Sounding Thunder, the Song of Francis Pegahmagabow

Sounding Thunder, the Song of Francis Pegahmagabow is a musical journey into the life of the renowned Ojibwe WWI sniper and decorated officer of the Canadian military, Francis Pegahmagabow. Composed by Tim Corlis and written by Ojibwe poet Armand Garnet Ruffo (Queen’s Associate Professor in English, Cross-appointed with Languages, Literatures and Cultures), Sounding Thunder is a complex work divided into three acts, exploring Pegahmagabow’s early years immersed in the world of the Anishinaabe spirits, his extraordinary accomplishments in the trenches of WWI, and finally his political life as Chief of the Wausauksing Ojibwe and founder of the early Indigenous political movement in Canada.

The show itself is 60 minutes long, featuring a troupe of 4 actors accompanied by a small orchestra. Three of the actors have close family ties to Francis’ story, with roots in the reserve communities of Shawanaga First Nation (Francis’ birth-place) and Wasauksing First Nation (Francis’ home community). Notably, the role of “narrator” is played by Brian McInnis, great-grandson of Pegahmagabow and author of the book Sounding Thunder, the Stories of Francis Pegahmagabow.

Since it’s premiere in 2018, the production has toured twice at music festivals across Ontario. One of the most noteworthy of these performances was at the Isabel Bader Theatre in Kingston (ON) as part of the Human Rights Arts Festival. Former Chief Justice, and current Chancellor of Queens University, Murray Sinclair attended the performance and spoke following the show on the importance of Francis’ Pegahmagabow’s story for Canada.