George Copway

Born into the Crane clan near Rice Lake, Copway converted to Methodism and served as a missionary before dedicating himself to literary and political advocacy. His 1847 autobiography, The Life, History, and Travels of Kah-ge-ga-gah-bowh, captivated transatlantic readers with vivid descriptions of Ojibwe culture, spirituality, and colonial dispossession.

Copway attended the 1850 World Peace Congress in Frankfurt, Germany, and campaigned for an independent Indigenous state in the American Midwest to protect Native peoples from white encroachment, establishing himself as an early visionary of Pan-Indigenous unity.