Ga-dibaajmotaagoo gaa-nji-bmaadzid ow ndedeminaan. Aapji go gii-minaadzi kina gegoo ezhichged. Nshke ow gaa-naadzid mii go gegii waa-nii-naadziyin.
We will tell you the story of how our father lived. He was a good person in everything he did. You see, the way he was in life is the way that you yourself should aspire to be.
— Duncan Pegahmagabow and Marie Anderson, speaking about their highly decorated father, Francis Pegahmagabow of Wasauksing First Nation
On Identification, Definitions and Terms
The word Indigenous is used throughout this writing to include all three representative groups within Canada: First Nations, Inuit and Métis. The author has tried to use the words that Indigenous peoples have used to identify themselves.
At the start of the First World War, First Nations and Métis men enlisted to honour the Treaty agreements made between the British Crown and Indigenous Nations. How Indigenous Nations view that relationship varies, but many volunteers look toward military service as a way to uphold that agreement. Looking back to Kinship networks established during the fur trade, the reciprocal relationships created were not simply along the lines of trading and commercialism. Via the marriages and formal Indigenous adoption ceremonies, European settlers were welcomed into communities as family. From this familial relationship, Indigenous peoples enlisted because their families and brothers went to war as well.
Some Indigenous nations view the Treaty relationships as a Kinship tie; as Oshiimeyan, meaning “brother” or “cousin.” Kinship ties within many Indigenous communities see all family members as immediate family members, and the relationships developed between cousins, aunts and uncles are often as close as they would be among siblings and parents. This was one of the many reasons Indigenous peoples enlisted in the military. The Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) would refer to soldiers who went to war as Zhimaaganishag, after the word for lance (Zhimaagan), but what is frequently used now is Ogichidaa (gichi-de’e meaning ‘of great heart’).
Among Métis communities, the term aen soldaa is often used with Michif speakers to describe veterans and soldiers, and many use Nêhiyaw (Cree) words to describe their relationships with their fellow soldiers. Some Nêhiyaw speakers use simâkanisihkâniwiw ᓯᒫᑲᓂᓯᐦᑳᓂᐃᐧᐤ (s/he is a soldier; s/he takes part in war) or simâkanisihkân ᓯᒫᑲᓂᓯᐦᑳᐣ (soldier; special constable; security officer). Many Cree speakers would refer to their fellow soldiers as nitsan/nitsanak ᓂᐟᓴᐣ (my family member; a blood relation, brother or sister) because of the bonds they made during their time in service.
At the Onset of War
When war was declared on August 4, 1914, Indigenous peoples living within Canada volunteered to fight in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) in extraordinary numbers. According to Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (now Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada), “well over 4,000 Aboriginal people served in the Canadian Forces during the conflict.” This number only reflects the numbers of Status peoples who served, rather than Non-Status, Inuit and Métis peoples. The reality is that the number may be significantly higher.
Current estimates per Dempsey are that 35 percent of eligible First Nations men enlisted, compared with the 30 percent national average. Statistically, this is an impressive figure given the isolation of many Reserves and the number of people living on Reserves at that time. This would mean that roughly four in ten men of eligible age enlisted. This is also why communities fought so hard to have their enlistees returned to their home communities, or fought for exemptions to military service in the case of conscription. Examples of this are the historic alliance between the British and the Six Nations, which assisted in the War of 1812 and the American War of Independence. Talbot also explains that “for First Nations, loyalty to Canada and loyalty to the Crown were not one in the same, as historic treaties and alliances with the Crown entailed a certain autonomy, even sovereignty, for their communities.”
Another reason that these figures may be higher than reported was because clauses within the Indian Act made appearing off-Reserve without the permission from the Indian Agent a crime (also known as the Pass System). Many Indigenous men who volunteered did not report their ethnic background for fear of being criminalized, or having their Status revoked at the hands of the Indian Agent per the Indian Act regulations. In the case of Métis veterans, many were able to claim they belonged to francophone communities because of their ability to speak French, or enough French, and because of their fluency in Michif.
The recruitment of Indigenous men into the CEF was discouraged in the beginning. The Canadian Naval policy would only accept men “of British stock and white race,” and many of the Canadian airmen’s official health and education requirements kept Indigenous men out of air services. Despite this, many Indigenous men enlisted for service at the start of the war. While initially they were excluded, the Military Service Act of 1917 made conscription of Indigenous men a reality[i] at least for home service.
