black soldiers

[paul guthrie]

John Benjamin French a shoeshiner and jockey of Lexington, Kentucky joined the Canadian Army in 1918 well after the US had entered the war. He served in France with the Forestry Corps. He remained in montreal after discharge and less than a year later died of TB. In 1931 it was determined this was service related and his grave here has an IWGC headstone. It had not been inspected for ten years and was in very bad shape. I contacted CWGC in Ottawa and a new stone will be erected by a friend of mine in that business this month. The stone itself will come from Canada.

[mordac]

Aboriginal Canadians had one of the highest enlistment rates of any ethnic community in Canada. This includes English Canadians. From an eligible population of just over 11,000 males, 3,500 First Nations men enlisted; a rate of 32% which was nearly twice the national average. By 1917 many First Nations reserves had EVERY eligible male enlist in the CEF.

First Nations people were not subject to the Military Service Act, in fact they were wards of the state and had very few rights as Canadian citizens, including the right to vote. During the WWI, many promises were made to our aboriginal people. Canada's shame is, none of these promises were kept.

To set the record straight on Henry Norwest, he was a Métis of Cree/French ancestry. Norwest won the Military Medal and bar and had 115 confirmed fatal shots. This confirmed total made him the top ranked snipper in the Commonwealth forces.

Other outstanding First Nations soldiers were:

*From the Six Nations reserve there were the two sons of the band chief, Alexander Smith, Cpt. Alexander Smith Jr. and Cpt. Charles Smith who both won the Military Cross.

*Francis 'Peggy' Pegahmagabowa an Ojibwa who serverd on the Western Front as a snipper from 1915-1918. Pegahmagabowa won the Military Medal and two bars.

*Thomas Longboat was a world champion long-distance runner. In 1907 he won the Boston Marathon and in 1909 he won the world professional marathon championships in New York City. Longboat was also from the Six Nations reserve.

Garth

[CROONAERT]

Did any American Indians serve in the US or Canadian forces?

This is a photo of Pte.John Elk of the 35th (US) Division. He was a full blooded Sioux.

The US Army often used these men in important communications tasks because their native languages defeated all German attempts at "code-breaking" (similar to the "Windtalkers" of WW2 fame).

Dave.

[Charles Fair]

Whilst we are on this subject an excellent book on black soldiers in the French Army is "Memoirs of the Maelstrom: A Senegalese Oral History of the First World War" by Joe Lunn. pub 1999 by James Currey Publishers, Oxford or Heinemann in the US

Its based on interviews with 85 Senegalese veterans plus lots of archival stuff from Vincennes. It is particularly good on the recruitment in W Africa, as well as their experience in Europe.

[john w.]

And I am still after Herbert Morris.... from the BWIR executed in 1917... made some progress but still a long way off..

Fascinating thread this, and shows what the Forum throws up along the way, just wish it could be bottled

John

[mordac]

Native enlistment from these provinces would be interesting to research (I think I shall !! .  As the Canadian Prairie tribes were not many years removed from the effects of the American cavalry genocides in the US, I wonder how anxious they would have been to enlist for the King.

Hi Broz:

To get you started on your research, you may want to dig up the following material:

Books:

'Voices of the Plains Cree' (Edward Ahenakew)

'Unrequited Faith: Recruiting the CEF, 1914-1918' (Robert Craig Brown and Donald Loveridge)

'A Considerable Unrest' (Peter Kulchyski)

Periodicals:

'Canada's Red Army' Canadian Magazine February 1921 (Everard Edmonds)

Happy reading.

Garth

[mordac]

As Paul mentions, I do know that several Natives became expert snipers; one claimed 368 Germans. 

Hi Broz:

I've been looking through my files for some information on First Nations snipers in the CEF. Here's a couple more men that you can add to the list:

From the 1st Battalion, Francis "Peggy" Pegahmagabow (an Ojibwa from Ontario) who had a reported 378 fatal shots. It should be mentioned that many of these shots were made with no observer present, so this wasn't an 'official' total.

From the 2nd Battalion, Johnson Paudash (a Mississauga from Ontario) was officially credited with 88 fatal shots.

From the 8th Battalion, Philip McDonald (an Iroquois from Ontario) [KIA 03-JAN-16] and Patrick Riel (a Métis from Manitoba) [KIA 14-JAN-16] were unofficially credited with more than 100 fatal shots between them. One of Patrick Riel's ancestors was Louis Riel, of the 1885 Northwest Rebellion fame. Both men are buried at the Berks Cemetery Extension in Belgium.

