One of North America's pioneer ethnologists and linguists, Hale practised law in Clinton 1856-1896. Born in New Hampshire, he graduated from Harvard in 1837, and accompanied the Wilkes Expedition to the Pacific, 1838-1842. His contribution to the 'Narrative' of that voyage is one of the basic sources for Polynesian ethnology. Hale discovered that the Tutelos near Brantford, fugitives from North Carolina, belonged to the Siouan family and identified the Cherokees of the Carolinas as linguistically Iroquoian. His intensive study of the languages and customs of the Six Nations of the Grand River culminated in his classic work, 'An Iroquois Book of Rites', published in 1883.

Location

On the grounds of St. Paul's Anglican Church, 49 Ontario Street, Clinton

Themes

• Exploration
• First Nations
• People
• Politics and law