Peter Edmund Jones

Peter Edmund Jones, in the attire of his father, 1898.

Peter Edmund Jones M.D. (30 October 1843 - 29 June 1909) was a Mississauga Ojibwa chief of New Credit. In Ojibwe he was called Kahkewaquonaby, named after his father in two languages.

The third child of Peter Jones and Eliza Field, Jones was born in London, Canada West.^[1] He was raised at the Muncey Mission, and later Brantford. He was educated first by his governess, and later at Brantford Grammar School. Although one quarter Indian in heritage, he was raised in a largely western fashion. Jones, who attended medical school at the University of Toronto and Queen's College, obtained a Medical Doctorate in 1866. He is the first known Status Indian to obtain such a degree in Canada.^[2]

After obtaining his medical degree, Jones moved to Hagersville, Ontario and set up a practice in New Credit. Jones became involved in politics, both on the reserve and off. He was elected a chief of New Credit from 1874–1877, and 1880-1886. He developed connections in the Conservative Party of Canada, where he argued for more Native rights and more Native control over their affairs. Unsuccessful in this, he did receive an appointment as the Indian Agent for New Credit in 1887, which he held until 1896.^[2]

Jones edited The Indian, a journal for Indians. The journal was published in 1885-1886, and ran a total of 24 issues. It was the first Canadian journal for Indians edited by an Indian.^[3] The journal was distributed on Indian Reserves across Ontario.^[4]

Like his father, Jones lived across the cultural gap between the Whites and Indians of Canada. He married an English woman, Charlotte Dixon, but intended to raise any children as Indians. His cousin George Henry attempted to dislodge him as the New Credit band's doctor on the grounds that he was only one-quarter Indian, but failed. Jones practiced taxidermy, which was eschewed by Indians, and was an avid chess player. But he also refused to relinquish his Indian status, a practice that was encouraged by the Indian Department for educated Indians.^[2]

References

1. "Augustus Jones". Annual Proceedings (Association of Ontario Land Surveyors): 119, 120. 1923.
2. Donald B. Smith (2000). "Jones, Peter Edmund (Kahkewaquonaby)". Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online. University of Toronto.
3. Wiget, Andrew (1994). Dictionary of Native American Literature. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 0-8153-2586-X.
4. Donald B. Smith (1988). Sacred Feathers: The Reverend Peter Jones (Kahkewaquonaby) & the Mississauga Indians. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 244. ISBN 0-8020-6732-8.