Late Fort Smith veteran honoured for historical military role

Canada will honour Fort Smith veteran Alexander Kennedy on Friday for his historical military role, including navigating rapids and crocodiles on Egypt’s Nile River.

Kennedy joined the Nile Expedition from 1884 to 1886. It was the first time a Canadian unit served overseas and joined a Commonwealth operation.

Later, in 1928, Kennedy came to Fort Smith from Peace River. His grandson is the legendary Fort Smith trapper Phillip “Pi” Kennedy.

Alexander Kennedy was born in 1854 and grew up on the St Peter’s Peguis First Nation Reserve in Manitoba. Patti-Kay Hamilton, a former CBC reporter who wrote a book about Pi Kennedy, said Alexander participated in the Métis Resistance as a young man. A dog driver, courier and voyageur, an Edmonton Bulletin article in 1911 called him the “fastest man in the North.”

In 1884, Sir Garnet Wolseley was the lead officer of the Nile Expedition bound for Khartoum. Wolseley was at the Riel uprising and recalled the Métis skill in navigating fast waters, marksmanship and resourcefulness. Wolseley recruited 377 Métis and Mohawk voyageurs, including Alexander Kennedy and three of Kennedy’s cousins.

From 1884-86, they served in the Nile with the 1st Battalion Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders.

“The story was epic,” said Hamilton. They hiked through sand blizzards in the desert, dodged crocodiles on the river and climbed pyramids. One of the Mohawk soldiers had brought a traditionally made canoe with them, but the heat in Egypt melted the spruce gum that held it together.

Because of their skill in navigating swift water, Hamilton said, one Métis piloted each boat through the whirlpools and rapids as British soldiers worked the oars.

Kennedy received two medals for his contribution, one from Queen Victoria in Britain and a second, the Egyptian Khedive’s Star.

After the Nile campaign, Kennedy returned home and moved his family to the Peace River area to farm. Following the deaths of his wife, Kameasooskoo Naquayamo – known to Alex and their children as Uussui – and son, Alex Jr, Kennedy headed north to Fort Smith to see his son Phillip, who had gone there to work for the Hudson Bay Company.

That “visit” lasted many years, with Kennedy helping his son run the post at Salt River, assisting with his dog team and going out to the trapline with him. Kennedy died in Fort Smith in 1938 aged 84, and a small wooden cross marked his grave.

His involvement in Canada’s military history remained largely unknown until recently. Hamilton learned about it accidentally, she said, while researching the book she wrote about his grandson, Pi. (Hamilton’s interest in Pi was sparked not only by his own epic life, but also the fact that Pi once saved her life when she had a medical emergency in the bush.)

According to Pi, his grandfather never spoke of the Nile campaign, though he saw Alexander’s two medals. Curious, Hamilton ended up digging into the detail, verifying information about Alexander’s life through provincial archives in Manitoba and Alberta alongside the national archives in Ottawa.  

“The shelves are full of books about the North by people like Farley Mowat, or people who were only in the North a short time but very, very few written about the North by a northern person who spent their lives here,” Hamilton said.

“We see that over and over in all our communities in the North: people whose stories should be told, and they’re told orally. But in a modern world, if there’s no record of it written, then that person disappears.”

One day, Hamilton was at Vancouver Airport waiting for a flight when she met Floyd Powder. She knew Powder was involved in the Last Post Fund and that he was searching for Indigenous veterans in the North. She told him about Alexander.

“He just took off on it, all the heavy lifting,” Hamilton said, adding that Powder “talked to Indigenous affairs, talked to the Last Post Fund and convinced them to fund this tombstone for Alexander.”

Powder served for 32 years in the Royal Canadian Regiment, an infantry unit in the Canadian Forces, before his retirement in 2013. He was appointed sergeant-at-arms of the Legislative Assembly in late 2022 and has volunteered with the Last Post Fund since 2020, working to ensure Indigenous veterans who pass away receive a proper headstone with inscription.

Recognizing what veterans did can give them access to supports and services from Veterans Affairs, Powder noted. Even after they’ve passed, honouring their contributions can mean a lot to their families.

“That’s very personally satisfying, and families appreciate the effort of us volunteers across the country, and in particular Last Post Fund in having their family member recognized for their service,” Powder said.

On Friday, as a result of Powder’s efforts, the Last Post Fund will recognize Kennedy’s service with a specially designed headstone in the Anglican Cemetery in Fort Smith.

The public is invited to the ceremony, which will be held at 10:30am, with a reception to follow at the Fort Smith legion.

Correction: June 21, 2024 – 11:55 MT. This article previously stated Indigenous Affairs Canada was recognizing Kennedy’s service with the new headstone. In fact, the headstone is the work of the Last Post Fund.