OJIBWE BINAASWI (FRANCIS PEGAHMAGABOW) DIED – DECORATED CANADIAN WWI SNIPER
Born March 9, 1891, on what is now the Shawanaga First Nation, near Parry Sound, Ontario, Pegahmagabow, whose Ojibwe name meant “The Wind that Blows Off,” joined the Canadian army in August, 1914. Volunteering for overseas duty and serving as a scout and sniper in France, he is unofficially credited with 378 kills as a sniper. A Sergeant Major by the war’s end, he is one of only 38 Canadians to be awarded a Military Medal and two bars in the World War I. Returning to his reserve after the war and forced to live under the then-Indian Act which restricted his freedoms, he fought to improve living conditions for Indians. Francis served as chief of what is now the Wasauksing First Nation from 1921-25 and 1942-45, and as a counselor from 1933-36. He helped found the Brotherhood of Canadian Indians, the first national Aboriginal organization, and served a term as supreme chief of the National Indian Government. Pegahmagabow died on the Parry Island reserve.
Source: “Ranger headquarters named after Canada’s most decorated aboriginal soldier,” Canadian Forces, August 2006. Retrieved 7/9/2019, https://web.archive.org/web/20110610130431/http://www.army.forces.gc.ca/3crpg/eng/stories/06aug01-eng.html
Photo: Government of Canada, 1919. Public Domain in U.S.: Pre 1/1/1925. Public Domain in Canada either (1) because subject to Crown copyright and published more than 50 years ago, or (2) not subject to Crown copyright and created prior to January 1, 1949. Public Domain elsewhere where copyright term is author’s life plus 70 years or less.