The soldiers Canada almost forgot – a spotlight on Indigenous war heroes

Many Canadian men and women volunteered their names and lives to serve during the two devastating world wars and the Korean War, and more than 7,000 soldiers were Indigenous, according to the Government of Canada.

Over a century after the First World War, the stories of Indigenous men and women who took up arms for Canada — from skilled hunters turned snipers to Cree code talkers who baffled enemy forces — continue to reveal a legacy of courage, sacrifice and resilience that shaped the nation’s military history.

The hunters who became soldiers

During the First World War, more than 4,000 Indigenous people enlisted with the Canadian Armed Forces. Some communities, such as the Head of the Lake band in British Columbia, saw every man between the ages of 20 and 35 sign up, with many of them seeking employment or wanting to uphold a tradition similar to when their ancestors fought alongside the British during the War of 1812 or the South African War.

As the war raged on, it was clear to see many of the Indigenous soldiers brought skills most soldiers did not possess. With an extensive knowledge of hunting, these men demonstrated patience, stealth and marksmanship, giving them an advantage in becoming successful snipers and reconnaissance scouts.

One of the most famous snipers of the First World War was Henry Louis Norwest, a Métis man born in Fort Saskatchewan in the Alberta District, N.W.T. Prior to enlisting, Norwest had worked as a ranch hand and rodeo performer before serving with the North West Mounted Police for a short while. In 1915, at the age of 34, Norwest began his service with the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) under the 50th Canadian Infantry Battalion as a lance corporal.

Over the next three years, the Indigenous man fought in the Battle of Arras, Battle of Vimy Ridge, Hundred Days Offensive and the Battle of Amiens, obtaining a sniping record of 115 documented fatal shots. It is suspected his true number of kills is higher; however, the Canadian military only recorded witnessed hits. In 1917, the Military Medal was awarded to Norwest during the Battle of Vimy Ridge, recognizing his contribution to conquering a significant point along the ridge. In the three months leading up to the battle, Norwest killed 59 enemy soldiers.

In August 1918, Norwest was sent on a mission to locate a German sniper’s lair near Fouquescourt, Somme, France, where he was killed by the German enemy only three months before the end of the war. Norwest was posthumously awarded the bar to his Military Medal, one of only 838 men out of 100,000 CEF members to receive this honour.

 Unbreakable codes the world didn’t know existed

When the call for recruits was made once again in September 1939 to fight in the Second World War, many Indigenous people rejoined the military. Of the 1.1 million soldiers to fight overseas, more than 3,000 were First Nations. It is unknown how many were Inuit and Métis. Some of the Indigenous soldiers were assigned to the Royal Canadian Navy and the Royal Canadian Air Force, but many would be sent to fight on land with the Canadian army. They soon became Canada’s greatest weapon.

Encrypted and coded messages were commonly used throughout the Second World War on both sides of the front line. There would be times these secret messages fell into the wrong hands, becoming deciphered and ultimately giving away locations, supply missions and bombing orders. The Allied Forces — which included Britain, Canada, the United States and the Soviet Union — had to find an indecipherable coding system to help win the war, and that system lay within the Indigenous fighters.

While many of the Indigenous soldiers were asked to use their traditional skills to serve as snipers and scouts again, a new opportunity arose. Within the American troops of the First World War, soldiers who spoke the Navajo language were asked to relay these important messages to other Navajo soldiers to be translated back into English. Due to the language having no written form, this made the code impossible to crack. During the Second World War, the Canadian government took the idea and began recruiting Cree and Métis soldiers to serve their country by using their native languages.

Languages such as Cree were virtually unknown to Europeans. The Code Talker program was a secret operation within the Canadian Forces, which began in London Aug. 22, 1942. Roughly 100 Cree, Métis and Ojibwe men were gathered, including Charles Tomkins.

