I Will Fear No Evil: Ojibwa-missionary Encounters Along the Berens River, 1875-1940.

247 Pages·2007·2.47 MB·English

by  Susan Elaine Gray

G
R
The฀history฀of฀Christian฀missions฀in฀Canada฀has฀traditionally฀been฀told฀ A “I฀W I LL
Y
only฀from฀the฀point฀of฀view฀of฀the฀missionaries,฀and฀not฀those฀they฀
were฀attempting฀to฀convert.฀In฀“I฀Will฀Fear฀No฀Evil”฀author฀Susan฀Gray฀
offers฀a฀new฀perspective฀on฀missionary-aboriginal฀encounters฀between฀
FE A R฀NO
the฀Berens฀River฀Ojibwa฀and฀Methodist฀and฀Catholic฀missionaries฀
between฀1875฀and฀1940.฀Supplementing฀her฀historical฀research฀with฀
conversations฀and฀interviews฀with฀Berens฀River฀elders,฀Gray฀explores฀
the฀ways฀in฀which฀Christian฀beliefs฀have฀become฀incorporated฀into฀the฀ EV I L”
“
traditional฀Ojibwa฀worldview.฀ I
฀
W
The฀Ojibwa฀were฀active฀participants฀in฀these฀missionary฀encounters.฀
They฀accepted฀those฀missionaries฀who฀treated฀them฀with฀sensitivity฀ I
L
and฀respect,฀and฀integrated฀Christian฀beliefs฀and฀practices฀into฀their฀
L
established฀belief฀system.฀Today,฀a฀blend฀of฀Christian฀and฀Ojibwa฀ideas฀
฀
is฀still฀interwoven฀in฀the฀lives฀of฀Berens฀River฀residents,฀with฀both฀tra- F
ditions฀holding฀meaning฀and฀sincerity.฀Their฀uniquely฀adaptive฀religion฀ E
Ojibwa-Missionary฀Encounters฀
sheds฀new฀light฀on฀our฀understanding฀of฀cultural฀contact฀and฀conver- A
sion,฀placing฀the฀indigenous฀experience฀of฀these฀events฀at฀centre฀stage.฀ R Along฀the฀Berens฀River,฀1875–1940
฀
N
DR.฀SUSAN฀GRAY฀is฀a฀research฀associate฀to฀the฀Canada฀Research฀
Chair฀in฀Aboriginal฀Peoples฀in฀an฀Urban฀and฀Regional฀Context฀at฀฀ O
the฀University฀of฀Winnipeg.
฀
E
V
I
L
”
www.uofcpress.com
1-55238-198-6
978-1-55238-198-4
SUSAN฀ELAINE฀GRAY
฀ “I฀Will฀Fear฀No฀Evil”
Ojibwa-Missionary฀Encounters฀
Along฀the฀Berens฀River,฀1875–1940

฀ “I฀Will฀Fear฀No฀Evil”
Ojibwa-Missionary฀Encounters฀
Along฀the฀Berens฀River,฀1875–1940
฀ ฀ ฀
฀ ฀ ฀ By฀Susan฀Elaine฀Gray
©฀2006฀by฀Susan฀Elaine฀Gray
Published฀by฀the฀University฀of฀Calgary฀Press
2500฀University฀Drive฀NW
Calgary,฀Alberta,฀Canada฀T2N฀1N4
www.uofcpress.com
No฀part฀of฀this฀publication฀may฀be฀reproduced,฀stored฀in฀a฀retrieval฀system฀฀
or฀transmitted,฀in฀any฀form฀or฀by฀any฀means,฀without฀the฀prior฀written฀฀
consent฀of฀the฀publisher฀or฀a฀licence฀from฀The฀Canadian฀Copyright฀
Licensing฀Agency฀(Access฀Copyright).฀For฀an฀Access฀Copyright฀licence,฀
visit฀www.accesscopyright.ca฀or฀call฀toll฀free฀to฀1-800-893-5777.฀
Library฀and฀Archives฀Canada฀Cataloguing฀in฀Publication
Gray,฀Susan฀Elaine
฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀“I฀will฀fear฀no฀evil”฀:฀Ojibwa-missionary฀encounters฀along฀the฀Berens
River,฀1875-1940฀/฀Susan฀Elaine฀Gray.
Includes฀bibliographical฀references฀and฀index.
ISBN-13:฀978-1-55238-198-4฀(University฀of฀Calgary฀Press)
ISBN-13:฀978-0-87013-792-1฀(Michigan฀State฀University฀Press)
ISBN-10:฀1-55238-198-6฀(University฀of฀Calgary฀Press)
ISBN-10:฀0-87013-792-1฀(Michigan฀State฀University฀Press)
฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀1.฀Ojibwa฀Indians—Missions—Manitoba—Berens฀River฀Valley—
History.฀฀2.฀Methodist฀Chruch—Missions—Manitoba—Berens฀River
Valley—History.฀฀3.฀Catholic฀Church—Missions—Manitoba—Berens฀River
Valley—History.฀฀I.฀Title.
E99.C6G73฀2006฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀266.0089’733371272฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀C2006-904005-2฀
We฀acknowledge฀the฀financial฀support฀of฀the฀Government฀of฀Canada,฀through฀the฀
Book฀Publishing฀Industry฀Development฀Program฀(BPIDP),฀and฀the฀Alberta฀
Foundation฀for฀the฀Arts฀for฀our฀publishing฀activities.฀We฀acknowledge฀the฀sup-
port฀of฀the฀Canada฀Council฀for฀the฀Arts฀for฀our฀publishing฀program.
Printed฀and฀bound฀in฀Canada฀by฀AGMV฀Marquis
This฀book฀is฀printed฀on฀60฀lb.฀Rolland฀Enviro฀100฀natural฀text฀
Cover฀design฀by฀Melina฀Cusano.฀฀Page฀design฀and฀typesetting฀by฀Mieka฀West.
For฀W.฀H.฀Brooks,฀who฀tells฀me฀that฀although฀my฀personality฀is฀
definitely฀deteriorating,฀I฀am฀getting฀better฀looking฀with฀age.

