Joseph Brant

Joseph Brant Thayendanegea
A 1776 portrait of Brant by leading court painter George Romney
Born	Thayendanegea March 1743 (1743-03) Ohio Country somewhere along the Cuyahoga River
Died	November 24, 1807(1807-11-24) (aged 64) Upper Canada (now present day Burlington, Ontario)
Nationality	Mohawk
Children	John Brant
Relatives	Molly Brant, William Johnson
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Thayendanegea or Joseph Brant (March 1743 – November 24, 1807) was a Mohawk military and political leader, based in present-day New York, who was closely associated with Great Britain during and after the American Revolution. Perhaps the Native American of his generation best known to the Americans and British, he met many of the most significant Anglo-American people of the age, including both George Washington and King George III.

While not born into a hereditary leadership role within the Iroquois League, Brant rose to prominence due to his education, abilities and his connections to British officials. His sister, Molly Brant, was the consort of Sir William Johnson, the influential British Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the province of New York. During the American Revolutionary War, Brant led Mohawk and colonial Loyalists against the rebels in a bitter partisan war on the New York frontier. He was accused by the Americans of committing atrocities and given the name "Monster Brant", but the accusations were argued by later historians to have been false. After the war, he relocated with most of his people to Canada to the Six Nations Reserve, where he remained a prominent leader.

Joseph was born in March 1743, in the Ohio Country somewhere along the Cuyahoga River. This was during the hunting season when the Mohawk traveled to the area. He was named Thayendanegea, which in the Mohawk language can mean "two wagers (sticks) bound together for strength", or possibly "he who places two bets." As the Mohawk were a matrilineal culture, he was born into his mother's Wolf Clan. Anglican Church records at Fort Hunter, New York, noted that his parents were Christians and their names were Peter and Margaret Tehonwaghkwangearahkwa. His father died when Joseph was born.