David Georges Greyeyes Steele, CM, SOM, (31 December 1914 – 22 July 1996) was an

Indigenous Canadian In Canada, Indigenous groups comprise the First Nations in Canada, First Nations, Inuit and Métis people in Canada, Métis. Although ''Indian'' is a term still commonly used in legal documents, the descriptors ''Indian'' and ''Eskimo'' have fal ...

war hero, athlete, farmer, and public servant.

Biography

Born in

Muskeg Lake Cree Nation The Muskeg Lake Cree Nation ( cr, script=Cans, ᒪᐢᑫᑯ ᓵᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ, ) is a Cree First Nation band government in Marcelin, Saskatchewan, Canada. The Muskeg Lake Cree Nation is affiliated with the Saskatoon Tribal Council, along with ...

, Greyeyes Steele studied agriculture at the Lebret Industrial Residential School. He played multiple sports, but was particularly successful in

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

: he was a member of the Saskatchewan All-Star team three times and competed internationally. He, two brothers, and his sister

Mary Greyeyes Mary Greyeyes Reid (November 14, 1920 – March 31, 2011) was a Canadian World War II servicewoman. A Cree from the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation in Saskatchewan, she was the first First Nations woman to enlist in the Canadian Armed Forces. After joi ...

enlisted in the Canadian Army during the Second World War. Greyeyes Steele taught advanced weaponry for two years before returning to Canada to qualify as an officer. He was the first Status Indian to achieve such a commission overseas. He was then assigned to

The Saskatoon Light Infantry (Machine Gun) The Saskatoon Light Infantry was an infantry regiment of the Non-Permanent Active Militia of the Canadian Militia (now the Canadian Army). The regiment was formed in 1924, when The North Saskatchewan Regiment (1920–1924) was reorganized into fo ...

and commanded a mortar platoon in the Italian Campaign. He was awarded the

Greek War Cross The War Cross ( el, Πολεμικός Σταυρός) is a military decoration of Greece, awarded for heroism in wartime to both Greeks and foreign allies. There have been three versions of the cross, the 1917 version covering World War I, the 19 ...

for his support of the

3rd Greek Mountain Brigade The 3rd Greek Mountain Brigade ( el, 3η Ελληνική Ορεινή Ταξιαρχία, ''Triti Elliniki Οrini Τaxiarkhia'', ΙΙΙ Ε.Ο.Τ.) was a unit of mountain infantry formed by the Greek government in exile in Egypt during World War I ...

in the

Battle of Rimini (1944) The Battle of Rimini took place between 13 and 21 September 1944 during Operation Olive, the main Allied offensive on the Gothic Line in August and September 1944, part of the Italian Campaign in the Second World War. Rimini, a town on the Adr ...

. After VE Day he served as an intelligence officer with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles during the occupation of Germany. He played soccer in the 1946 Inter-Allied Games. On his return to Canada, Greyeyes Steele married Flora Jeanne, and in 1958 became chief of the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation. He joined the Indian Affairs Branch of the Department of Citizenship and Immigration, eventually becoming the first Indigenous person named a regional director with this service. He was named a Member of the Order of Canada and honoured in the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame, both in 1977. He also received the Saskatchewan Order of Merit in 1993 and was an inaugural inductee in the Saskatchewan First Nations Sports Hall of Fame in 1994.

References

External links

Sask First Nations Sports Hall of Fame - David Greyeyes Steele
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steele, David Greyeyes 1914 births 1996 deaths Cree people Members of the Order of Canada Canadian men's soccer players Canadian Army soldiers Indigenous leaders in Saskatchewan Sportspeople from Saskatchewan Soccer people from Saskatchewan Men's association football players not categorized by position Canadian Army officers Canadian military personnel of World War II Saskatoon Light Infantry North Saskatchewan Regiment Royal Winnipeg Rifles officers Canadian Indigenous military personnel