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Background Legacy Writings and Excerpts

Thomas Woolsey referred to Benjamin Sinclair as a minister "in true Methodist fashion." He served as a spiritual leader and taught his peers and their families to read and write Cree syllabics. In doing so, he maintained a Methodist presence west of Norway House for seven years and was the bridge between the British Wesleyan missionaries and the Canadian Methodist missionaries who arrived in 1855.

One of Robert Rundle's aims was to develop alternative food sources for the people living in the area. With the establishment of the mission at Pigeon Lake his first actions were preparing and planting of a garden. The task of maintaining and further developing these was Benjamin's. A monument at Rundle's Mission today acknowledges the farming efforts of early missionaries.

Sinclair became an important leader in the Whitefish Lake community. He was not only a devout Methodist, but an advocate of the importance of schooling. He was an assistant and close friend to Henry Steinhauer, sharing thoughts on religious matters and the more prosaic tasks of daily life. His life and work emphasize the efforts of Aboriginal peoples to continue the work begun by missionaries such as Robert Rundle. 

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