Zheewegonab (sometimes Shewaquonap, or Sheawaquanep) (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

1780 – 1805) was a

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary * Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...

leader among the northern

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 ...

. Zheewegonab was the son of Nonosecash, a band leader among the northern Ojibwe. Nonosecash's band was recorded as numbering about 30 people in 1766. Nonosecash was murdered in 1772 or 1773, and his brother about a year later. It was probably about this time that Zheewegonab became a band leader. No records exist of Zheewegonab until 1780, when John Kipling of the Gloucester House in Washi Lake recorded trading with Zheewegonab. Zheewegonab returned to trade again in 1781, remarking that he was happy with the treatment there. A

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

epidemic in 1781 and 1782 affected Zheewegonab's band, killing a substantial fraction of its members. The band was unable to trade in furs during this time, but returned to Gloucester House in 1783. However, finding the place empty, he threw away the furs and began trading furs to traders in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. Zheewegonab was encountered in 1784 by James Sutherland of the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

. Sutherland found Zheewegonab, as well as Cannematchie and their respective bands by Pashkokogan Lake. Upon hearing the tale of Zheewegonab's switch to dealing with Montreal fur traders, Sutherland implored Zheewegonab to return to dealing with the Gloucester House, smoked calumet with him, exchanged a gift of

gun A gun is a device that Propulsion, propels a projectile using pressure or explosive force. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns or water cannon, cannons), or gas (e.g. light-gas gun). So ...

s with him, and after a dance and a feast, Zheewegonab agreed to once again deal with the Gloucester House. Zheewegonab's band hunted around the north shore of Lake St. Joseph during the 1780s and 1790s. When

Osnaburgh House Mishkeegogamang First Nation is an Ojibway band government ( First Nation) in the Canadian province of Ontario. Until 1993, the band was called the Osnaburgh First Nation, with various settlements at times being called New Osnaburgh, Osnaburgh Ho ...

was built in 1786 by the Hudson's Bay Company, Zheewegonab traded with it often, but also traded with the

North West Company The North West Company was a Fur trade in Canada, Canadian fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in the regions that later became Western Canada a ...

when he could get a better deal with them. When his request to the Hudson's Bay Company that they build a trading post 90 miles west of the Osnaburgh House was ignored, Zheewegonab began trading with the North West Company more often. While Osnaburgh House's trade John McKay remarked that he was unsure any skin brought in by Zheewegonab ever made its money back, he was a prolific trader, in part due to his influence as "the chief Captain at Osnaburgh" in the 1790s and early 19th century. Zheewegonab is not mentioned in any records after 1805, and may have died or merely lost his position about this time.

References

{{Reflist Canadian Ojibwe people