Maungwudaus, 1811-1888

Maungwudaus, meaning “the great hero” or “courageous”, also known as George Henry, was born circa 1811 at 40 Mile Creek on the North West shore of Lake Ontario. He was one of eight children born to Sarah Henry and Chief Mesquacosy. Sarah was the first Mississauga woman to be baptised a Methodist. George Henry received his education at Methodist mission schools and seemed destined to take up a role in the church as a translator and interpreter. He served at several missions during the 1830s, including Munceytown where his wife Anna gave birth to his second son Abraham, baptised in 1831. He later became the government interpreter at the St Clair mission, but resigned his post in 1840, finding Methodism too controlling an influence on the natives. In 1844 he formed a First Nations dance troupe which included members of his own family and several Walpole Island Ojibwa. The troupe performed through North East America before travelling to London in 1845 where, according to the London Times, he was feted by the ‘upper crust’, taking tea with Sir Augustus d’Este (cousin of Queen Victoria), visiting the mansion of the Duke of Wellington, and taking a tour of the Cathedral at the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Later that year the troupe entertained royalty in Paris, where King Louis Philipe I presented Maungwudaus with a gold medal, and other members of the troupe received medals in silver. From France, the troupe travelled to Belgium, where several members contracted small pox. Vaccination, at the behest of the Society of Friends, protected Maungwudaus, his family, and the one Ojibwa who had accepted inoculation.