Tompkins was born in 1918 in Grouard, Alta., on the shores of Lesser Slave Lake. His parents were Métis and wanted to ensure he and his nine biological siblings and three step-siblings learned Cree to stay connected to their ancestors. His grandmother was a niece of Cree Chief Big Bear and the widow of Chief Poundmaker. She taught Tompkins the native language, as well as the war song to protect him if ever in combat. He enlisted in the Canadian Army shortly after marrying his wife, Lena Anderson, as a way to provide financial security for his entire family. Tompkins was one of six in his family to serve in the Second World War.

When he arrived in Scotland on Dec. 24, 1941, after spending 11 days on a ship with 800 other soldiers, Tompkins was assigned to the Second Canadian Armoured Brigade to work with tanks. A few months later, Tompkins was called by the Canadian High Command for a secret mission. While the Navajo and Mohawk languages were used by the Americans in the Pacific War against Japan, Cree was chosen as the cryptic language in Europe. The Cree language, called Nehiyawewin, consists of five dialects — Plains Cree, Woodlands Cree, Swampy Cree, Moose Cree and Atikamekw Cree — found throughout Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Québec.

Code talkers were assigned to each other, often in pairs if the other person spoke Cree. Although Tompkins was a part of the Canadian Army, he was assigned to the United States 8th Air Force and the 9th Bomber Command, working with five other Cree-speaking soldiers, including his brother Peter and half-brother, John Smith. This group was tasked with translating information received via radio about troop movements, supply lines and bombing runs. Once translated, the men were sent to the battlefields, where the message would be translated back into English by another code talker.

There were some challenges for this elite group of Indigenous men.

Nehiyawewin was an ancient language among the Cree people. Words like ‘bombers’, ‘machine guns’ and ‘tanks’ did not have a Cree equivalent word, so code talkers had to find ways to share these important details. They quickly improvised, finding Cree words that could be used for commonly used military words and phrases. A few examples are:

English word                        Cree word                                       Translation

Spitfire plane                       iskotew                                             fire

Mustang aircraft                  pikwatastim/ pakwatastim                wild horse

Mosquito fighter-bomber     sakimêw/ sakimês                           mosquito

Machine gun                       macwêwês                                       little gun that shoots fast

B17 bomber                        âmô/ âmôw                                      bee

                                            tēpakohposāp/ tēhpakohposāp       17

Tompkins worked as a code talker for two years before being sent back to his Canadian unit, where he was a motorcycle dispatch rider with the Second Armoured Brigade. He landed in France six days after D-Day and also saw action in Germany and Holland.

When the war was over, many of the returning code talkers continued to uphold the secret oath they were sworn to, never talking about the important role they played in the war. Tompkins was awarded the Defence Medal, the 1939-1945 Star, the France and Germany Star, the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and the War Medal 1939-1945 for his service in the war and returned home with his five siblings who also served.

Tompkins shared that, when he arrived home, he was given $100 to buy clothes, a transport warrant and a handshake, whereas his fellow non-Indigenous comrades were also offered land as a reward for service. Unfortunately, for many Indigenous soldiers, this was common, with many of them rejoining the army to aid in providing for their families, including Tompkins.

He was first stationed at Currie Barracks in Calgary, Alta., before serving in different regiments across Canada, such as Sherbrooke Fusiliers, Royal Canadian Army Service Corps and the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry over the course of 25 years, only obtaining the rank of corporal. Like most Indigenous soldiers, Tompkins was overlooked for promotions, while non-Indigenous soldiers with similar experiences as his easily reached the ranks of lieutenant, captain or sergeant.

In 1963, the Canadian government declassified the work of the code talkers, but many of the Indigenous soldiers refused to break their silence until the 2000s. Tompkins, who had reached his 80s, began to share his story with his family.

In 2002, the film Windtalkers was released, starring Nicholas Cage and Adam Beach, a Canadian Indigenous actor. Although the characters in the film were fictitious, the story of the Indigenous people who used their native languages was very real. For Tompkins, he was happy with the recognition and the sudden interest, but said he felt it was too little too late in an interview before his passing.

