Enmegahbowh, J. J. (John Johnson), 1812?-1902

Ottawa-Chippewa Indian and protestant preacher who served first as a Methodist and later as an Episcopal clergyman among the Chippewa in Minnesota, 1839-1902.

Born in Canada around 1812, Enmegahbowh was educated at a Methodist mission school in Jacksonville, Ill., and ordained as the Rev. John Johnson. Working as a Methodist missionary to the Chippewas from 1839 until 1844, when the church abandoned its mission, Enmegahbowh convinced the Episcopalians to start a mission in 1852 at Gull Lake, Minn. There he served as assistant and interpreter, was ordained a deacon, took charge of the school, and after the 1862 Dakota uprising, remained as the only missionary. In 1868, Enmegahbowh, by now a longtime friend and associate of Bishop Henry Whipple, accompanied his people to the White Earth Reservation, where the mission was reestablished and where he remained until his death in 1902.

From the description of Letter : White Earth, [Minn.], to Miss M.M. Johnston ... League of Ascension Church, 1900 Apr. 13. (Newberry Library). WorldCat record id: 34333537