Nahnebahweequay (1824-1865) National Historic Person

Nahnebahweequay was designated as a national historic person in 2021.

Historical importance: leader and activist in the fight for First Nation land rights in the mid-19th century.

Commemorative plaque: will be installed at Marina Park, 15 Front St S, Mississauga, Ontario^{Footnote 1}

Nahnebahweequay (Catharine Sutton)

This Mississauga (Ojibwe) advocate was a lifelong voice in the struggle for First Nations rights. Nahnebahweequay witnessed the relentless attempts of colonial governments to forcibly remove the Anishinaabeg and dispossess them of their lands from Lake Superior to Georgian Bay. Raised at the Methodist Credit Mission, she fought for Indigenous land title and against the termination of women’s First Nations status through marriage to non-Indigenous men. Her letters and moving speeches gained international support. In defiance of colonial officials she travelled to London and appealed directly to Queen Victoria in 1860.

Nahnebahweequay (Catharine Sutton)

Gii gtaamgozi ow Mississauga anishnaabe kwe ji wiidokwaad Nishnaabeg gi kendmowaad edbendmowaad. Nahnebahweequay gii kendaan ge wgii waabdaan gii zaag jiwebnindwaa ge gii mkamind waa aki omaa Anishnaabewin Gchi-Gami gopii Mnido Gami. Methodist Credit Mission wgii kwignaawon, pane gii miigaazo wiidokwaad wiij anishnaabe kwewon gaa wnit-towaad anishnaabe dbendaagoziwin ge iw aki endendaagwak. Noojiwiyaa wgii wiidokaagoon gaa pich go ntaa giigdood ge gii ntaa ziibiiged. Gii jaa odii London 1860 gii wii wiindamowaad niw Queen Victoria ezhi mji doonwind ow anishnaabe.

Nahnebahweequay (Catharine Sutton) (1824–1865)

Nahnebahweequay was a voice in the struggle for First Nations rights in the mid-19th century, a time when colonial policies sought to forcibly remove and dispossess Indigenous Peoples of their lands. Her lifelong leadership and activism were all the more remarkable as she had to contend with the additional legal restrictions colonial governments placed on Indigenous women. Her experience is representative of the efforts of First Nations to gain support and present their grievances to the Crown during the mid-Victorian era. Recognized for her oratory skills, she established international support through public lectures. In defiance of colonial officials, she travelled to London, England, where she advocated for First Nations land title and took her appeal directly to Queen Victoria in 1860. By challenging colonial conceptions of Indigenous women and refusing to portray Indigenous stereotypes during public lectures, she fought for recognition of Indigenous women’s agency in economic and political matters, as is the case in Anishinaabe society.

In 1824, Nahnebahweequay was born on the Credit River flats to Myawekeshigoqua (Mary or Polly) of the Otter clan and Tyatiquob (Bunch Sunegoo) of the Eagle clan. From the age of two, she lived in the newly established Credit Mission, a settlement of around 200 people which included Mississauga (Ojibwe) who had converted to Methodism, missionaries, interpreters, and teachers. Nahnebahweequay, which means Upright Woman, was also given the Christian name Catharine Brown. In 1839 she met and married William Sutton, a Methodist lay preacher from Lincolnshire. Together they started a family, but by the mid-1840s, with the Crown refusing to acknowledge Credit Mission title, they moved to the Saugeen Peninsula along Lake Huron where the Nawash Band allocated her 200 acres (81 hectares) and provided title to the land.

The Sutton family moved around between 1852 and 1857 to support missions in northern Ontario and Michigan. During that time, however, she witnessed the relentless attempts of colonial governments to forcibly remove the Anishinaabeg and dispossess them of their lands from Lake Superior to Georgian Bay. The Nawash Band was among those to face increasing pressure from the government to cede its land. In 1857, some members ceded title to the lands, which the Indian Department prepared to sell. Along with some other members of the Band, Nahnebahweequay protested the action and claimed that the members who signed the treaty had no authority to surrender the land. The Department responded by offering Nahnebahweequay and other families in similar situations the opportunity to purchase their land. When she did this, however, the Indian Department invalidated the purchase by citing a rule preventing the sale of land to “Indians.” At the same time, the Department also claimed that her marriage to a white man made her ineligible to claim annuities for the land.

In defiance of colonial officials, Nahnebahweequay travelled to London and appealed directly to Queen Victoria in 1860. In her writing and speeches following this meeting, she was complimentary of the Queen, but frustrated that there was no resolution to her and her peoples’ grievances. Following her return to North America, Nahnebahweequay continued to advocate for First Nations land and fishing rights. Her family was eventually permitted by the Indian Department to purchase the land, but only in the name of William Sutton.

Nahnebahweequay was frustrated by this as other members of the Nawash Band were not granted the same opportunity and she viewed it as the government’s attempt to silence her. She however continued to advocate for First Nations land rights. Following the birth of her last child in 1864, her health steadily declined, and she died from an asthma attack in September 1865.

This press backgrounder was prepared at the time of the plaque unveiling in 2025.

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