฀ Contents
฀ Foreword฀by฀the฀Very฀Reverend฀Dr.฀Stan฀McKay฀/฀vixii
฀ Preface฀/฀xxiiii
฀ Acknowledgments฀/฀xxxxxxii
1฀ Life฀Along฀the฀Berens฀River,฀1875–1940฀/฀1
2฀ “Listen฀to฀the฀Memegwesiwag฀Singing”
The฀Ojibwa฀World฀View฀/฀19
3฀ “They฀Fought฀Just฀Like฀a฀Cat฀and฀a฀Dog!”
Catholic-Protestant฀Encounters฀
on฀the฀Mission฀Field฀/฀43
4฀ “You’re฀Pretty฀Good;฀but฀I’ll฀Tell฀
You฀What฀Medicine฀to฀Use”
Encounters,฀1875–1916฀/฀63
฀ Images฀and฀map฀/฀89
5฀ “I฀Got฀Pretty฀Close฀to฀the฀Flames฀
that฀Time;฀Then฀I฀Woke฀Up”
Acceptances฀and฀Rejections,฀1917–1940฀/฀97
6฀ “I’ve฀Had฀My฀Dreams฀all฀These฀Years”
Survivals฀and฀Integrations,฀1917–1940฀/฀131
7฀ “I฀Will฀Fear฀No฀Evil”฀
Conclusions฀/฀155
฀ Appendix฀
Cast฀of฀Characters฀/฀163
฀ Bibliography฀/฀169
฀ Notes฀/฀181
฀ Index฀/฀205
฀ Foreword
When฀I฀had฀a฀conversation฀with฀Susan฀Gray฀about฀her฀research฀and฀
writing฀on฀a฀period฀of฀missionary฀history฀along฀the฀Berens฀River,฀
I฀was฀very฀interested.฀My฀great-grandfather฀Joseph฀Everett฀was฀
from฀Berens฀River฀and฀that฀was฀a฀connection฀for฀me.฀Even฀more฀
important฀was฀my฀lifelong฀involvement฀in฀the฀work฀of฀the฀United฀
Church฀and฀a฀desire฀to฀have฀a฀greater฀understanding฀of฀the฀historic฀
developments฀in฀the฀church.฀Susan฀asked฀if฀I฀would฀be฀willing฀to฀
write฀the฀foreword฀to฀her฀book.฀I฀replied,฀“Send฀me฀the฀manuscript฀
and฀we฀shall฀see฀what฀is฀possible.”
The฀reading฀of฀the฀manuscript฀has฀been฀exciting.฀Susan฀Gray฀
has฀demonstrated฀the฀remarkable฀discipline฀that฀is฀required฀to฀
focus฀her฀writing฀on฀a฀fixed฀period฀of฀history.฀The฀limiting฀of฀
her฀book฀in฀this฀manner฀is฀especially฀notable฀because฀she฀was฀
interviewing฀elders฀who฀would฀often฀wander฀beyond฀this฀period฀
of฀history฀in฀the฀natural฀process฀of฀storytelling.
The฀preface฀is฀a฀valuable฀contribution฀to฀cross-cultural฀
understanding.฀Susan฀Gray฀had฀a฀plan฀in฀place฀before฀her฀visit฀
to฀Berens฀River฀but฀it฀was฀not฀the฀“people’s฀plan.”฀The฀learned฀
patience฀and฀the฀testing฀of฀motives฀explains฀the฀requirement฀
for฀building฀right฀relationships฀with฀the฀Ojibwa฀of฀Berens฀River.฀
The฀testing฀of฀intentions฀was฀a฀part฀of฀treaty฀negotiations฀a฀
century฀before฀Susan฀visited฀Berens฀River฀and฀it฀is฀the฀continuing฀
tradition.
The฀project฀built฀momentum฀when฀it฀was฀understood฀that฀it฀
would฀be฀a฀means฀of฀giving฀voice฀to฀the฀elders.฀The฀process฀with฀
each฀interview฀had฀a฀pattern฀which฀also฀was฀about฀building฀trust.฀
The฀elders฀of฀Berens฀River฀have฀been฀questioned฀by฀academics฀
ix