Peter Jones (missionary)

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Peter Jones
Portait of Jones by Matilda Jones, 1832
Born	January 1, 1802 Burlington Heights, Upper Canada
Died	June 29, 1856
Burial place	Brantford, Ontario
Other names	Kahkewaquonaby Desagondensta
Religious beliefs	Methodist Episcopal Church
Spouse	Eliza Fields
Children	Four sons surviving to adulthood Nine children total[1][2]
Parents	Augustus Jones Tuhbenahneequay
Signature

Peter Jones (January 1, 1802 - June 29, 1856) was an Ojibwa Methodist minister from Upper Canada. His Ojibwa name was Kahkewaquonaby (Gakiiwegwanebi in the Fiero spelling), which means "[Sacred] Waving Feathers". In Mohawk, he was called Desagondensta, meaning "he stands people on their feet".

Raised in the traditional religion of the Mississaugas, Jones converted to Methodism at age 21, after attending a camp-meeting with his half sister. From there, he devoted his life to converting the Indian Bands of Upper Canada, with great success. Jones was also a political leader, elected a chief of the Mississaugas of the Credit Mission in 1829, and acting as a spokesman for the band when petitioning the colonial government and its departments, even meeting with Queen Victoria directly.

Contents 1 Youth 1.1 Raised by his mother 1.2 Raised by his father 2 Ministry 2.1 Conversion and early ministry 2.2 Chief Peter Jones 3 Memorials 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Youth

[edit] Raised by his mother

Jones was born to Augustus Jones and Tuhbenahneequay on January 1, 1802 in Burlington Heights, Upper Canada.^[3] Jones had been married to a different woman, Sarah Tekarihogan, since 1798. Augustus Jones had lived with Tekarihogan as his wife on his Stoney Creek farm, and with Tuhbenahneequay as his wife while surveying. Although the Mississaugas allowed polygamy, the white Christian settlers did not, and in 1802 Augustus Jones ended his relationship with Tuhbenahneequay. The raising of Peter and his elder brother John was left to Tuhbenahneequay. Jones was raised with the religion, customs and lifestyle of his Mississauga ancestors, learning to hunt and fish to support himself.^[4]

He was named Kahkewaquonaby by his grandfather, Chief Wahbanosay, during a dedicated feast. A son of Wahbanosay's who had died at age seven had been given the same name.^[5] The name translates into English as "[sacred] waving feathers" and denotes feathers plucked from the eagle, which was sacred to the Mississaugas. This put him under the guardianship of the Mississauga's animikii (thunderbird) manidoo, as the eagle represented this manidoo. His mother was of the Eagle totem and the name belonged to that totem. At the feast Kahkewaquonaby was given club to denote the power of the thunder spirit, and a bunch of eagle feathers to denote its flight.^[4]

During the War of 1812, Jones' band of Mississaugas experienced a share of the hardship. Jones' grandmother Puhgashkisk, old and crippled, had been left behind by the band when it was forced to flee the soldiers advancing on York. She was never seen again. The band lost the warrior White John to the fighting, and several more were injured. Although Jones was too young to act as a warrior, he and his brother John visited the site of the Battle of Stoney Creek the day after the fighting, viewing the effects of battle firsthand.^[6] The land the band hunted and fished upon was beset with an influx of Indian refugees exceeding in number the population of the band. Jones went on his first vision quest about this time, but did not experience any visions. Troubling his faith in the Mississauga's religion beyond his inability to experience a vision was the death of chief Kineubenae (Giniw-bine, "Golden Eagle[-like Partridge]"). Golden Eagle was a respected elder of the band, who experienced a vision promising spirits would make invincible to arrows and bullet. To renew the declining faith of his people, some of whom had begun to adopt the lifestyle of the white settlers, Golden Eagle arranged a demonstration of his spirit-granted invulnerability. He was killed attempting to catch a bullet with a tin pot. Jones was present at the event, and it would be a turning point that led him to question his traditional faith.^[7]

[edit] Raised by his father

In 1816, the Mississauga band which Jones lived with was disintegrating. The year's harvest had been abyssmal. Head Chief Wabakinine, band spokesman Golden Eagle and Jones' grandfather Wahbanosay were all recently deceased. Alcoholism among the band members was rising. Many members had abandoned the band, travelling west to the Thames valley or Grand valley which were more isolated from white settlers.^[8]

