Joseph Renville

Who was Joseph Renville?

Joseph Renville was an interpreter, translator, and an important figure in dealings between white men and Dakota Indians in Minnesota. He contributed to the translation of Christian religious texts into the Dakota language. The hymnal Dakota dowanpi kin, was "composed by J. Renville and sons, and the missionaries of the A.B.C.F.M." and was published in Boston in 1842. Its successor, Dakota Odowan, first published with music in 1879, has been reprinted many times and is in use today.

Joseph Renville's father, also named Joseph Renville, was a French Canadian fur trader, and his mother, Miniyuhe, was a Dakota, possibly a daughter of Mdewakaton-Dakota chief Big Thunder. Renville's bicultural formative years may have included some education in Canada.

The town of Renville, Minnesota, is named in honor of Joseph Renville, as are Renville County, Minnesota and Renville County, North Dakota.