William Jones (anthropologist)

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William Jones (1871–1909) was a Native American anthropologist of the Fox nation. Alternate name: Megasiáwa (Black Eagle). Born in Indian Territory (an area that is now part of Oklahoma) on March 28, 1871, after studying at Hampton Institute he graduated from Phillips Academy and went on to receive his B.A. from Harvard. When in 1904 he received his PhD from Columbia University as a student of Franz Boas, he became the fourth person to receive a PhD in linguistic anthropology, twelfth person to receive a PhD in anthropology, and first Native American PhD in anthropology.

Jones was biologically only part Fox but was raised by his Fox maternal grandmother between the ages of one, when his mother died, and nine, when his grandmother died. He is known as a specialist in Algonquian languages, particularly known for his extensive collection of Algonquian texts. In 1908 while employed as an assistant curator at the Field Museum he went to the Philippines to do fieldwork. He was killed on March 29, 1909, at Dumobato on the east side of Luzon in an altercation with some of the Ilongot among whom he was engaged in fieldwork.

It is debatable as to whether or not his death was actually a murder, as his diary entries and correspondences in the last months of his life revealed feelings of peace and belonging with the Ilongot people. He was also valued within their community for his skills as a medical practitioner. Within a few weeks following the event of his death, the United States burned twenty Ilongot villages in retaliation.