ROBERT McDONALD

PRIEST, 1913
 

Robert McDonald was born in 1829 in what is now Manitoba, Canada. He was ordained as a priest in 1853. His first posting was in Manitoba among the Ojibwe people. Using a syllabic method and Latin alphabet, McDonald began translating the Bible into Ojibwe (also known as Ojibwa or Chippewa), and completed the minor prophets before his next assignment.

In 1862, the Church Missionary Society sent McDonald to the Yukon Territory, where he became the first Protestant missionary ever assigned to work among indigenous peoples of the Arctic. His work involved extensive travel in the Yukon and Northwest Territories, as well as what became Alaska. His initial station, at Ft. Yukon, was thought to be in Canada, but turned out to be in Alaska. He later established another base at Fort McPherson.

McDonald spent most of the next four decades working among the Gwich'in people. He achieved lasting recognition for his translations, having established an alphabet for the previously oral Gwich'in. With the help of his wife Julia and other native speakers, McDonald translated the Bible, Book of Common Prayer and many hymns into Gwich'in (which he called Takudh and, later, Tukudh). His translation work helped unify the various tribes speaking similar Athabaskan languages. In 1911, McDonald published a dictionary and grammar for the language under the title of A Grammar of the Tukudh Language.

He retired in 1905 to Winnipeg, and died there in 1913.

A biographical sketch may be found in Leaders of the Canadian Church. The entire book is available at the Internet Archive.