Knowing of the band's troubles, Augustus Jones travelled into the interior, and fetched Peter and his brother John to live with Augustus Jones at his farm in Saltfleet Township, with their stepmother and stepsiblings.^[9] Knowing only a few words of English, Peter was enrolled in a one-room school in Stoney Creek. George Hughes, the teacher there, put much work into instructing Peter in English. The next year, the family moved to Brantford, where Augustus took Peter out of school and began to instruct him in farming. Sarah Tekarihogan's Iroquois tribe had settled in the Grand River valley in and around Brantford. Here Jones was inducted into the Iroquois tribe and given the name "Desagondensta.", a Mohawk name meaning "he stands people on their feet".^[10] Jones was baptised Anglican by Reverend Ralph Leeming at the request of his father in 1820, but internally he did not accept Christianity. Jones would later say of this that although the instruction he received in Christianity from his father, his stepmother and his old schoolteacher George Hughes had attracted him to the religion, the conduct of the white Christian settlers "drunk, quarreling, fighting and cheating the poor Indians, and acting as if there was no God" convinced him there could be no truth in their religion.^[11] His main motivation for being baptised was to become a full member of the white society of Upper Canada, with all the privileges it entailed. Jones worked with his father farming until the summer of 1822, when he obtained employment as a brickmaker working for his brother-in-law Archibald Russell to raise money so he might resume his schooling. He attended school in Fairchild's Creek during the winter of 1822-1823 studying arithmatic and writing, hoping to obtain work as a clerk in the fur trade. By the spring of 1823, Jones felt he was ready to begin work in that field, and left the school, returning to his father's farm that May.^[12]

[edit] Ministry

[edit] Conversion and early ministry

Jones had already been attracted to the Methodist faith, for its teetotaling and the belief in its communities that the Indians must convert to the white settler lifestyle when, in June 1823, Jones attended a camp-meeting of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Ancaster Township.^[13] The camp-meeting touched Jones, who converted there to Christianity. At this time Reverend William Case saw the potential to convert Mississauga Indians through Jones. Later that year, Reverend Alvin Torry set up a congregation centered around Jones and Chief Thomas Davis (Tehowagherengaraghkwen) composed entirely of Indian members.^[10] The pair encouraged converted Indians to settle around Davis' home, which acquired the name "Davis' Hamlet" or "Davisville". Jones and Seth Crawford taught Sunday school for the growing community, which began building a chapel in the spring of 1824.^[14] Many of Jones' relatives were quickly converted and moved to Davis' Hamlet., including his mother Tuhbenahneequay, her daughter Wechikiwekapawiqua and Chief Wageezhegome , Wechikiwekapawiqua's husband and Jones' uncle Joseph Sawyer (Nawahjegezhegwabe (Nawajii-giizhigwabi, "He who Rests Sitting upon the Sky")). Jones' first official position in the church was an "exhorter", which he was given on March 1, 1825.^[15] Church officials including Torry and Case recognised the need for a member fluent in Ojibwe, who could translate hymns and bible passages, and present the Christian religion to the Indians in terms they could understand. In 1825, over half his band had converted to Christianity, and Jones decided to devote his life to missionary work.

