The Mohawk Indian chief Joseph Brant served as a spokesman for his people, a Christian missionary of the Anglican Church, and a British military officer during the U.S. War of Independence.
Brant was born in 1742 on the banks of the Ohio River and given the Indian name of Thayendanegea, meaning, "he places two bets." He inherited the status of Mohawk chief from his father. When Brant was 19, he attended the Moor's Indian Charity School where he converted to Christianity and became an aide to missionaries, translating the scriptures into Mohawk language. He was a man who studied and was able to internalize the better qualities of the white man while always remaining loyal and devoted to his people. He helped gain Indian support for the British in the French and Indian War between 1754 and 1763. From 1763 to 1776, Brant and his tribe assisted the British in the American Revolution by attacking the American settlers. After the Revolution, unable to negotiate a land settlement with the American government, Brant obtained a land grant in Canada and he and his followers settled in the area now known as Brantford, Ontario, which was named after him. The last years of his life were spent seeing to the welfare of his people Joseph Brant died on the reservation on November 24, 1807. Return to Indians of the Northeast
