Wikimedia Commons

Native History: Chief Joseph Brant Walked in Two Worlds

Alysa Landry









Fort Stanwix in Rome, New York (Wikimedia Commons)








Chief Joseph Brant Memorial, in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, 1886 (Wikimedia Commons)

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Otstach 's picture
Submitted by Otstach on
The ‘white-man’ who wrote this, needs to do his homework. Here is one of hundreds of references to Thayendanegea who rightfully held the title of chief (again, a white-man’s label). “When Joseph Brant died his mother, Catherine, chief of the turtle caln, appointed Brant’s son, John, to succeed him, as chief.” Johannes Megap[olensis, 1857. The last thing ANY Native American does is to appoint himself or herself ‘chief,’ or any other so-called prestigious title.

alexjacobs's picture
Submitted by alexjacobs on
Brant's history is at best tainted and viewed differently by Canadian and American Mohawks; south of the border "Brant sold off all Mohawk lands" and was given "Crown Land" by the British for his service duing the War; he "uprooted/extinguished" the Iroquois Confederacy Council Fire and moved it to Oshweken/Brantford; now it could just be called Realpolitik because the Americans wouldve continued to make war against the Iroquois and brought north a more or less intact Iroquoian culture; also Brant was a Freemason due to his relationship with Sir William Johnson, he travelled to more European countries and spoke more langauges than George Washington or many other Founding Fathers did; he seemed to act more as a politician first. He seemingly both saved and crippled the Iroquois Confederacy.