Dartmouth College

Post-Doc, Native American Studies

About

The extraordinary accomplishments of the Huron-Wendat school teacher Sawantanan were unique, but not unique to him alone. Long before the inception of residential schools, Sawantanan was one of several Aboriginal students from Canada to attend Dartmouth College in New Hampshire; he was one of only three to graduate before 1800. After arriving at Dartmouth, he was active as an interpreter for the Revolutionary Army during the American War of Independence. Once he completed his education he returned to Canada to teach school in Montreal, the Mohawk community on the Bay of Quinte, and in his home village of Jeune-Lorette near the town of Quebec. These experiences made him stand out from his peers, but from a more regional perspective, his experience shares many similarities with other Aboriginal people and communities in the St. Lawrence River/Great Lakes region. These were communities with people who were literate in Aboriginal and European languages, with schools in which to educate their youth, and with leaders who were adept at moving between Aboriginal and European cultures. My current research uses Sawantanan‟s experience as a comparative lens through which to study these communities and the ways with which they engaged European and Aboriginal educational systems. It assesses the role and impact of education at the turn of the nineteenth century before the creation of residential schools.

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