"The Pest:" The Rev. James Settee and the Church Missionary Society in Nineteenth-Century Rupert's Land - A Case Study of Native Church Policy and Indigenous Missionary

Abstract

Ordained in 1853, James Settee was the second native to take holy orders through the auspices of the Church Missionary Society in the North West of British North America. While much has been written about Henry Budd, the first native ordained by the CMS, relatively little attention has been paid to Settee. This oversight has much to do with the fact that, unlike Budd, Settee retained much of his native identity and lifestyle. The contrasting perception of the two men is evident in the biographies written by Archdeacon John Alexander Mackay in Bertal Heeney’s Leaders of the Canadian Church, published in 1920. Budd, Mackay observed, possessed “qualities that were remarkable in a native.” He was “a man of fine appearance,” “a good English Scholar,” and “methodical and thrifty.” His mission stations were always a “model of neatness” and “no European missionary kept things in better order.” Settee, in contrast, was described as “a typical native” who preferred itinerating. “This nomadic kind of life,” MacKay remarked, “seemed to suit him better than steady settled work.” Mackay concluded that, unlike Budd, Settee “could not be credited with much foresight or good management in temporal matters.” Because Settee “always looked upon the bright side of things” and was “always