Garth

[Broznitsky]

Garth, your facts on these men from Eastern tribes and Eastern battalions seem to start to confirm my wild theory that Western natives may not have been as "enthusiastic." Could we paint a wide brush and say that the Eastern tribes were more "white" due to their much longer period of contact with Caucasians, and thus more likely to enlist? Does your references break down enlistment by reserve or tribe?

Peter

[Terry]

Just a quick comment but from what I have heard, the two tribes in the Maritime provinces (Micmacs and Maliseets) provided a large number of recruits for the CEF,

[mordac]

Garth, your facts on these men from Eastern tribes and Eastern battalions seem to start to confirm my wild theory that Western natives may not have been as "enthusiastic."  Could we paint a wide brush and say that the Eastern tribes were more "white" due to their much longer period of contact with Caucasians, and thus more likely to enlist?  Does your references break down enlistment by reserve or tribe?

Peter

Hi Broz:

The short answer to your question is no. For the last six months or so I've been trying to find information on the following three points:

1. What was the demographic makeup of the First Nations population in Canada between 1910-1920, by province and by region?

2. What was the enlistment rate of the First Nations population by province?

3. What was the enlistment rate of the First Nations population by tribe, band, or reserve?

I think the point that both you and Terry made valid points that could be verified by obtaining the above statistics. Intuitively you would think that the majority of First Nations people would live east of the Manitoba/Ontario boarded. Therefore their enlistment total, by numbers of men in the CEF, would be higher than western bands.

I also agree with your point that First Nations people, from Central Canada and the Maritimes, had a longer history of contact with Europeans than western First Nations people. They also had a history of participating (on both side) in the English/French wars in the 1700's.

As for western bands not being "enthusiastic" I have to disagree with you. Keep in mind First Nations bands had a 32% enlistment rate. This is a nation wide percentage based on 11,000 eligible males. I should also mention, financially they had one of the highest participation rates in the Canadian Patriotic Fund and other philanthropic causes. They did this while being at the bottom of the Canadian economic structure.

One final point; I've always found it interesting that from day one, First Nations soldiers were fully integrated into battalions in the CEF and many First Nations men were officers.

Garth

[peterd]

There is a new web site WWW.movinghere.org.uk that deals with imigrant communities. It covers Jewish, Irish, Caribean and Indian communities in Britain. It certainly features Walter Tull. Hope this is of use.

PeterD

[Terry]

Probably some of you have the booklet put out by Canada's Department of Veteran's Affairs entitled "Native Soldiers - Foreign Battlefields". For those who are not familiar with it, this was published in 1998, and gives a good overview of the participation by First Nations (our PC term; most native Canadians I know still call themselves Indians) soldiers in the two World Wars and Korea.

The 1914-18 section states that 4,000 Canadian Indians served in the CEF; roughly one in three of the able-bodied native male population. It also mentions that half the Micmac and Maliseet men of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia joined up.

The Six Nations Iroquois band (Brantford,Ont.) provided more soldiers than any other reserve. Lieut. Cameron Brant, great-great-grandson of the legendary warrior Joseph Brant, fell leading his platoon of the 4th Canadian Battalion at Second Ypres, 24 June,1915. The various snipers are discussed in some detail, as are the two Smith brothers who won MC's, one with the 18th Bn and one with the 20th Bn.

One of the most interesting sections deals with Oliver Martin, another Six Nations Mohawk. He served with the 107th Bn in France, later joined the RAF and earned his pilot's wings,stayed in the militia between the wars, rose to command the Haldimand Rifles, and in World War two ended up as a brigadier.

[Broznitsky]

Garth, until (if ever) we determine by province/tribe/reserve the enlistment numbers, isn't it possible that the Eastern men enlisted more heavily, like perhaps 50%, whilst the Western men were less likely, say 20%, so that the overall national statistic makes it look like 33% of eligible First Nations men enlisted??

Statistics, damn statistics.

(Note how we have hijacked the thread mightily!! )

[paul guthrie]

Canadian pals know there is a relatively new monument in Ottawa to native soldiers like Joseph Standing Buffalo Manitoba Regiment KIA 1918, buried between Arras and Ayette and grandson of Sitting Bull. I really like it.

And the main WW1 monument near Parliament Hill in Ottawa is spectacularly good. Perhaps someone can post pictures of these.

But the best thing of all in Ottawa is the large ramshackle structure beside Parliament where an old French Canadian takes care of many cats. Got to love a country where that can happen!

