Native Soldiers, Foreign Battlefields, 1914, page 7

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and communication links with the rest of Canada. natives living in these areas were often unaware of the war or were unable to enlist without great effort. nevertheless, at least 15 Inuit - or people having some Inuit ancestry - from Labrador joined the 1st Newfoundland Regiment.14 As well, approximately 100 Ojibwa from isolated areas north of Thunder Bay Ontario made their way to the nearest recruiting centre,in Port Arthur or Fort William. 15 Many of them served in the 52nd Canadian Light Infantry Battalion - and at least six were awarded medals for bravery. One recruit with the 52nd, William Semia, a trapped for the Hudson's Bay Company and a member of the Cat Lake Band in Northern Ontario spoke neither English nor French when he enlisted. Undeterred, he learned English from another Indian volunteer and later was often responsible for drilling platoons. although its council opposed reserve enlistment, the Iroquois Six Nations of the Grand River south of Brantford Ontario, provided more soldiers than any other Canadian Indian Band. Approximately 300 went to the front. In addition members of this reserve, the most populous in Canada, donated hundreds of dollars to help war orphans in Britain and for other war relief purposes. Many of the Six Nations volunteers were originally members of the 37th Haldimand Rifles, a regiment in the non permanent active militia based on the reserve. It provided most of the members of the 114th Canadian Infantry Battalion which had recruited throughout the area. Joining the Grand River volunteers in this battalion were 50 Mohawks from Kahnawake, Quebec, and several Akwesasne. Some Natives from Western Ontario and Manitoba also became members. In the end, two of its companies, officers included, were composed entirely of Indians. In recognition of its large Indian make up, the battalion adopted a crest featuring two crossed tomahawks below the motto, "For King and country". As well, members of the Six Nations Women's Patriotic League embroidered a 114th flag which they adorned with Iroquoian symbols. Soon after it arrived in Great Britain in 1916 the 114th was disbanded to serve as reinforcements. Several of its members ended up with the 107th Battalion, a Winnipeg unit that went overseas with hundreds of Indians from the Prairies and became a first pioneer battalion 16 and then part of an engineering brigade composed of more than 500 Native members.17

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