Francis 'Peggy' Pegahmagabow was an Ojibway sniper and war hero — This Place shares his story
When David A. Robertson was invited to contribute to This Place, a comic book anthology about undersung Indigenous heroes, he knew pretty quickly that he wanted to write about Francis Pegahmagabow.
"The things he accomplished was something I wanted to document for a wider audience," said Robertson, an award-winning Swampy Cree writer from Winnipeg.
Called "Peggy" by his fellow soldiers, Pegahmagabow fought in Europe during the First World War and became one of the most decorated Indigenous soldiers in Canadian history. He's one of only 38 Canadians to receive two bars on his Military Medal for bravery, in addition to receiving the 1914-1915 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
"The fact that this man was one of the most deadly snipers in world history is pretty cool and the fact that he was an Anishinaabe and First Nations soldier speaks to the skill and effectiveness of Indigenous people because of the training that they received on the land, living traditionally," said Robertson.
Robertson documents Pegahmagabow's story, and the injustices he faced after returning to Canada from war, in his short comic Peggy, which can be found in the graphic novel This Place: 15 Years Retold. It's also been adapted as a CBC Books podcast hosted by Rosanna Deerchild.
LISTEN | Episode 4 of This Place: Peggy
Pegahmagabow was born in 1891 on Shawanaga First Nation, north of Parry Sound, Ont. When war was declared in August of 1914, Pegahmagabow enlisted almost immediately, even though Status Indians were discouraged from joining the army.
Pegahmagabow fought and survived in Ypres in April 1915, where Germans used chlorine gas for the first time and Allied forces suffered heavy casualties. He went on to fight in the critical battle at Passchendaele in Nov. 1917, one of the defining moments in Canadian military history.
An elite scout, Pegahmagabow is still recognized as the most effective sniper in North American history, with 378 enemy soldiers killed and another 300 captured.
When he was finally discharged, he had suffered four injuries and his lungs were badly damaged by gas attacks. Pegahmagabow also suffered nightmares and frequent headaches.
Upon his return to Canada, Pegahmagabow did not receive a hero's welcome. He started a farm with his wife on Wasauksing First Nation and applied for benefits through the Soldiers Settlement Act, a program designed to help Canadian soldiers get a fresh start. Pegahmagabow was repeatedly denied his benefits due to the interference of an Indian Agent named John Daly.
After carefully tilling acres of land on his own, Pegahmagabow applied for a loan to buy horses and was rejected five times. Daly wrote letters declaring that Pegahmagabow was unfit to care for the animals.
"The contrast of him being a war hero and going home and being treated as less than human, was really hard for me to reconcile, but I think it reveals a lot about Canada's treatment of Indigenous people," said Robertson.
"You put this man out on the battle field and put him in charge of the lives of other soldiers, and then the Indian agent ensures he's not entrusted with owning horses ... that dichotomy of, you can't look after horses but you can save other men's lives, is bewildering to me."
Pegahmagabow was elected chief in February 1921 and attempted to restore lost traditions, including allowing elders to speak during council meetings. He pushed back against a logging company when they infringed on protected lands.
Pegahmagabow also tried to hire lawyers to get Wasauksing land back, but was stopped when the government amended the Indian Act to forbid First Nations communities from hiring lawyers. His plan to build a hydroelectric plant to power Parry Island homes was vetoed by Indian Affairs when they claimed that the buildings weren't used at night.
With Daly undermining his every move and urging the community to call for his removal, Pegahmagabow resigned in August 1925. But this was far from the end of his political career.
Pegahmagabow returned as a band councillor eight years later and was re-elected chief in 1942. Pegahmagabow later served two terms leading the National Indian Government, the precursor to Assembly of First Nations.
Pegahmagabow died in 1952 after a life of heroism and leadership, battling for Canada on the fields of Europe and then against Daly, and his bosses in Ottawa, on behalf of his community.
Years passed before the war hero got the recognition he deserved. Today, two plaques, one in English and one in Ojibwe, stand on Wasauksing First Nation as a monument to his contributions. In June of 2019, he was designated a national historic person.
"Through this story, I want people to think about Indigenous soldiers and consider how they were treated by the Canadian government and Canada in general," said Robertson.
"Their decision to fight for a country that didn't accept them, that pushed them to the margins of society and to still risk their lives and to do extraordinary things and then come home to be treated the way they were ... is something I find reprehensible.
"I think that's typical that Indigenous stories have been ignored or told by somebody else ... It's not Indigenous history, it's Canadian history."
