Bamewawasgezhikaquay (Jane Schoolcraft)

Bamewawasgezhikaquay, also known as Jane Schoolcraft, was born in the year 1800 in Sault Ste. Marie in what is now the state of Michigan. She is acknowledged as being among the first known Native American writers and poets. During her lifetime, she wrote approximately fifty poems in both English and Ojibwe. She also transcribed Ojibwe stories, songs, and other traditionally oral texts. Her written texts served as inspiration for Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem “The Song of Hiawatha.” She died in 1842. A collected volume of her works has since been published and her work is still celebrated today.

Bamewawasgezhikaquay appears in the following publications: