In August of 1914, as it was announced
that Canada was at war, one distinct group answered the call to arms in
surprising numbers. First Nations’
peoples provided no shortage of volunteers for the expeditionary force being
prepared for service overseas. “Close to
4,000 members (of the CEF) were of Aboriginal descent,”[1]
according to the Canadian War Museum, or about one percent of all
volunteers. In all, it is estimated that
“35 percent of the eligible Indian population of Canada had enlisted.”[2] This
is above the national average of 30 percent fro men of military age who would
serve in the war. “The Aboriginal
response was remarkable….Some communities saw every man between 20 and 35 years
of age volunteer.”[3]
What makes this so noteworthy is that this level of commitment was “an
astonishing number given the limited civil rights accorded to Canada’s First
Peoples in the early Twentieth Century.”[4]
At the beginning of the 1900’s, First
Nations people were not granted the same rights of citizenship as other
Canadians. In fact, their status under
the federal government was more comparable to being wards of the state than
free individuals. It might seem odd that
so many would choose to give themselves to military service for a country which
didn’t view them as equals. Even more intriguing
is that those First Nations people who did volunteer did so in spite of a
government policy which guaranteed no native person would ever be compelled to
give military service. No policy existed
in Canada for the encouragement of Native volunteers. The reasons for this were several. One was that because
“Canadian Aboriginals were not white, they would not be protected by European ‘privileges
of civilized warfare.’”[5]
Also, the government felt bound by the treaties which precluded enlistment of
Native men for foreign wars; the desire to use Native forces for home defence
or the very real concern that “recruiting Native soldiers could enhance the
claims of many of their communities for greater sovereignty.”[6]
Quite often, the reasoning is given that
such volunteerism is intrinsic to the culture and traditions of a warrior people,
as historian James Dempsey puts it, “The Blackfoot Nation, for example,
believed the age old saying ‘It is better for a man to be killed in battle than
to die of old age or sickness.’”[7] This
is a very narrow and perhaps stereotypical point of view, nor would it be
exclusive to Aboriginal people. Scottish
warrior tradition, for example, holds quite a similar ethos. Practically, the reasons for getting involved
in the war were just as varied for First Nations as the motivations behind
other Canadians volunteering. Historian
Janice Summerby is quoted in a Canadian Forces article as saying “In newspaper interviews, oral histories,
biographies, and other published works, Aboriginal veterans – not unlike other
war veterans – speak of the call to adventure, the attraction of regular pay,
and the desire to follow friends and family into service.”[8]
Of course, these reasons don’t much explain the paradox between restrictive
treatment from the Canadian government and the desire to serve in the war. Dempsey explains that for many Native bands,
the belief was their allegiance was owed directly to the British Crown, with
whom the treaties had been made; superseding the federal government and as such
the duty lay with protecting the interests of Victoria’s inheritors.[9]
Again, this is not much different from the loyalties of the large number of Canadian
volunteers who had been born in the UK. “Chief
F.M. Jacobs of Sarnia wrote to D.C. Scott that his people were willing to
provide ‘help toward the Mother Country in its present struggle in Europe. The
Indian Race as a rule are loyal to England; this loyalty was created by the
noblest Queen that ever lived, Queen Victoria.’”[10]
Another
common misunderstanding lies among how First Nations’ soldiers were employed on
the battlefield. “The lore of the war
maintains that Aboriginal soldiers particularly distinguished themselves in
dangerous but essential infantry roles. Accounts of individual gallantry abound….Several
themes clearly emerge. First and foremost, Aboriginal soldiers were lauded as
effective snipers and scouts.”[11]
The reality was that First Nations soldiers
“could be found in pioneer,
forestry, and labour battalions, and amongst the Railway Troops, Veterinary
Corps, Service Corps, and the Canadian Engineers.”[12]
No occupation was barred to them, and several served in the Royal Flying
Corps.
Of infantry
units, however, was the notion that a Native contingent be organised. This very nearly occurred. Several bands had formed militia units in the
decades prior to the war, such as the 37th Battalion, the Haldimand
Rifles from Brant County Ontario. The 37th
drew strength from the Six Nations’ Reserve in the country, and members of the
Haldimand Rifles in part formed the 114th Battalion, CEF “Brock’s
Rangers.” “Strength of the 114th
was approximately 1000 men; about half were Six Nation Indian. There were some Indian soldiers from
Caughnawaga, from St Regis, and from Manitoulin.”[13]
Two companies of the 114th “were composed entirely of Indians,
including officers.”[14]
Their motto was “For King and Country” and the battalion adopted a crest
featuring two crossed tomahawks.[15]
Unfortunately, the 114th would not go into the field as a whole
battalion. On arrival in England in 1916
it was broken up to provide reinforcement to units already at the front, most
going to battalions in the 4th Division.[16]
This was not a denial of Native unit solidarity so much as the necessities of
providing adequate numbers to replace casualties in deployed battalions.