In 2003, Tompkins revealed the names of the Cree men he worked with, including his brother Peter, half-brother John Smith, friend Archie Plante and Walter McDermott. At the time, Tompkins was one of the few code talkers from Alberta or Saskatchewan who were still alive. This prompted representatives from the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian to interview Tompkins about the Cree code talkers program. Shortly before his death on Aug. 20, 2003, Tompkins received a letter of commendation from Veterans Affairs, not specifically for his time as a code talker but for his lifelong military service.

More than just a few good men and women

While the stories shared here are just of two Indigenous Canadians who risked their lives, thousands more, men and women, shared similar experiences while serving in the military.

Francis Pegahmagabow volunteered for service with the CEF in 1914. As an Ojibwe man from near Parry Sound, Ont., he fought in the First World War, earning the Military Medal, two bars, the 1914-1915 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. Once back on Canadian soil, Pegahmagabow was elected Chief of the Parry Island Band in 1921. However, the Department of Indian Affairs (DIA) changed policies in 1933, stating all correspondence from First Nations chiefs had to go through the Indian agents. Like most Indigenous soldiers who fought in the First World War, Pegahmagabow became a political activist and endured power struggles with his Indian agent, the Indian council and the DIA.

John Shiwak was an Inuit soldier from a tiny settlement near Rigolet, N.L., who wanted to explore the world. Weeks after the First World War had begun, Shiwak and some friends travelled to St. John’s to enlist with the Newfoundland Regiment. He was 26. After training in Scotland for several months, Shiwak was on the front lines in France, using his skills as a hunter and trapper to become a scout and gifted sniper.

In the fall of 1917, the 29th British Division, including the Newfoundland Regiment, were given orders to capture part of the St. Quentin Canal near the village of Masnières. The group met with some resistance, but the mission to free the village continued through the night. By morning, the regiment was ordered to take a position on the other side of the village to secure the sugar factory used as Battalion headquarters. A German artillery shell hit the group as they moved along the canal bank, killing seven soldiers, including Shiwack. Many decades later, the seven soldiers' final resting place was determined to be under a present-day school in Masnières. In 2023, locals dedicated a plaque to Shiwak’s memory, telling his story in English, Inuktitut and French.

Oliver Milton Martin, a Mohawk man from Ontario, got his military start as a bugler in 1909 with the Haldimand Rifles militia regiment. Trained as a teacher, Martin enlisted with the 114th Overseas Battalion in Ontario, serving as a company officer with the 114th and the 107th Battalions. During the remainder of the First World War, he was promoted to lieutenant, survived a gas attack and earned his pilot’s wings. Martin returned to teaching until the Second World War began, where he quickly worked through the ranks from colonel to brigadier. By the time he retired, Martin was the highest-ranking First Nations individual of the Second World War.

Tommy Prince is known as the most decorated soldier in the First Special Service Force, also known as the Devil’s Brigade, during the Second World War. The Ojibwe man was a part of the 2nd Canadian Parachute Battalion, a special force used to conduct secret raids and sabotage against German deuterium plants being used for atomic weapon research in German-occupied Norway. Of the 100 volunteers, Prince was one of only nine graduates at the United Kingdom’s parachute school at RAF Ringway to continue with the program.

He returned to Canada in September 1942, where he unofficially volunteered for the unknown 1st Canadian Special Service Battalion and travelled to Fort Benning, Georgia, which was composed of 1,800 single men, 900 Americans and 900 Canadians. The Force was sent to Italy in November 1943, and Prince honed his abilities to enter enemy locations at night without making a sound, wearing his traditional Ojibwe moccasins.

After the war, Prince moved to Winnipeg where he opened a cleaning service. In 1946, he was elected vice-president of the Manitoba Indian Association and represented First Nations of Canada at joint Senate and House of Commons Parliamentary Committees in Ottawa. Prince advocated for the abolition of the Indian Act and government officials considered offering him a position with the DIA.

Prince later fought in the Korean War as a member of the 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. As second in command, Prince selected, trained and led eight men in night “snatch patrols.” The patrol, without firing a single shot, would successfully demoralize Chinese forces under the cover of darkness. Prince was also involved in the Battle of Kapyong and the Second Battle of the Hook.

