erect it in Parry Sound rather than Wasauksing to reach a larger public and educate them on the contributions of First Nations people to Canada.Template:Sfn

Sounding Thunder, The Song of Francis Pegahmagabow is a musical that has been touring Canada since 2018.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2019, the history-themed power metal band Sabaton released a song dedicated to Pegahmagabow, titled "A Ghost in the Trenches", on their album The Great War.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Binaaswi was one of eight 2020 finalists for the $5 bill in Canada's eighth series of banknotes.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Pegahmagabow was portrayed by Keenan Keeshig<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> in the 2022 movie The Ace and the Scout<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> (also known as Battle for the Western Front<ref>Template:Citation</ref>).

The Two Battles of Francis Pegahmagabow is a play launched in 2024 by Edmonton's Shadow Theatre.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Awards

  • He was first awarded the Military Medal while fighting at the second battle of Ypres, Festubert and Givenchy, for courage above fire in getting important messages through to the rear.<ref name= "Veterans Affairs Canada p. "/>
  • Earned his first bar to the Military Medal at the Battle of Passchendaele.<ref name= "Veterans Affairs Canada p. "/>
  • His second bar to the Military Medal came at the battle of The Scarpe, in 1918. Only 38 other Canadian men received the honour of two bars.<ref name= "Veterans Affairs Canada p. "/><ref name="Bethune p. "/>
  • The 1914–15 StarTemplate:Sfn
  • The British War MedalTemplate:Sfn
  • The Victory MedalTemplate:Sfn

In 2003 the Pegahmagabow family donated his medals and chief head dress to the Canadian War Museum where they can be seen as of 2010 as part of the World War I display.<ref name= "Canadian War Museum p.Jaylen was there ">Template:Harvnb</ref> While researching his 2005 novel Three Day Road, Boyden was asked about why he thought that Pegahmagabow had not received a higher award like the Distinguished Conduct Medal or the Victoria Cross. Boyden speculated it was due to Pegahmagabow being a First Nations soldier, and that there may have been jealousy on the part of some officers who he felt might have been suspicious of the number of Germans Pegahmagabow claimed to have shot because he did not use an observer while sniping.<ref name= "Wyile pp. 225-237">Template:Harvnb</ref>

See also

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  • Tommy Prince (October 25, 1915 – November 25, 1977) was one of Canada's most decorated First Nations soldiers, serving in World War II and the Korean War.

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