1825 also saw Jones' introduction to the government of Upper Canada. He wrote a letter to Indian Agent James Givins regarding the year's delivery of gifts to the Mississaugas, that they were due from various land purchases. The first letter Givins had received written by an Indian caused considerable excitement, and he responded giving the second week of July as a date for their meeting. Jones arrived at the Humber River at the prescribed time, leading the Christian Indians, and his former adoptive father Captain Jim arrived leading the non-Christian Indians. Givins arrived to meet them, with several members of Upper Canada's aristocracy, including Bishop John Strachan. The Christian dress and style of Jones' band of converts, including their singing of hymns, which had been translated into Ojibwe by Jones. Although Strachan, an Anglican, had been strongly denouncing the Methodists, he saw in Jones the opportunity to Christianize the Indians of Upper Canada, hoping to convert Jones (and thereby his followers) to Anglicanism later. The Crown had previously agreed to build a village on the Credit River for the Mississaugas in 1820, but nothing had been done. Strachan told Jones he would make good on this agreement, and after a short meeting all of the Christian Indians agreed to accept it.^[16] At this meeting, a further ~50 of the ~200 Indians of Jones' band were converted. Construction of the settlement, called the "Credit Mission" was soon underway and Jones moved there in 1826. By the summer of 1826, with construction of the settlement well underway, the rest of the band had joined the Methodist church and settleed at the Credit Mission. Among the last holdouts was Jones' former adoptive father Captain Jim and his family.^[17] Reverend Egerton Ryerson was assigned to the Credit Mission by the Methodists about this time, and Jones quickly struck up a friendship with him.^[18] It was Ryerson's work at the camp that freed Jones to begin taking lengthy missionary expeditions to other parts of Upper Canada. In 1826, Jones undertook missionary missions to Quinte, Munceytown, Rice Lake and Lake Simcoe.^[19]

Jones' knowledge of English and ties to prominent settlers allowed him act as a spokesperson for the band. In 1825 he and his brother Peter had travelled to York to petition the government to end salmon fishing on the Credit river by European settlers, which was granted in 1829. The next year they were back when the Indian Department failed to pay the full annuity due the band over an 1818 land concession, as the band had received only ₤472 of the ₤522 the treaty specified.^[20] In the settlement, Jones also worked to teach the residents farming practices, which few knew. Jones believed that the acceptance of Christianity by his people, and their conversion to an agricultural lifestyle would be critical to their survival.^[1] By 1827 each family had a quarter acre plot of their own, and a 30 acre communal plot was farmed. The success of the settlement, and the success in the conversion on Indians to Christianity gaves Jones a good reputation in Upper Canada. His sermons while travelling were well attended, and various groups donated money and goods, such as a stove for the schoolhouse and a plough for the band.^[10] In 1827, Jones was received on trial for the Methodist itinerancy.^[10]

In January 1828, Bishop Strachan approached Jones and his brother John, offering to pay them more as Anglican missionaries than the Methodists could afford to, but both brothers declined the offer. At the same time they applied pressure to the Indian communities to abandon Methodism for Anglicanism, refusing to assist the Rice Lake Indians with the construction of a settlement as they had done with the Credit and Bay of Quinte missions, even though the Rice Lake Indians offered to fund the construction from their land surrender annuities.^[21] Tension remained between the Upper Canada government and the province's Indians, including the Jones brothers in particular, over their religious affliation until Lieutenant Governor Peregrine was replaced in late 1828 with Sir John Colbourne.^[22] Colbourne looked far more favourably on the Methodists, but intend to replace the influence of American Methodists with British Wesleyans.

[edit] Chief Peter Jones

In 1829, the Mississaugas of the Credit Mission elected Jones one of their three chiefs, replacing the recently deceased John Cameron.^[23] The members of the band felt that Jones' was one of the few member of the band who could deal with missionaries and the provincial government, as he was fluent in English. Jones continued his missionary work to other Indian bands of Upper Canada, converting many of the Mississaugas at Rice Lake and at the Muncey Mission, as well as Ojibwas around Lake Simcoe and the eastern shore of Lake Huron. Along with his brother John, Jones began translating the Bible into Ojibwa.^[10]

Also in 1829, Jones embarked on a tour of the northern United States with Reverend William Case and several Indian converts to raise money for the Methodist missions in Upper Canada.^[10] Further fundraising tours ensued; in 1831 Jones travelled with George Ryerson to the United Kingdom where he held more than 150 sermons and meetings which raised more than £1000. These sermons were also held with Jones in Indian attire, which combined with his Indian name created curiosity and filled the halls. This tour created significant public interest, and Jones met with King William IV on 5 April 1832. During this tour, he met Eliza Fields, who Jones married in 1833. Fields came to Upper Canada and worked along Jones in his ministry work, as well as a teacher in the Credit River settlement, instructing the Indian girls on sewing and so forth. Jones was ordained a minister on October 6, 1833 by Rev. George Marsden in York, Upper Canada.^[24]