All-Indian Units
“In principle, the government did not form ethnic units during the 20th Century,” writes historian Whitney Lackenbauer. “As a result, there were no all-Indian units during the world wars. Nevertheless, several regiments boasted large numbers of Aboriginal soldiers.”[ii] It is important to note that Canada’s Indigenous peoples are divided into many separate and distinct nations, in which some still engage in long-standing rivalries. This did not stop individual Indigenous peoples from enlisting in those units that were close to large concentrations of First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities. Units with a high number of Indigenous recruits were the 114th Battalion (Brock’s Rangers), the 107th Battalion (Timber Wolf) and various forestry units.
Attempts were made in creating an Indigenous-only military unit in 1914,[iii] when Honourary Chief William Hamilton Merritt of Six Nations made an offer to create the Six Nations Battalion at Brantford, Ontario. The offer was adjusted in 1915 to further equip soldiers from Six Nations and form a Six Nations specific unit, though it was later rejected by the Militia Council. The Council of the Six Nations also initially refused Merritt’s offer because they considered “themselves a separate national identity, [and] the Council wanted a formal request from the Crown that recognized this status, a request which the Canadian government did not wish to give.”[iv] Many of the Six Nations men from Brantford ended up enlisting in the 114th Battalion, which was broken up to reinforce other units once it moved overseas. From there, a selection of Indigenous soldiers from the 114th ended up in the 107th Battalion.
When initially formed in December 1915 around the Winnipeg area, the 107th Battalion was created to include Indigenous soldiers from across Canada, together with non-Indigenous officers commanding it.[v] It was led by Lieutenant-Colonel Glen Campbell, who was also a veteran of the 1885 North-West Resistance. Recent estimates show that in the 900-man unit, over 500 were of Indigenous descent. It was later determined that there were not enough Indigenous soldiers to fill out the rank requirements, and non-Indigenous soldiers were added to meet that need. Unlike the 114th Battalion, the 107th saw action overseas and was not dismantled or redistributed once troops arrived in England. It was, however, turned into a Pioneer Battalion[vi]; and in this role, it was engaged in many fronts in Belgium and France, and during the Battle of Hill 70 near Lens.
It is important to note its conversion to a Pioneer Battalion[vii];such infantry units are responsible for combat engineering, typically used for dismantling obstacles and preparing defences. Given its ability to fill both the roles of engineers and combat soldiers, the 107th was particularly useful against the forces stationed at Hill 70. Under General Arthur Currie, the last Canadian Corps commander, the 107th supported the 3rd Infantry Brigade of the 1st Division in the attack.
On the Home Front
While many Indigenous men were volunteering for both at-home and overseas service, those who remained behind provided exemplary contributions to the war effort. Communities worked together to provide items for care packages, such as handmade socks, scarves, mittens and undergarments. Many women took on roles traditionally reserved for men in the workforce, and Indigenous women were no exception. They began to occupy roles in factories that manufactured items for the war effort, such as munitions, in order that the men who had occupied those positions could enlist. Given that traditional gender roles within some Indigenous communities are more fluid than binary, Indigenous women were easily able to operate in these realms and enjoyed a financial benefit that boosted their families and home communities.
Some communities, according to Talbot, contributed significantly to Victory Bonds and other patriotic funds. In total, Indigenous communities donated $44,545.46 and in the case of some Treaty communities chose to forgo their $5 annuity payment and give it to the war effort. By March 1915, Indian Affairs states that thirty-two Indigenous communities had donated to the war effort.
Many communities, however, were reluctant to commit to the war effort in either men or money. There are a multitude of explanations that can be easily understood when engaging other perspectives. Issues of Indigenous sovereignty, Treaty obligations and land use (as the Department of National Defence used bureaucratic measures to strip some Reserve land for military use) were some of the reasons Indigenous communities were resistant to much of the colonial narrative that existed during the Great War. On top of this, many institutions used the donations of Indigenous communities as propaganda to non-Indigenous Canadians in order to promote further assimilation policies. As Indians were “wards of the state” and therefore unable to make their own financial decisions, these donations were seen as a hallmark of “civilization.” This was later used to revoke Status, at the discretion of the Indian Agent.
