Joseph Renville

Joseph Renville
Born	Joseph Renville Jr. 1779 Ramsey County, Minnesota
Died	March 18, 1846 Minnesota
Nationality	French-Canadian

Joseph Renville (1779–1846) was an interpreter, translator, and an important figure in dealings between white men and Dakota (Sioux) Indians in Minnesota. He contributed to the translation of Christian religious texts into the Dakota language. The hymnal Dakota dowanpi kin, was "composed by J. Renville and sons, and the missionaries of the A.B.C.F.M." and was published in Boston in 1842. Its successor, Dakota Odowan, first published with music in 1879, has been reprinted many times and is in use today.

Joseph Renville's father, also named Joseph Renville, was a French Canadian fur trader, and his mother, Miniyuhe, was a Dakota, possibly a daughter of Mdewakaton-Dakota chief Big Thunder. Renville's bicultural formative years may have included some education in Canada.

The town of Renville, Minnesota, is named in honor of Joseph Renville, as are Renville County, Minnesota and Renville County, North Dakota. A street in Detroit, Michigan is also named after him.

He participated in the 1805 Pike expedition to explore the south and west of the Louisiana Purchase, as well as the U. S. expedition in 1823 to Red River of the North led by Major Stephen Harriman Long.

By 1827, Renville had settled at Lac qui Parle, Minnesota, where he built a , kept a band of warriors, and continued his livelihood as a fur trader. In 1835, Thomas Smith Williamson, M.D. (1800-1879), arrived at Lac qui Parle, the first of several missionaries. Another, Stephen Return Riggs (1812-1883) arrived in 1837. Two others, Gideon Hollister Pond (1810-1878) and his brother Samuel William Pond (1808-1891) were largely responsible for the creation of the Dakota alphabet.Template:W. W. Folwell, 1921. A History of Minnesota. Appendix 3 Renville and the missionaries translated The Bible into English.

...
Wikipedia