In the mid 1830s, Lieutenant Governor Francis Bond Head devised a plan to relocate the Ojibwa of the Credit River, along with other Indian bands of southern Upper Canada, to Manitoulin Island.^[10] Bond Head believed that the Indians needed to be removed completely from the influence of the white settlers of Upper Canada. Jones, allied with Sir Augustus Frederick D’Este and Dr Thomas Hodgkin of the Aborigines Protection Society in Britain opposed the move. They knew the poor soil of Manitoulin Island would force the Indian Bands to abandon farming and return to a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Jones travelled to England in 1837 to petition the Colonial Office directly on the issue. The Colonial Secretary Lord Glenelg postponed meeting with Jones until the spring of 1838, as he was occupied with the Rebellions of 1837. In the meantime, Glenelg refused to approve Bond Head's proposal. The spring meeting went very well for Jones, who impressed Glenelg so much that an audience with Queen Victoria was arranged for Jones. Jones met with her in September of that year, and presented a petition to Queen Victoria from the chiefs of the Mississauga Ojibwa community asking for title deeds to their lands, to ensure the Credit Mississaugas would never lose the title to their lands. The petition was written in the Roman alphabet, signed by the chiefs in pictographs and accompanied by wampum supplimenting the information of the petition. Jones, dressed in his Ojibwa costume, presented the petition and interpreted it for Victoria, to ensure accurate and favourable reception.^[25] He returned to Upper Canada shortly thereafter.

In Upper Canada he returned to a community that had begun to question his leadership. William and Lawrence Herchmer lead a group within the community that opposed Jones' influence, claiming it was turning the Mississaugas of the Credit Mission into "Brown Englishmen". The brothers, while Christians, objected to the harsh discipline imposed on the young, the use of voting rather than consensus to govern and the loss of Indian lifestyle and culture.^[1] By 1840, the settlement was very strained; pressure from white settlers, scarcity of wood and the uncertainty of whether the band had claims to the land they occupied forced the band council to begin considering relocation. 1840 also saw the Methodist church split into two factions, Canadian Methodists and British Wesleyans. Various Indian bands aligned with either church, and competition hampered missionary work. With the background of these conflicts in the Credit Settlement, it became increasingly difficult for Jones to travel.^[10]

Jones was assigned to the Muncey Mission in 1841. Located south-west of London, the mission proselytized to Indians of three different tribes; Ojibwa, Munsee Delaware, and Oneida. Each tribe spoke a different language. The work was stressful on Jones, and his health began to deteriorate.^[10] In 1845 Jones took a third fundraising tour of Great Britain. Wherever he travelled, Jones drew huge crowds, but inwardly he was depressed. He felt the crowds were only there to see the exotic Indian Kahkewaquonaby and his native costume, and did not appreciate all the work he had put into becoming a good Christian. Three photographs were made of Jones on August 4, 1845 in Edinburgh by Robert Adamson and David Octavius Hill, which are the oldest remaining photographs of a North American Indian.^[1][26]

In 1847, after several years of discussion among the Ojibwa of the Credit Mission over a possible relocation of their settlement, Jones lead their relocation to land along the Grand River that was donated by the Six Nations. The settlement was named New Credit and Jones continued in his role as a community leader here, petitioning various branchs of government for funding to build the settlement.^[10] This same year, the Wesleyans and Methodists reconciled, and William Ryerson established a mission in New Credit.

Through the 1840s, Jones' health continued to decline. By 1850, his doctor had ordered him to stop travelling and performing his clerical duty, but Jones ignored his advice. 1852 saw Jones travelling through Northern Ontario, in 1853 he travelled to New York City for a missionary meeting, and in 1854 he travelled to Syracuse, New York for a Methodist convention. Illness set in in December 1855 during a wagon ride home from New Credit to his estate north of Brantford. Jones was unable to shake it, and died June 29, 1856 at his home.^[10]

[edit] Memorials

In 1857, a monument was erected in Jones' honour at New Credit, inscribed "Erected by the Ojibeway and other Indian tribes to their revered and beloved Chief Kahkewaquonaby (the Rev. Peter Jones)."^[27] An historic plaque was erected at Ecco Villa, Jones' last estate where he lived from 1851 unti his death in 1856, by the Ontario Archaeological and Historic Sites Board.^[28][29]

[edit] References

[edit] External links