Nahnebahwequa (Naaniibawikwe in the Fiero spelling, meaning "Standing-Upright Woman") or Catherine Bunch was an Ojibwa spokeswoman and Christian Missionary. Early life Born in the early fall of 1824 at the Credit River, now called Port Credit, Ontario, Nah ne bah wee qua was the daughter of Bunch Sunego and Mary Polly Crane. Her paternal grandfather was Osunego (Asanagoo, "Black squirrel"), a Mississauga Tribal Chief from the Eagle doodem, and her maternal grandfather was (Otesoo), a War Chief from the Otter Clan who fought for the British Crown in the American Revolutionary War. She was baptized Catherine Bunch by Rev. Thomas Madden in 1825, but later took the name Catherine Brown, after a revered Christian Cherokee convert. Catherine was unofficially adopted by her uncle, Rev. Peter Jones and his English wife, Eliza Field with whom she lived at the Credit Mission from about 1837 until her marriage in 1839. A Petition to the Queen Aunt Eliza Jones took Catherine to England in 1837 where she furthered her education while Peter, known as Kahkewaquonaby (Sacred Feathers), a Chief of the Credit Band, delivered a Petition and Wampum Belt to Queen Victoria. The petition expressed the desire of the Mississauga Band to acquire titled deeds and ownership to their lands, as they felt that this was the only way to prevent the encroachment of European settlers at the Credit River. Negotiations with Bond Head and Arthur In Upper Canada, Lieutenant Governor Francis Bond Head had developed a scheme to put all the natives living in Southern Ontario on Manitoulin Island. However, the Mississaugas knew Manitoulin Island was not fit for farming as it was mostly rock with animals, fruits and grasses being scarce due to lack of fertile soil and viewed the scheme as yet another violation of their rights. The Mississaugas had cleared and built a thriving community at the Credit Mission as they had been promised retention of the land for future generations. In response to Bond Head's scheme, the Mississauga Band decided to send Catherine's uncle, Rev. Peter Jones, who was also the Chief of the Mississaugas to Great Britain to present their grievances to Queen Victoria. The Colonial Secretary, Lord Glenelg, sympathetic to the Canadian Native people's plight, recommended to Her Majesty the Queen, that the Credit River Mississaugas should be granted title deeds. Meanwhile, having been ill-equipped to deal with European settlers, Lieutenant Governor Bond Head had resigned.