After his active service years ended in 1953 and after multiple personal hardships, Prince fell into a depression, experiencing post-battle stress symptoms and combat nightmares, dealing with alcoholism and homelessness. He eventually overcame his alcoholism and lived in a Salvation Army hostel, working temporary positions such as a janitorial labourer. He had regained his fame before his passing in 1977 and was given a provincial state funeral with more than 500 people in attendance.

Mary Greyeyes was one of the first Indigenous women to join the Canadian Armed Forces as a member of the Canadian Women’s Army Corps. As a Cree woman from the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation, Mary attended St. Michael’s Residential School in Duck Lake until Grade 8. She enlisted in the military after her brother David enlisted and was shipped out to England. She cooked at the war headquarters and was often brought to public events to give the appearance of a pro-diverse workplace. She had the opportunity to meet then King George VI, the Queen Mother and Princess Elizabeth. Mary returned to Muskeg Lake when the Canadian Women’s Army Corps disbanded.

After the war, she and First World War veteran Harry Ball were asked to pose for a photo of Mary kneeling in uniform before Ball, who wore a feathered headdress, blanket and holding a pipe, posing as a chief. This image was to encourage more women to enlist, with the caption, “Unidentified Indian princess getting blessing from her chief and father to go fight in the war.” More than 50 years passed before Mary’s daughter-in-law corrected the caption to “Private Mary Greyeyes, Cree, from Muskeg Lake Cree Nation, Canadian Women’s Army Corp.”

David Greyeyes-Steele, older brother to Mary, was a three-time provincial All-Star soccer player before enlisting in the Canadian Army. He taught advanced weaponry for two years before qualifying as an officer and was assigned to the Saskatoon Light Infantry and commanded a mortar platoon during the Italian Campaign. He received the Greek War Cross for his support in the Battle of Rimini in 1944. He later served as an intelligence officer with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles after VE Day and played soccer in the Inter-Allied Games.

After the war, David became chief of the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation in 1958, joined the Indian Affairs Branch of the Department of Citizenship and Immigration and became the first Indigenous person to be named a regional director. In 1977, he was named a member of the Order of Canada and inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame. David also received the Saskatchewan Order of Merit in 1993 and was the first inductee in the Saskatchewan First Nations Sports Hall of Fame in 1994, recognizing his years of playing and coaching soccer. He passed away at the age of 81 in Saskatoon.

From service to struggle

When the wars broke out, there were very few Indigenous peoples who joined the military in the beginning. According to many of the treaties, the Indigenous peoples would not have to fight on behalf of the British Crown.

During the First World War, the Canadian government took over hundreds of thousands of acres of reserve land to grow food, usually without the knowledge or consent of the local band council. The Soldier Settlement Act of 1919 saw much of that land given away through grants, more often than not to non-Indigenous veterans. When a First Nations veteran applied for the same grant, they were instead given a certificate to use reserve land that already belonged to their community.

The presence of residential schools, day schools and industrial schools was already known before the First World War, and many of the Indigenous peoples hoped their service and sacrifice would help gain respect and rights for their nations. Yet, their children continued to be taken away and assimilated, while the veterans were unable to receive pensions, grants or benefits due to their legal status as wards of Canada under the Indian Act.

When the Second World War began, work shortages increased, and many felt the need to join to help support their families. On the front lines and in the trenches, Indigenous and non-Indigenous soldiers fought side-by-side, having each other’s backs when things got tough. Some Indigenous veterans said they had joined the war to earn favour with their non-Indigenous comrades, in hopes of having better opportunities after the war. But once back on Canadian soil, there was no one helping veterans who called a reserve home.

Indigenous veterans were still unable to receive the full benefits of the Veterans’ Land Act and veteran government programs were not easily accessed on reserve land due to many remote locations. While their non-Indigenous comrades received recognition, many Indigenous veterans did not receive the same treatment, making it difficult to transition back to home life.

Modern warriors continue to serve

Although Indigenous veterans were not recognized the same way as their non-Indigenous comrades, there were still men and women who signed up to serve with the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2024, it is estimated three per cent of those with the CAF identify as Indigenous. In the northern regions of the country, there is an elite group of the Canadian Army Reserves that protects and serves the isolated communities and many coastlines of Canada. This group is the Canadian Rangers.

