Peguis, Manitoba

Their history originates in the Selkirk-Winnipeg region. Below are several google earth photos of Peguis. A Reserve known as St. Peters Reserve was set aside for them in the 19th century. Since Fisher River is near Peguis, it likely means those folks at Fisher River, were among the first Ojibway's from St. Peters Reserve to relocate north. That happened with 1875's Treaty 5 signing. Peguis is one of many communities of the Ojibway Misipawistik Reserve. It's a widely scattered settlement or disorganized. About 1.3 miles or 2.1 kilometers southeast of Peguis's main portion, is a cluster of housing units, we will name South Peguis. Another cluster of housing units is located 0.6 miles or 1.0 kilometers southwest of Peguis's main portion, we will name Central Peguis. There are apartment buildings, so calculating Peguis's total housing units is difficult. It's anywhere from 100 to 150 housing units however. Population of Peguis is anywhere from 330 to 500. Average household size for this Ojibway Reserve is 3.3 persons per household. Canada does not include Reserve towns populations during census time. Peguis mean "Profit By" in Ojibway Language. Chief Peguis (aka John Smith) obviously profited from some sort of endeavor! Read John Tanners 19th century book. He writes of chief Peguis including an incident in which his friend or brother, tried stopping an Ojibwa man from assaulting an Ojibwa woman. He grabbed his arms to pull him away from the woman yet the man's father took Tanners friend or brother and supposedly bit his nose off. Then chief Peguis intervened and grabbed Tanners brother or friend yet Tanners friend or brother broke away then grabbed chief Peguis and bit his nose off. Tanner wrote the name of chief Peguis different. Instead of "Peguis" he wrote his name as "Bag-wais." Chief Peguis was probably the brother of John Tanner. Tanner was ashamed of his brother and also ashamed of being part Ojibwa. They were mixed bloods. The nose of chief Peguis was not bitten off. It was the septum of the nose that was cut. Chief Peguis was born in 1774. He was probably the older brother of John Tanner. He lived at Montana for quite some time. At Montana he lived where Blackfeet Reservation is. He may be the same John Smith who was set aside Muskoday Reserve at Saskatchewan. He definitely is the John Smith who lived at Leech Lake Reservation. He died in 1922 at age 148. Some photos of chief Peguis are below. Look at his nose. Also look at his hair. He never lost his hair! We know why his nose was disfigured. Tanner provided the details of the incident and the name of the Ojibwa man who cut the nose of chief Peguis. He was so sensitive about his nose he became a murderer. If anyone called him "Cut Nose" they were probably murdered by chief Peguis. He was a chief and a liberal one. Before he murdered the person who called him "Cut Nose," he told those around they could kill him yet that never happened. Chief Peguis lived at Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Montana and Minnesota. He has connections to Ojibwa Reservations at each location. He was considered an important leader among Montana Blackfeet Ojibwa's! He was born near Sault Ste. Marie in 1774.

Satellite Image of Peguis

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