Sowengisik (1820–1884), later Henry Bird Steinhauer, upon adoption into a

German-Canadian German Canadians ( or , ) are Canadian citizens of German ancestry or Germans who emigrated to and reside in Canada. According to the 2016 census, there are 3,322,405 Canadians with full or partial German ancestry. Some immigrants came from wh ...

family, was an

Ojibwe The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...

translator, missionary, clergyman of the

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

, and by means of his assimilation into

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

Canadian society, became of the first

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

persons to achieve collegiate credentials at a Canadian institution.

Early life and education

Steinhauer was born in

Rama Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda' ...

Lake Simcoe Lake Simcoe is a lake in southern Ontario, Canada, the fourth-largest lake wholly within the province, after Lake Nipigon, Lac Seul, and Lake Nipissing. At the time of the first European contact in the 17th century, the lake was called ''Ouentir ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. He was born Chippewa Indian, likely named Sowengisik. He received the surname Steinhauer from a German family that adopted and educated him from a colonial perspective. Steinhauer was one of the first

Indigenous Canadians Indigenous peoples in Canada (also known as Aboriginals) are the Indigenous peoples within the boundaries of Canada. They comprise the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis, representing roughly 5.0% of the total Canadian population. There are over ...

to complete studies at a

collegiate institute A collegiate institute is an institution that provides either secondary or post-secondary education, dependent on where the term is used. In Canada, the term is used to describe institutions that provide secondary education, while the word is used ...

, graduating top of his class at

Upper Canada Academy Victoria University is a federated college of the University of Toronto located at the St. George campus in Downtown Toronto. The school was founded in 1836 by the Wesleyan Methodist Church of Canada as a nonsectarian literary institution. From ...

Cobourg Cobourg ( ) is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario, located in Southern Ontario east of Toronto and east of Oshawa. It is the largest town in and seat of Northumberland County. Its nearest neighbour is Port Hope, to the west. It is ...

. He was enrolled at UCA by

Egerton Ryerson Adolphus Egerton Ryerson (24 March 1803 – 19 February 1882) was a Canadian educator, author, editor, and Methodist minister who was a prominent contributor to the design of the Canadian public school system. Ryerson is considered to be the fo ...

in 1835, completing his studies in 1839 after a one-year hiatus for

missionary work A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

at Alderville.Burwash, Nathaneal (1927). ''History of Victoria College''. Toronto: Victoria College Press.

Career

Steinhauer had an impressive ability for languages:

, English,

Cree The Cree, or nehinaw (, ), are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada, First Nations. They live prim ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

, and

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

. He was employed by Principal

Matthew Richey Matthew Richey, (May 25, 1803 – October 30, 1883) was a Wesleyan Methodist minister, an educator, and an important leader in the Methodist community in Nova Scotia. He was born in Ramelton, a small town in the north of County Donegal in U ...

to proofread his literary work, possessing a greater skill for English grammar than his English-born peers. He accompanied the Rev. James Evans, a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

, to the northwest in 1840, and settled at Norway House, where he remained until 1855, providing value to the English missionaries as an interpreter. He assisted Evans in inventing and perfecting the

syllabic characters, in which nearly all Indigenous languages of

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West, or Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a list of regions of Canada, Canadian region that includes the four western provinces and t ...

are written in today. He also translated into Cree the

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

from the

book of Job The Book of Job (), or simply Job, is a book found in the Ketuvim ("Writings") section of the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Poetic Books in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The language of the Book of Job, combining post-Babylonia ...

to the end of the lesser prophets, and most of the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

. He was ordained a minister in 1855, living at Whitefish Lake where he remained for the rest of his life. In 1875, due to an increase in immigration in the area, he began to assert his

heritage more strongly. He withdrew from the missionary society he belonged to—the Missionary Society of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Canada—though he continued with the religion and his own missionary work. He sent a rare critical letter to the Society, which was published.

Personal life

In 1840, he married Jessie Joyful (Seeseeb Mamanuwartum), and they had ten children. In 1884, he became ill from influenza and died on December 29. The Steinhauer neighbourhood in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

is named after him.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Steinhauer, Henry Bird 1820 births 1884 deaths Canadian Methodist missionaries 19th-century Canadian male writers 19th-century Canadian translators Canadian Methodist ministers 19th-century Methodists Missionary linguists 19th-century First Nations writers Ojibwe male writers