Josette Juneau

Josette Juneau (née Josette Roy Le Vieux dit Vieau; April 16, 1803 – November 19, 1855) was a mixed Indigenous and Settler "founding mother" of Milwaukee, known for her charitable work.

Early life Josette Viaux was born on April 16, 1803, in Fort Howard to Jacques Vieau, a French Canadian fur trader for the North West Company, and Angelique Roy, a Menominee woman and relative of Potawatomi Indian leaders Ahkanepoway (her maternal grandfather) and Anaugesa. She was the eldest daughter of twelve children. Vieau spent much of her childhood at her father's fur-trading post in Milwaukee.

Accounts report that Juneau prevented a Potwaomi revenge attack on a settlement on Potawatomi lands by keeping an all-night vigil.

Juneau was known for her work in the community and mission work. She hosted many ministers who passed through the area, provided nursing care to locals, and taught domestics and Christian doctrine to young women to help them find work. Pope Leo XII sent her a reproduction of the Veil of Veronica commemorating her Catholic missionary work.

Today, residents of Theresa, a village Solomon Juneau had founded and where the couple had lived, celebrate her and her husband's accomplishments on the local holiday of Founder's Day.