[mordac]

Hi Paul:

Veterans Affairs Canada has a great web site that lists and shows many of Canada's national and international memorials to our war dead. Here's the link. Unfortunately, the new First Nations memorial is not on their web site yet.

Garth

[mordac]

Probably some of you have the booklet put out by Canada's Department of Veteran's Affairs entitled "Native Soldiers - Foreign Battlefields". For those who are not familiar with it, this was published in 1998, and gives a good overview of the participation by First Nations (our PC term; most native Canadians I know still call themselves Indians) soldiers in the two World Wars and Korea.

--snip--

The Six Nations Iroquois band (Brantford,Ont.) provided more soldiers than any other reserve. Lieut. Cameron Brant, great-great-grandson of the legendary warrior Joseph Brant, fell leading his platoon of the 4th Canadian Battalion at Second Ypres, 24 June,1915.

Hi Terry:

Thanks for the heads up on the booklet published by VAC. I've e-mailed them requesting a copy.

I'm not surprised that one of the Six Nations bands provided the highest number of First Nations men in the CEF. The Six Nations had a long and honourable history of loyalty to the British crown. If you get a chance, see if you can find 'History of the County Brant' (1920, Hurley Printing) by F. Douglas Reville at your local library. It's an interesting read. Just to clarify a point, Joseph Brant (Thayendanegea) was a Mohawk chief. In 1759, he fought with the British forces in The Seven Years' War. During the American Revolution he visited England (in 1776) to proclaim the Six Nations loyalty to England and was commissioned as a captain in the British army in 1780.

Broz: Your point on statistics is well taken. However, in the end we'll probably find that the lowest First Nations participation rate was in our home province of British Columbia. Just a guess.

Garth

[mordac]

To bring this thread back to it's original topic; an earlier post by Terry mentioned a movie of the week about the No. 2 Construction Battalion. There is a book available on this battalion: 'Canada's Black Battalion: No. 2 Construction 1916-1920' by C.W. Ruck, 1981, 143 pages. It's produced by Society for the Protection and Preservation of Black Culture in Nova Scotia.

It's on my 'must get' reading list.

Garth

[Guest stevebec]

Guys forgive me, but as an Aussie I found your intercourse on the First Nations to be interesting.

Unlike the US and Canada our natives did not have the same integeral structure as yours.

I have been doing the same reseach into native Australians and found that only those few full blood men who enlisted came from a scattering of so called Tribes and mostly on the stations in the far out back of aussie.

Most of those who did enlist were so called half cast or of mixed perantage. These men on the whole, but not in many case were of a lighter colour side and could intergrate into the formations so enlisted.

I wonder if I could do like you do, break down their Tribes to see.

You got me thinking thank you

S.B

[christine liava'a]

In the Maori battalions enlistments were generally in tribal groups, as the recruiting officers came round to an area. Most Maoris at the time were living in their own tribal lands. Some tribes flatly refused to enlist, usually due to their own tribal history, but others rushed to war.

Some interesting things happened later in the war, when men from the Otago reg't, mainly of scottish descent, and most of whom would never have even seen a maori, as most maori lived in the north island ( Otago is in the south of the South island)although it contained Aucklanders too, were amalgamated into the Pioneers along with the Maori troops. This was probably the first time either set had met the other, and would have helped to mingle the people of NZ. who are now pretty thoroughly mixed

[Broznitsky]

Unlike the US and Canada our natives did not have the same integeral structure as yours.

Steve, I wonder if you could explain this a bit more? Do you mean the Australian aborigines did not get integrated into the AIF, or they did not mix together as tribes, or ???

For your info, in 1914 (at least in Western Canada) many Natives/Indians/First Nations people lived on very isolated reserves, far from Caucasian contact, except for traders and religious men. The same would be true for Northern Ontario and Quebec, and the northern Prairie provinces, I think. How did they ever hear about some war in a faraway place, and why would they enlist?? A good research topic for sure.

[mordac]

Hi Steve & Christine:

I've often wondered about the participation of the indigenous peoples of Australia and New Zealand in the Great War. It would be interesting to compare their experiences with Canada's First Nations people. Is there any chance you could expand on this subject? What were the social, political, and economic realities for these groups from 1910-1920? What would make them decide to enlist or not enlist? Did their situation improve after the war? Thanks.

Garth

[Guest stevebec]

Without going to deep into this subject can I say first that the so called native aussies should possibly be graded into two parts.

1st - Those natives those trible areas fell under white goverments (local, State or Federal) like near city's and towns weather inside or outside.

And 2nd - Those natives that still occupied their traditional trible areas away from white occupied land.

