The Ojibwe Journals of Edmund F. Ely, 1833-1849

Twenty-four-year-old Edmund F. Ely, a divinity student from Albany, New York, gave up his preparation for the ministry in 1833 to become a missionary and teacher among the Ojibwes of Lake Superior. During the next sixteen years, Ely lived, taught, and preached among the Ojibwes, keeping a journal of his day-to-day experiences as well as recording ethnographic information about the Ojibwes. From recording his frustrations over the Ojibwes' rejection of Christianity to describing hunting and fishing techniques he learned from his Ojibwe neighbors, Ely's unique and rich record provides unprecedented insight into early nineteenth-century Ojibwe life and Ojibwe-missionary relations. Theresa M. Schenck draws on a broad array of secondary sources to contextualize Ely's journals for historians, anthropologists, linguists, literary scholars, and the Ojibwes themselves, highlighting the journals' relevance and importance for understanding the Ojibwes of this era.