Jane Johnston Schoolcraft - Early Life and Education

Early Life and Education

Jane Johnston was born in Sault Ste. Marie in the upper peninsula of what is now the state of Michigan. Her mother, Ozhaguscodaywayquay, was the daughter of Waubojeeg, a prominent Ojibwa war chief and civil leader from what is now northern Wisconsin. Her father, John Johnston (1762–1828), was a fur trader who left Belfast, Ireland in 1790. The Johnston family is famous historically in the Sault Ste. Marie area, where the couple were leaders in both the Euro-American and the Ojibwa communities, but their daughter Jane Johnston was little known until recently. The young Jane learned about Ojibwa traditions from her mother and her mother's family, and she learned about written literature from her father and his large library.