Joseph Brant | Indian Mohawk chief.
Brant obtained a Canadian land grant for his Indians in the vicinity of what is now Brantford, Ontario, which was named after him.
Brant, a Mohawk chief whose Indian name was Thayendanegea, helped obtain Indian support for the British cause during the Revolutionary War.
At the age of 13, he fought with the British in the French and Indian War (1754–1763).
In 1761, He became Christian in Moor’s Indian Charity School in Lebanon, Connecticut.
In 1763, he fought with the Iroquois, who sided with the British during Pontiac’s Rebellion (1763–1766). At the outbreak of the Revolution, Brant visited England, where he was presented at court.
On his return to America, he led Indian troops in raids on American settlers.
Because of the brutality with which his Indians massacred colonials — notably at the Battle of Oriskany, New York, on August 6, 1777, and at Cherry Valley, New York, on November 11, 1778 — he was known as Monster Brant.
After the Revolution, Brant, having failed to negotiate an Indian land settlement with the American government, obtained a Canadian land grant for his Indians in the vicinity of what is now Brantford, Ontario, which was named after him.
He devoted his last years to the welfare of his tribe and translated parts of the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer into the Mohawk dialect.