Conscription
In 1917 the Military Service Act introduced conscription for all eligible men, and initially applied it to Indigenous men. In July 1918, however, an Order in Council was introduced exempting Status Indians from military service. The Department of National Defence notes that this Order in Council made it mandatory for military service within Canada, while enlistment for overseas duty was voluntary, as “Indians could still be called upon to perform non-combat roles in Canada, but this legislation made it easier for them to claim deferrals for industrial or agricultural work.”[viii]
After the War’s End
On their return to Canada, Indigenous soldiers who had fought alongside their Canadian comrades were subjected to oppressive measures contained within the Indian Act. The Act forbade them from practising traditional ceremonies, speaking traditional languages (despite their later use in the Second World War) and using their traditional governance systems:
By the end of the war, many of those who had once helped to lead such outlawed ceremonies were no longer able or willing to do so. The ceremonial rites that helped returning warriors to reintegrate into their communities would have been helpful to Francis [Pegahmagabow] and other returning Native soldiers. The pipe ceremony, sweat lodge, shaking tent, or entry into one of the medicine lodges had all offered healing and restoration to a wounded warrior’s body, mind, or spirit. By the time Francis found his way back to Georgian Bay, however, all such rites seemed to have been extinguished, silenced, or hidden away.[ix]
Another major concern for Indigenous Canadians, even former veterans, was that they were prevented from leaving the Reserve without the permission of the Indian Agent. As a result of provisions within the Indian Act, many Indigenous soldiers lost their Status because of clauses about how long an Indian could be absent from their home Reserve, but also because of the broad discretionary powers of the Indian Agents as “Indigenous communities were doubly affected as wards of the Canadian state confined to reserves and subject to the bureaucracy of the DIA.”[x] Some Indigenous soldiers were also denied benefits that they deserved through the War Veterans Allowance Act, and the administrators of the Soldier Settlement Act denied some claims for land that were subsequently offered to non-Indigenous veterans.
Despite these measures, a few Indigenous soldiers returning from the front took up leadership positions within their communities, to better fight for the rights of their people. Onondeyoh (Fred Ogilvie Loft) of Six Nations was one such person. He had formed the League of Indians of Canada — a group that lobbied for the rights of Indigenous peoples and the removal of Residential Schools — and was part of the building process for the National Indian Brotherhood (later the Assembly of First Nations). CSM (Company Sergeant Major) Francis Pegahmagabow worked tirelessly for the people of his community after his discharge, advocating for Indigenous peoples’ rights on and off the Reserve.
Many First Nation, Inuit and Métis veterans felt that their effort during their service in the CEF was on par with those of non-Indigenous enlistees. They fought for the land, their relationship with it and the people whom reside in it. All of our Ogichidaa/OhichidaKwe, our Nisanak, speak of time in service creating lasting bonds, and many turned to literature and poetry to express themselves when many of their methods of communication were outlawed. Chief R. Stacey Laforme of the Mississaugas of the Credit of the Anishinaabe wrote the poem “I Love This Land” after hearing the comments of an Indigenous veteran at a conference.
I Love This Land
You were and always shall be my brother We were all the same colour wrapped in the flag of this nation My blood flowed as freely as yours, mixed in the fields one could not be distinguished from the other
Yet when we came home, when the nation’s colours were removed Difference became apparent, not between you and me, god willing never But in the eyes of those for whom we laid down our lives.
Oh, we still stood shoulder to shoulder in the parades but the government thought that your life was more valuable than mine So you were given land property, while I waited and waited, I know what you were given was not enough for what we endured Still it was much more than I
I am not envious of you, brother, I believe you deserve even more than you received But it hurt me very badly, I am not ashamed to say I cried and why not I bled, I died, I killed, why does my country think I am unworthy The enemy I fought could never be as cruel as the people I came back to embrace I gave so much, lived through so much and then you you who I would give all for, you pushed me aside as if I was inconsequential I feel as if I have been spit upon by one I honoured
Do I feel good having to ask you for what should have been given long ago? no In fact I am a little ashamed to ask for justice in this For I never went to war for money, for glory, for reward, I went because it was the right thing to do and God forgive me, I would go again
This may seem an old wound to you but it is a wound that never heals For it is a wound to my people’s heart and soul an insult to our pride And we deserve so much better especially from you.
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Ozhaawaashkwa Benisii Ikwe nindizhinikaaz. Mikinaak nindoodem. Wiinibiigong Manidooba-akiing nindoonjibaa. Wiinibiigong nindaa.
Shauna Mulligan Blue Shadow Thunderbird Woman Turtle Clan Winnipeg, Manitoba Cpl. (Retired) 17 (Wpg) Medical Company and Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada
Bibliography