Did you know?

Private Longboat in France in 1917.
Photo: Library and Archives Canada

Thousands of First Nations, Inuit and Métis people have served in Canada’s military over the years, but the story of Tom Cogwagee Longboat is especially amazing. He was an Onondaga from the Six Nations Grand River Reserve near Brantford, Ontario, who was a long-distance runner in the early 1900s. He even won the famous Boston Marathon!

In 1916, Longboat joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War and his special talents would soon be put to use. Private Longboat became a dispatch carrier—a soldier who hand-delivered important messages between units during a time before modern technology made contacting people easier. It was a very dangerous job as he would often have to run through enemy fire. He was wounded twice and was even mistakenly declared to be killed in action.

Longboat—whose Indigenous name “Cogwagee” means “all” or “everything”— indeed put it all on the line many times during the war, but luckily he survived. We will remember him, and all of the other brave Indigenous people who have served in uniform over the years.