Many First
Nations men served with distinction, and quite a few were recognised with
medals, though no First Nations man would receive the Victoria Cross. “First Peoples troops left a remarkable
record of wartime accomplishment….At least 50 were decorated for bravery on the
battlefield.”[17] An Ojibwa from Parry
Island, Corporal Francis Pegahmagabow, who went by the nickname “Peggy”, was the
“most highly decorated Canadian Native in the First World War.”[18]
Among his decorations was the Military Medal with two bars, meaning his actions
were sufficient to be awarded this medal for bravery three times. This is such a rare honour that he shares the
accomplishment with only 38 other members of the CEF. Cpl Pegahmagabow’s first MM was one of the
first awarded to a Canadian in the war, for “disregard to danger and
faithfulness to duty”[19]
while acting as a messenger in February 1915.
The subsequent awards were for delivering crucial battlefield
information during an attack at Passchendaele in 1917; and going out under
heavy enemy fire to bring back ammunition to his company “in danger or being
surrounded”[20] in 1918.
The highest
single decoration awarded to a First Nations soldier was the Military
Cross. One such was received by Captain
Alexander George Edwin Smith of the Six Nations Reserve. The MC is a citation for bravery for officers
second only in order to the Distinguished Service Order and the Victoria Cross.
Captain Smith had been a member of the 37th Haldimand Rifles
and then part of the 114th.
When it was divided to provide replacements, he was assigned to Number 4
Company, 20th Battalion. On
September 26th 1916, the Battalion war diary records “At 5pm our Bn
received orders to move forward….The progress was somewhat slow on the left
owing to MG fire from STUFF REDOUBT. At
about 6:30 pm our No 4 Coy was sent up in close support of the 8th
Bn.”[21]
Smith and his men moved forward against German fire from a well defended
position. Wounded, and twice buried by shellfire, he “proceeded with a party of
bombers and captured an enemy trench and fifty prisoners, displaying the
greatest courage throughout.”[22]
Captain Smith
summarised his award in a letter to his father while recuperating in England “You
may tell
Circumstances
of Canada’s war continued to affect First Nations’ communities. When, in 1917, voluntary enlistments were not
sufficient to keep pace with battle losses, the Military Service Act,
conscription, was introduced. For
Aboriginals, this Act was contradictory to the prior treaties which guaranteed
they would not be compelled to take up arms.
Opposition to the MSA was based upon the fact that Native people did not
have the full rights of citizenship.
Many letters and petitions stated that First Nations people would gladly
subject themselves to the Act if, by nature of having the same rights as did
other Canadians, they would therefore be just as responsible for Canada’s
defence.[24] The result was an
exemption for Status Indians from the MSA, rather than a change of policy
towards the people. The necessity of retaining a majority government for Prime
Minister Borden’s Conservative party, and thereby preserving the controversial
MSA inspired the Military Voters Bill. In giving the vote to all serving and
discharged members of the CEF, “Indian soldiers could vote without the fear of
losing their status. Therefore, military service became a way around the Indian
Act and was a step towards getting the franchise for
all Indian people the contributions of Indians in the war were
comparable to those of other Canadians.[25]
Little
doubt exists that some First Nations men intended their service in the war to
be counted towards more equitable treatment of their people afterward. “It
was thought that their service would accord them many of the rights and
entitlements held out to their non‑Aboriginal comrades, but such was not the
case.”[26]
Progress in this regard was slow, or nonexistent. Returning First Nations veterans did create “many
Aboriginal lobbying groups…who sought redress for those grievances. It also saw
an increase in Aboriginal veterans assuming leadership roles in their
respective communities.”[27] This leadership helped ensure that
First Nations efforts in “the war herald a
broader breakthrough in civil liberties for First Nations.”[28]
After serving for nearly the entire war, “Francis Pegahmagabow became
politically active in the protection of their communities and the advancement
of First Nations rights.”[29]
His reputation and family lineage allowed him to become following in the chief
of the Parry Island Band and later a councillor. A member of Canada's Indian
Hall of Fame, Pegahmagabow died on
the reserve in 1952.
[2] Dempsey,
James “Aboriginal Soldiers in the First World War” courtesy Library and
Archives Canada
[3] “Canada Remembers:
Aboriginal Veterans” HM the Queen in Right of Canada, represented by the
Minister of Veterans Affairs 2005
[5] Fitzgerald, TEK,
Major, review of “ FOR
KING AND KANATA: Canadian Indians and the
First World War” Winegard,Timothy C. Winnipeg:
University of Manitoba Press, 2012,
[13] Miller, RF, “A
Short Story of the 37th Battalion, Haldimand Rifles and of the 114th
Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force for Overseas Service in the First Great
War” 1944 pg 4
Great blog post and really helpful and your blog are very interesting.
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