The Life, History and Travels of Kah-Ge-Ga-Gah-Bowh

The Life, History and Travels of Kah-ge-ga-gah-Bowh (1847) is a memoir by George Copway. Written while he was living with his wife and daughter in New York City, The Life, History and Travels of Kah-ge-ga-gah-Bowh was an immediate bestseller that helped establish Copway as a leading Native American author of the nineteenth century. Recognized as the first book published by a Canadian First Nations writer, Copway’s memoir is an invaluable resource for understanding the history of contact between settlers and indigenous peoples, some of whom, like Copway’s family, assimilated and served as missionaries, translators, and ambassadors. “I loved the woods, and the chase. I had the nature for it, and gloried in nothing else. The mind for letters was in me, but was asleep, till the dawn of Christianity arose, and awoke the slumbers of the soul into energy and action.” Raised in a moment of immense cultural change for his people, George Copway was educated to serve as a missionary for the Methodist church. Among the Ojibwe of Ontario and Minnesota, the man whose birth name was Kah-ge-ga-gah-Bowh, meaning He Who Stands Forever, spreads the Christian faith he has given his life to. Before this, however, he lived a simple life in touch with the natural world, fearful of spirits and careful to listen to the lessons of his elders. Interspersed throughout the story of his life are observations and passages on his family and the history of their ancestors, making The Life, History and Travels of Kah-ge-ga-gah-Bowh an invaluable record of their traditions and daily existence. Written in a poetic, meditative prose, Copway’s memoir remains essential reading nearly two centuries after it appeared in print. This edition of George Copway’s The Life, History and Travels of Kah-ge-ga-gah-Bowh is a classic work of Native American literature reimagined for modern readers.

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