Category: June 2023

OJIBWE CHIEF, TRANSLATOR, MISSIONARY KHKEWQUONABY (PETER JONES) DIED

Born of a Mississauga mother on January 1, 1802, near current-Hamilton, Ontario, Peter’s Ojibwe name meant “Sacred waving feathers.” His father was legally married to a Mohawk woman who had him adopted by her people and named Desagondensta (“He stands people on their feet”). He became Peter Jones at school. In 1823, at a Methodist Episcopal camp-meeting, Peter became a convert and, by 1826, converted most of his Mississauga band. He and his brother, John, as English-speakers, often petitioned the government for the band. They also prepared the earliest Ojibwa translations of the Bible. Ordained October 6, 1833, Peter preached to other Ojibwe bands, to the U.S., and to Britain and met with both King William IV & Queen Victoria. At the Muncey Mission (1841-49), Jones’ health deteriorated, yet he still made missionary trips to the U.S until his death near Brantford. His wife edited & published his missionary’s diaries, Life and journals (1860) & historical notes, History of the Ojebway Indians (1861).

Source: Donald B. Smith, “Jones, Peter,” Dictionary of Canadian Biography.  Retrieved 11/30/2021, Biography – JONES, PETER – Volume VIII (1851-1860) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography (biographi.ca)
Portrait: William Crubb, 1861. Public Domain. Source: History of the Ojebway Indians: With Especial Reference to Their Conversion ... - Peter Jones - Google Books