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Francis Pegahmagabow:
Canadian War Hero
He was the most
decorated First Nations soldier in the history of the Canadian military,
but very few people have ever heard of Francis Pegahmagabow.
From the time he
signed on in September 1914, until the war ended on Nov. 11, 1918, Francis
fought. In fact, of the over 600.000 Canadians who served, he was one of
only 39 in the Canadian Expeditionary Force to be awarded the Military Medal
and two bars for valour.
In a quiet corner of
the old cemetery on Wasauksing First Nation, his military stone stands alone, But
the legend of Cpl. Pegahmagabow has lived on this reserve now for
almost a century.
At 81-year-old
Priscilla Pegahmagabow visits her father-in-law's grave with the help of her
daughter, Teresa McInnes Pegahmagabow. (CBC)
“He was a good man,”
says his daughter-in-law, 81-year-old Priscilla Pegahmagabow,
visiting the cemetery with the help of her daughter,
TeresaMcInnesPegahmagabow.
“[It’s] very sad, that
I didn’t get to know him,” says Teresa, who was born just a few
weeks after Francis Pegahmagabow passed away.
'When he was in
uniform he was considered an equal...by what he could do. When he came back, he
just went back to being an Indian. Indians at that time were not even Canadian
citizens'- Adrian Hayes, biographer
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