Shawahnekizhek: Henry Bird Steinhauer: Child of Two Cultures.

Shawahnekizhek: Henry Bird Steinhauer: Child of Two Cultures

by Melvin D. Steinhauer. Privately printed. 116 pp., iilus., paper, $40. Available from <steinhauer.melvin@gmail.com>

Henry Bird Steinhauer was an amazing man on the frontier. While other Native people were living close to Nature, he was fulfilling the role of Methodist missionary. A member of the Saulteaux tribe, he was fluent in several languages and could read in Latin and Greek. Steinhauer founded the Goodfish Lake mission in 1864 and introduced farming to the region when buffalo became scarce.

The author, a great grandson, effectively tells the story of this pioneer. He takes the reader through Steinhauer's early years in Ontario, his education, and his introduction to the Methodist church. His mission work brought him west to Norway House and later to Goodfish Lake where he had a profound affect on all that knew him. He counselled Pakan, the local chief, regarding Treaty Six, and was a strong proponent for peace.