McKay (changed to MacKay), Reverend John Alexander. (b. 1838)

John was the Metis son of William McKay and Mary Bunn. He was born on July 14, 1838 in Mistassini (Que.), the tenth of the twelve children of William McKay and Mary Bunn, who were both of whom were Metis.

William McKay was born on: April 15, 1793 in Albany Factory, James Bay District, Rupert's Land – (He later changed the spelling of his surname to "MacKay"). He was the son of Mary Favel and John McKay (1758-1810), both Metis He died on March 12, 1861 in St Andrews Parish, Red River Settlement.  He married Mary Bunn.

Mary Bunn b: April 15, 1798 in Moose Factory, James Bay District, Rupert's Land [Ontario] m: January 27, 1815 in St. Paul’s Parish, Red River Settlement. She died May 27, 1873 in St. Andrew's Parish. She was the daughter of Thomas Bunn and Sarah McNab.

In 1809 William joined the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) and, after the death of both of his parents in 1810, seems to have gone with Joseph Beioley (1785-1859) to the James Bay area where he served at various posts. Around 1814 Joseph Beioley married William’s sister Isabella McKay. After the HBC-NWC union William’s brother-in-law Joseph Beioley was made a Chief Factor and was appointed as a Rupert’s Land Councillor in charge of the Rupert River District on the east side of James Bay. In addition, from 1824-25 Beioley managed the affairs of the Moose River District. In 1825 he was reappointed to the Rupert River district.

In 1832 Beioley put William McKay in charge of the HBC post at Mistassini (Quebec). At that time the family had seven children. At Mistassini, five more children were born to William Mary.

In 1857 William McKay retired to the Red River Settlement, hoping to get land promised by the HBC to its retiring employees, a promise on which the company reneged. He took up land in Mapleton, south of Selkirk, MB.

John McKay was a Church of England priest, educator, and translator. On August 4, 1864 he married Margaret Drever, the daughter of William Drever and and Helen Rothney at St. John’s in Red River. They had five daughters and one son. John died on November 26, 1923 in Battleford, Saskatchewan and was buried in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.

John was the son and grandson of Hudson’s Bay Company men, his grandfather John McKay, his uncles John Bunn and John Richards McKay, and his father were active in the fur trade. His grandfather, Thomas Bunn was a founder of Manitoba, serving on the Legislative Assembly of Assiniboia that voted to join Canada in 1870. John A. Mackay decided against a career in the fur trade in favour of mission work. He received his initial training as a catechist under the Reverend John Hordon at Moose Factory (Ont.) and then continued his studies in the late 1850s at St John’s College in Red River. He was

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ordained as a priest on May 29, 1862, part of the Church Missionary Society efforts to create an indigenous native clergy in Rupert’s Land.

Mackay was first assigned to York Factory (1862–64), then moved to The Pas (1864–65), and then transferred to Stanley Mission (Sask.) (1865–76). He traveled extensively in all seasons through present-day northeastern Saskatchewan in an effort to convert the local Aboriginal population and also ran a 15-acre agricultural operation, including a mill that made the mission almost self-sufficient. He also used a small printing press to begin to produce Cree translations of the Scriptures and religious services.

Mackay worked briefly in the Fort Carlton (Sask.) and Nepowewin (Nipawin) districts before being sent back to Battleford by Bishop McLean in September 1877 to build a church there. Mackay then established a mission on the Red Pheasant Indian Reserve.

When Bishop McLean founded Emmanuel College in Prince Albert to train Indigenous missionaries and catechists for work in the territories Mackay was one of the original staff members and taught Cree grammar and composition. In 1882 Mackay was named archdeacon and two years later he left the college for The Pas to supervise CMS activities in the Cumberland district. He returned to Battleford in the fall of 1885. Early in 1886 the Department of Indian Affairs appointed him its agent there. The department was worried about the repercussions of the 1885 North West Resistance and believed that Mackay would have a calming influence on the situation. He worked there until 1887 when he assumed a new role at Emmanuel. McLean’s successor, Bishop William Cyprian Pinkham, believed that the college, which had secured university status in 1883, was best suited as an Indian boarding school and called on Mackay to serve as the new principal. Indian Affairs, however, then employed Mackay one more time, in February 1889 when he acted as translator for the Montreal Lake and Lac la Ronge Cree adhesion to Treaty No.6.

He died in Battleford in November 1923 while working on a Cree dictionary.

McKay, John Alexander (Son of William McKay) - Scrip number 8050 - Amount 160.00$.  Applied on NE 23-7-10 W1 00011083763. 

McKay, Margaret (wife of John Alexander McKay and daughter of William Drever) - Scrip number 12949 - Amount 160.00$. 

Reference:W. A. Waiser. Canadian Dictionary of Biography, vol. XV.

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Compiled by Lawrence BarkwellCoordinator of Metis Heritage and History ResearchLouis Riel Institute

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