Skip to main content Skip to search Skip to search

Biography & Autobiography Native Americans

The Praying Man

Henry Bird Steinhauer, Ojibwe and Methodist Minister

by (author) Isaac Kholisle Mabindisa

with Daniel Johns

Publisher
Athabasca University Press
Initial publish date
Oct 2013
Category
Native Americans
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781926836065
    Publish Date
    Oct 2013
    List Price
    $24.95

Classroom Resources

Where to buy it

Description

Until he was about nine, Henry Bird Steinhauer was an Ojibwe—bornaround 1820, in the area of Lake Simcoe, and probably named Sowengisik.In 1828, he was baptized into the Christian faith, and his lifechanged. In 1855, he traveled to London to be ordained and was thenposted to Alberta. There, he founded a mission at Whitefish Lake, whichwould become his life’s work. But Steinhauer did not forget hisAboriginal roots. He was troubled by what he described as the“blighting and benighting” presence of white settlers inthe Northwest and by the fact that Aboriginal peoples were underpressure to surrender their independence and their land. Although henever renounced his Christian faith, in 1875 he severed his officialconnections to the Missionary Society and increasingly asserted hisAboriginal identity, acting as a political advisor to the peoples inand around Whitefish Lake. The Praying Man—the firstfull-length biography of Steinhauer—explores the tensionsinherent in the life of someone who owes allegiance to two cultures,one of which seeks to dominate the other.

About the authors

Isaac Kholisle Mabindisa's profile page

Daniel Johns holds an MA in Native Studies from the University of Alberta. A former journalist, he now works as an investigator for the Alberta Ombudsman.

Daniel Johns' profile page