Chief Peguis Junior High

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Chief Peguis Junior High is part of River East Transcona School Division in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It was named for the First Nations leader who was born near the Great Lakes around 1774 and was taken in by an elderly lady who found him abandoned as a baby on a pile of woodchips. The lady named him Peeh-qua-is or "Little Chip." Later, when he got older, he changed his name to Peguis or "Woodchip."

Between 1790 and 1795, Chief Peguis led a group of Ojibwa (also known as Saulteaux) westward from the Sault Ste. Marie region to the Netley Creek area south of Lake Winnipeg. When the first group of Kildonan Settlers arrived at the Red River Settlement in 1812, they were given a friendly greeting by Chief Peguis and his people. Good relations between the two groups continued in the years following. The cooperation and assistance of the Ojibwa helped the colony survive its difficult early years.

The support Chief Peguis gave to the community was formally recognized by Lord Selkirk in a letter dated July 17, 1817. Here Chief Peguis was described as a "steady friend of the settlement" who had always supported the colonists in times of distress.

[edit] External links

• River East Transcona School Division
• Chief Peguis School