Francis Pegahmagabow

Francis Pegahmagabow. World War I. , Most Decorated Indigenous Soldier in Canadian History , “Peggy”, as he was called in the trenches, became known as a legendary sniper. He would crawl out at night into the cratered earth of no man's land and dig himself into the dirt to wait until a German helmet filled his rifle scope. He was said to have shot 375 Germans and captured 300 German prisoners. , Pegahmagabow also served as a scout and messenger, ghosting between units, braving shellfire and bullets, to successfully carry critical orders that saved countless Allied lives. He reached a rank that was then called company sergeant-major, several ranks above corporal. , Pegahmagabow was awarded the Military Medal in 1916 and is one of just 37 Canadians to win the Military Medal with two bars. He was also awarded the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. , After the war, Ontario Ojibwa Pegahmagabow went on to lobby for citizen rights for indigenous people in Canada. He rose to become Supreme Chief of the Native Independent Government, an early version of the Assembly of First Nations. He died in 1952 in Parry Sound. , [background photo caption] Pegahmagabow in 1945 while attending a conference in Ottawa where the National Indian Government was formed.