Memorable Manitobans: Henry Budd [Sakashuwestam] (c1812-1875)

Missionary.

Born around 1812, said by Reverend John West to have been an orphan, the son of a deceased Indian and a half-breed woman, his Indian name was recorded as Sakashuwestam, meaning “Going up the Hill.” He was brought by West from Norway House to the Red River Settlement in 1820. He attended the Church of England school organized by West, and was baptized in 1822. About 1828, after completing his education he entered the service of the Hudson’s Bay Company. From 1837 to 1840 he taught a day school in the Red River Settlement and in the latter year was sent to establish a mission at Cumberland House. He decided the location was not suitable and returned to The Pas, where the Indians helped him to build a home which served as a school and meeting house. Until the arrival of Reverend James Hunter in 1844 he had sole charge of this mission. He remained at The Pas to assist Hunter as a catechist, teacher, and interpreter.

In 1850 he returned to the Red River Settlement with Bishop David Anderson and was ordained in St. Andrew’s Church on 22 December of that year, the first Cree Indian in the ministry of the Anglican Church in North America. Following his ordination he returned to The Pas and remained in what was called the Cumberland District until 1857 when he was sent to establish Nepawewin Mission at Fort à la Come.

In 1836 he married Betsy Work (?-?). They had at least six children. One son, Henry Budd Jr., received an education in England and was ordained by Bishop Anderson in 1861.

In 1867, he returned to The Pas and died there on 2 April 1875. He was buried in the Christ Church Cemetery. He is commemorated by the Budd siding on the Wekusko Subdivision of the Hudson Bay Railway.

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Christ Church Anglican and Cemetery (2 Saskatchewan Crescent, The Pas)

Henry Budd: The First Native Indian Ordained in the Anglican Church on the North American Continent by Rev T. C. B. Boon
Manitoba Pageant, Volume 3, Number 1, September 1957

The Diary of the Reverend Henry Budd 1870-1875 edited by Katherine Pettipas (1974),
Manitoba Record Society, 198 pages, 1974.

Sources:

Pioneers and Early Citizens of Manitoba, Winnipeg: Manitoba Library Association, 1971.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 19 July 2018

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