Many of those in the first group had more exposure to the white's and either intermarried or such and were more likely to enlist. While those in the second group had less exposure to white's and did not, but for those who may have worked as stockman on stations.

The Aussie Army was fully intergrated and these men fitted in without much trouble. When I say intergrated I don't mean that in was a policy, as no natives were allowed to serve as they were not citizens. What I mean they enlisted in any unit they wanted to do.

There were no such units as the NZ'ers with there Maoris, ours served in any unit they wanted to.

Again there numbers were never such that would warrent a special unit but it was also possible if the war went longer and the deaths continued and Goverment policy changed would they have gone down that path?

S.B

[christine liava'a]

NZ Maori Battalion

Te Hokowhitu a Tu - The Maori Pioneer Battalion A Maori Battalion was raised and sailed from New Zealand on the 14 February 1915. Some doubts were held about the men's fighting ability and they had fewer numbers than a full battalion so they were designated as a pioneer battalion when they arrived in Egypt. They landed at Anzac Cove on 3 July 1915 and soon proved their worth both as hard working and cunning engineers, as well as doughty fighters. They were soon committed to the fighting as a contingent and from a strength of 476 officers and men were reduced to 60 by august when they were rested on Lemnos.

The New Zealand Pioneer Battalion was formed on 20 February 1916 from the remnants of the original Maori Contingent along with reinforcements and men of the Otago Mounted Rifles. The battalion also included 125 Niue Islanders and 45 Rarotongans. The Pioneer Battalion reached France on 9 April 1916. They served on the Western Front until heir demobilisation in March 1919. During this time they dug trenches, established fortifications, repaired roads and took part in raids and battles. They were the only New Zealand battalion to return home as a complete unit and received a rapturous welcome at cities, towns and maraes. 2,227 Maori and 458 Pacific Islanders served with the unit. 336 died on active duty and 734 were wounded.

"Te Ope Tuatahi!" was the recruiting song of the First Maori Contingent. The First Maori Contingent was called Te Hokowhitu a Tu ("the seventy twice-told warriors of the war god") 140 was the favoured size of the traditional war party or taua.

The song describes the travels of Te Hokowhitu a Tu to Egypt, Gallipoli, France and Belgium. The following version was originally printed in James Cowan The Maoris in the Great War (Whitcombe & Tombs, 1926)

E te ope tuatahi

No Aotearoa

No Te Wai-pounamu

No nga tai e wha.

Ko koutou ena

E nga rau e rima,

Ko te Hokowhitu toa

A Tu-mata-uenga:

I hinga ka Ihipa,

Ki Karipori ra ia;

E ngau nei te aroha,

Me te mamae.

We greet our first band

From Aotearoa,

From the Island of Greenstone:

We sing of our warriors,

Our gallant Five Hundred,

The chosen heroes

Of Tu-mata-uenga,

The Angry-Eyed War God.

Some fell in Egypt,

Some on Gallipoli;

Now pangs of sharp sorrow

Our sad hearts are piercing.

E te ope tuarua,

No Mahaki rawa,

Na Hauiti koe,

Na Porourangi:

I haere ai Henare

Me to Wiwi,

I patu ki te pakanga,

Ki Paranihi ra ia.

Ko wai he morehu

Hei kawe korero

Ki te iwi nui e,

E taukuri nei?

From the Coast of the Sunrise,

Came our Second Contingent,

The men of Mahaki;

Men of Tolaga Bay,

Warriors of Ngati Porou.

Farewell, O Henare,*

Who led your company

And fell in war's thunder

Nobly fighting in France.

And who will survive there

To take our last message

To our loved people

In dark sorrow bowed

E te ope tuaiwa

No Te Arawa,

No Te Tai-rawhiti,

No Kahungunu.

E haere ana 'hau

Ki runga o Wiwi

Ki reira 'hau nei,

E tangi ai.

Me mihi kau atu

I te nuku o te whenua,

He konei ra e,

E te tau pumau.

Our Ninth fighting Contingent

Comes from Te Arawa,

From the Coast of the Sunrise

From Kahungunu's land.

And now I am leaving

For France's red war fields.

There I'll remember;

My heart will send greetings

O'er far land and ocean

To my own constant love.

*2nd-Lieut. Henare Mokena Hohere,

died of wounds in France, 1916.

[christine liava'a]

Maori & the Great War

click on Identity and Culture , The Great War , Maori and the War

If you explore around this site , you'll probably find answers to your questions

[paul guthrie]

Thanks for that Christine. I considered asking you about these men after seeing a great movie about Maoris last week, Whalerider.