Jane Johnston Schoolcraft was the first Native American literary writer. She was also the first known Indian woman writer, the first known American Indian poet and the first known poet to write poems in a Native American language. She was from the Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan Ojibwe community. Her grandfather was Waubojeeg, a revered Ojibwe chief . Schoolcraft wrote many of her stories “to preserve them for future generations as well as build bridges of understanding between Indian and white cultures.” Her retelling of Ojibwe mythology has allowed subsequent generations to learn about the Ojibwe system of beliefs. Her written accounts of Ojibwe stories have been published in several anthologies, including The Women’s Great Lakes Reader (2000), Native American Women’s Writing: c. 1800-1924, An Anthology, (2000) and The Heath Anthology of American Literature, Volume I (1994).