The Rangers employ roughly 5,000 members, with an outstanding 23 per cent of them registered as Indigenous. The unit is divided into five Canadian Ranger patrol groups (CRPGs), with each group covering different regions across the north. With the Rangers living in more than 200 communities, they are known to speak 26 different languages and dialects. Parts of their uniforms differ vastly from traditional military dress, including a red Canadian Ranger sweatshirt and baseball cap, and a safety vest. They still wear the Canadian Disruptive Pattern (CADPAT) of camouflage green pants and military-issued combat boots. The Rangers are usually called upon in emergency response situations such as natural disasters, search and rescue efforts, to support Indigenous communities with the distribution of information or supplies, and to assist the CAF with local data as advisors or guides.

The Rangers also oversee the Junior Canadian Rangers Program, which began in 1996. The program was designed to be a part of the Canadian Cadet Organization, open to Canadian youth aged 12 to 18. The students are trained under the three ‘circles of learning;’ community traditional skills, Canadian Ranger skills and life skills. The program also offers enhanced training sessions throughout the summer.

Acknowledging all who serve

It is estimated that more than 12,000 First Nations, Métis and Inuit men and women served during the conflicts of the 20th century, with more than 500 never returning home. For decades after, the veterans who did return continued to fight, but this time with the Canadian government. Many of them had to prove to their Indian agents that they were financially responsible in addition to proving war-related injuries. It was not until the late 1990s that First Nations rights organizations were able to convince the federal government the unfair treatment claims were true.

While several Royal Canadian Navy warships bore names of various Indigenous nations, like HMCS Iroquois, Cayuga and Huron over the years, more work to recognize the efforts of the Indigenous people who served has been done in recent years. In Manitoba alone, two streets, a school, a recreational facility and a public library have all been named in honour of Tommy Prince since his passing in 1977, along with him receiving various other honours across Canada.

In 1993, an initiative by the National Aboriginal Veterans Association was put forth, dedicating a day to the Indigenous men and women who served. The first observation of this day, known as National Aboriginal Veterans Day at the time, was Nov. 8, 1993, and continues to be observed annually on that date. The name was later changed to National Indigenous Veterans Day, to include all First Nations, Inuit and Métis people. The occasion is now recognized by the federal government.

The Canadian government continued to commemorate the Indigenous people’s war efforts into the early 2000s. An Indigenous sculptor, Lloyd Pinay of the Peepeekisis First Nation in Saskatchewan, was asked to assist in designing a monument to recognize the Indigenous veterans and their families. He set to work, creating the bronze piece on the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation Urban Reserve in Treaty Six Territory.

At the base of the monument, the corners hold four animal figures, acting as spiritual guides and holding a special attribute. The wolf represents family values, the buffalo tenacity, the elk wariness and the bear healing powers. Centred among the animals are four human figures, each one facing one of the four points of the compass. The two men each hold a weapon, a spear and a gun, while the two women, representing both the women who enlisted and those who maintained the families, hold a spiritual item, either the eagle feather fan or a peace pipe. Above them, a golden eagle, also known as Thunderbird, depicts the connection between the Creator and man, embodying the spirit of the Indigenous people.

The monument was unveiled on National Aboriginal Day, June 21, 2001, and remains in Ottawa, Ont.

Looking back on their legacy

While the Indigenous peoples of Canada were not expected to serve in any great conflicts, many of them knew they were able to help. Even after being placed on reserves and sent to assimilation schools, the traditional skills they remembered were beneficial to the country that had tried to hold them back. Many of the veterans wanted nothing more than to be treated equally to their non-Indigenous comrades and have the opportunity to live peacefully and be respected.

Looking back on the roles the Indigenous peoples played in the great wars, if they had not enlisted and served in the way they had, there could have been a very good chance we would not have the rights and freedoms we have today. All those who served deserve to be remembered, regardless of their background, skin colour or language.