How Did Aboriginals Recruit Aboriginal People

Introduction
Halfway through the second decade of the twentieth century one of the most destructive, fatal events in the history of humanity started – the First World War. It lasted 4 years until 1918, and took around 10 million lives from families and friends during that time. People all around the world still mourn this desperate soldiers for their bravery and courage. We can not exactly predict, how war would have finished in different ways, and situations, as we can not say that Triple Entente would have won without the help of Native Canadians soldiers, that risked their lives for British Crown.
Canada’s Aboriginal peoples contributed greatly to the war effort, by giving money to the cause and by volunteering. Even so at that time Aboriginals faced racism, misery and assimilation in Canada. Many Aboriginals participated in the war, because they were true

to their British Crown. Some of them saw the war as a chance for both adventure and employment. There were more than 4000 Aboriginal soldiers served in the First World War.
On the eve of the First World War, Canada had no official policy on hiring Aboriginal people.

Although they were originally enlisted to dissuade policy will shift the war to become more open and receptive Primordial military service and recruitment. In the first months of the conflict, Aboriginal, wanting the service voluntarily, sometimes turned away, while others were allowed to recruit. High rates of loss and the need for more troops led to a new policy on Aboriginal recruits. In 1915, military and government officials weakened the restrictions issued official guidelines and allow Aboriginal recruitment. By 1917, the government adopted a more active role in hiring in response to the need for more staff. Indian recruiting agents carried out measures for stocks to encourage more members to recruit First Nations. In August 1917 law on military service, conscription instituted compulsory military service for all British subjects in the age to serve. The law did not make exceptions to the Treaty Indians who are expected to be released because they had no right to citizenship, the commitments of Canadians

serve.
Aboriginals showed themselves on the battlefield. Few become officers, some of them become instructors. Nearly 50 were given award for their bravery and their victories. Many of Aboriginal soldiers expected to be treated as veterans, because they fought for the British Crown. But they were wrong. Most of them still faced racism and didn’t have work.
One year in the war, Duncan Campbell Scott, the Deputy Superintendent General of the Department of Indian Affairs, stated the Indian reply “I have pleasure in drawing attention to the fact that the participation of Great Britain in the war has occasioned expressions of loyalty from the Indians, and the offer of contributions from their funds toward the general expenses of the war or toward the Patriotic Fund. Some bands have also offered the services of their warriors if they should be needed”
The Prime Minister of Canada, Minister Robert Borden, thought there would not be so many Aboriginal volunteers. However, the policy was cancelled in 1915, because of the large number of enlistment applications from Indians, as well as the allies was pressing need for more troops.
A Peaceful Man
The most highly decorated Canadian Native in the WW1 was Francis Pegahmagabow. An Ojibwa from the Parry Island Band in Ontario, he was awarded the Military Medal (MM) plus two bars for bravery in France and Belgium. Soldiers who had been awarded the Military Medal and later performed similarity heroic acts could receive bars to it, denoting further awards. Pegahmagabow was one of 39 members of the CEF who received two bars to the MM.
Sniping was the specialty of the man his related soldiers called “Peggy”. It has been written of him, “His iron nerves, patience and superb marksmanship helped make him an outstanding sniper.” In addition, Pegahmagabow developed a reputation as a superior scout.

Sharpshooter: Henry Louis Norwest
One of the most famous Canadian snipers in the WW1 was a metis marksman who went by the name of Henry Louis Norwest. Norwest was born in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, of French-Cree ancestry.
After the war, Duncan Scott romantically described the impression Germans had of Indian soldiers:
“If singled out by the foe for particular mention, it may be claimed for the Indians, who were depicted by the Germans in war paint and with feathers, with scalping knifes and tomahawks, ready to carry out… their treacherous and cruel practices. No doubt, the Germans had a wholesome fear of the Canadian methods of fighting, of the effiency of our sharp-shooters, and the sudden, desperate nature of our trench raids… As for the Indian himself, there is no doubt that he excelled in the kind of offensive that had been practiced by his ancestor and was native to him”
Pegahmagamow
The highest sniper figures recorded in the history of the CEF belonged to two Indians. Corporal Pegahmagabow, who enlisted on 14 August 1914, claimed 378 unofficial kills, which also ranked him the premier sniper of the entire Great War.