24 Facts About Mary Greyeyes

Mary Greyeyes Reid was a Canadian World War II servicewoman.

Mary Greyeyes was born November 14,1920, in the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation reserve in Marcelin, Saskatchewan.

Mary Greyeyes had ten siblings: six sisters and four brothers.

Mary Greyeyes was raised by her widowed grandmother, Sarah Greyeyes.

When she was five years old, Mary Greyeyes was sent to the St Michael's residential school in Duck Lake, Saskatchewan.

The school only taught students up to grade 8, but Mary Greyeyes managed to obtain additional tutoring in later years from a nun at the school, attending evening lessons while helping with cooking and cleaning during the day.

Mary Greyeyes subsequently decided to do the same, seeing enlistment as a valuable chance to expand her own knowledge and experience.

In June 1942, Mary Greyeyes travelled to Regina in order to take the test for enlistment.

Shortly after enlisting, Mary Greyeyes became the subject of an army publicity photograph that showed her kneeling in her army uniform to receive a "blessing" from a man dressed in Plains Cree Chief regalia.

In June 1942, not long after she had enlisted, Mary Greyeyes was approached and asked to participate in a photo-shoot to encourage more women to join the army.

Mary Greyeyes was not an actual Chief himself at the time, though he would become one later, and had never met Greyeyes before.

In return for the photo-shoot, which was staged on Piapot land, Ball was paid $20, while Mary Greyeyes received a free lunch and a new uniform.

Reid, who had discussed the photo personally with Mary Greyeyes, provided a more accurate explanation of the photograph from her mother-in-law's recollection.

Mary Greyeyes was sent overseas to Aldershot, England, to work at the Aldershot Base Laundry.

Mary Greyeyes disliked her position there, and requested a transfer.

Mary Greyeyes's superior tried to sabotage her transfer by writing the false statement "Does not speak English" on Greyeyes' papers, but she was granted her transfer anyway and went to work as a cook in the war centre at London.

Mary Greyeyes was even introduced to King George VI, Queen Elizabeth, and Princess Elizabeth.

Mary Greyeyes enjoyed the publicity she gained from being in the famous photo.

Mary Greyeyes was urged to visit a polling station and have her picture taken while voting.

Mary Greyeyes met her future husband, Alexander Reid, in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Mary Greyeyes worked as a restaurant cook in Victoria, later finding employment as an industrial seamstress when the family moved to Vancouver in the 1960s.

Mary Greyeyes received a pension from the Department of Veterans Affairs for her wartime service.

Mary Greyeyes died on March 31,2011, in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Mary Greyeyes was buried on the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation reserve.