Jane Johnston Schoolcraft
| Jane Johnston Schoolcraft | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Native name | Bamewawagezhikaquay ("Woman of the Sound that the stars make Rushing Through the Sky") |
| Born |
January 31, 1800 Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan |
| Died | May 22, 1842 (aged 42) Canada |
| Resting place | St. John's Anglican Church, Ancaster, Ontario |
| Residence | Mackinac Island, New York City |
| Occupation | Author |
| Known for | First known American Indian literary writer; wrote in English and Ojibwe |
| Spouse(s) | Henry Rowe Schoolcraft |
| Children | William Henry Schoolcraft, Jane Susan Ann Schoolcraft, John Johnston Schoolcraft |
| Parent(s) | Mother, Ozhaguscodaywayquay, father, John Johnston |
| Relatives | Grandfather, Waubojeeg |
Jane Johnston Schoolcraft, also known as Bamewawagezhikaquay (January 31, 1800 – May 22, 1842) is the first known American Indian literary writer. She was of Ojibwa and Scots-Irish ancestry. Her Ojibwa name can also be written as O-bah-bahm-wawa-ge-zhe-go-qua (Obabaamwewe-giizhigokwe in modern spelling), meaning "Woman of the Sound [that the stars make] Rushing Through the Sky." She lived most of her life in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.
Jane Johnston was born in Sault Ste. Marie in the upper peninsula of what is now the state of Michigan. Her mother, Ozhaguscodaywayquay, was the daughter of Waubojeeg, a prominent Ojibwa war chief and civil leader from what is now northern Wisconsin, and his wife. Her father John Johnston (1762–1828) was a fur trader who emigrated from Belfast, Ireland in 1790. The Johnston family is famous historically in the Sault Ste. Marie area, where the couple were prominent leaders in both the Euro-American and the Ojibwa communities. The young Jane learned the Ojibwe language and culture from her mother and her family, and she learned about written literature from her father and his large library.
Johnston wrote poetry and traditional Ojibwa stories, and she translated Ojibwa songs into English. She mostly wrote in English, but she wrote several poems in the Ojibwe language, as she lived her daily life in both Ojibwe and English. While she did not publish her work, she lived a literary life with her husband Henry Rowe Schoolcraft. They worked together closely on each of their writings. Her poetry was generally concerned with private life.
Jane Schoolcraft’s writings have attracted considerable interest from scholars and students, especially those concerned with American Indian literature and history. She has been recognized as "the first Native American literary writer, the first known Indian woman writer, the first known Indian poet, the first known poet to write poems in a Native American language and the first known American Indian to write out traditional Indian stories." Her role in the American Indian literary canon has been compared to that of Anne Bradstreet in the "broader American literary canon."
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