This photograph hung for decades in the National War Museum in Ottawa with its subjects labeled “unidentified”, until Mary’s daughter-in-law learned of its existence in 1995. The photo was taken to encourage more women to join the army, and its staged “Indian blessing” proving popular, it was widely reprinted during the war, then forgotten.
Mary Greyeyes was from Muskeg Lake Cree Nation in Saskatchewan. This tiny community (only 367 people live on the reserve) has a remarkable military history. 56 of its youth served in the armed forces, including seven women, most of them named Greyeyes, Arcand or Lafond. Mary Greyeyes joined about the same time that my mother joined the Air Force. Muskeg Lake Cree have fought in Europe, Korea, and Afghanistan. Muskeg Lake is also the birthplace of the ballet dancer, choreographer and film actor Michael Greyeyes.
Mary returned to Canada after finishing her service in 1946, married, and made a career as an industrial seamstress in Vancouver. She died in 2011. The other participant in the staged photo was Harry Ball, a Cree from Piapot First Nation, who was a World War I veteran. His Plains Chief regalia was scrounged up on that reserve, where the photo was taken.
Photos of CWACS in action. Many were involved in dangerous work. They were not just clerk-typists and tea-brewers: