NOVEMBER 24:

November 24, 1812: As a young boy, Spemicalawba (called Captain Logan or High Horn), is captured by General James Logan. General Logan raises him until he is returned to the Shawnee during a prisoner exchange. Tecumseh's nephew, he tries to temper Tecumseh's feelings toward the Europeans. Spemicalawba scouts for the Americans during the war of 1812. He is killed on this date during a scouting expedition. Buried with military honors, Logansport, Indiana is named after him.

November 24, 1807:   Iroquois leader Joseph Brant dies.
{Many of the points in the history that follows are disputed.}

BACKGROUND:
 

From http://www.indians.org/welker/brant.htm
 

The Story of Joseph Brant (Mohawk, 1742-November 24, 1807) by Tom Penick

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. He is remembered for his efforts in unifying upper New York Indian tribes and leading them in terrorizing raids against patriot communities in support of Great Britian's efforts to repress the rebellion. He is also credited for the establishment of the Indian reservation on the Grand River in Canada where the neighboring town of Brantford, Ontario, bears his name.

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. He attended Moor's Charity School for Indians in Lebanon, Connecticut, where he learned to speak English and studied Western history and literature. He became an interpreter for an Anglican Missionary, the Reverend John Stuart, and together they translated the prayer book and the Gospel of Mark into Mohawk. Molly Brant, Joseph's sister, married General Sir William Johnson who was the British superintendent for northern Indian affairs. Sir William was called to duty during the last French and Indian War of 1754-1763. Joseph followed Sir William into battle at the age of 13, along with the other Indian braves at the school.

Following this frightening experience, Joseph returned to school for a short period. Sir William had need of an interpreter and aid in his business with the Indians and employed Joseph in this prestigious position. In his work with Sir William, Joseph discovered a trading company that was buying discarded guns from the Army, filling cracks in the barrels with lead, and then selling them to Indians. The guns would explode when fired, often injuring the owner. Joseph was able to prove this in court and the trading company's license was revoked.

It was the custom for young men not to marry until they had made their mark, and Joseph was now prepared to choose a wife. Around 1768 he married Christine, the daughter of an Oneida chief, whom he had met in school. They had both Indian and Anglican wedding ceremonies and lived on a farm which Joseph had inherited. Christine died of tuberculosis around 1771, leaving Joseph with a son and a daughter. During this time, Joseph resumed his religous work, translating the Acts of the Apostles into the Mohawk language. In 1773, he married Susannah, sister of his first wife. Susannah died a few months later, also of tuberculosis. In 1774 he was appointed secretary to Sir William's successor, Guy Johnson. In 1775 he received a captain's commission and was sent to England to assess whether the British would or would not help the Mohawk recover their lands. He met with the King on two occasions and a dinner was held in his honor.

While in England, Brant attended a performance of Romeo and Juliet. Lady Ossory, a member of a famous Irish family, asked him, "What do you think of that kind of love-making, Captain Brant?" He replied, "There is too much of it, your ladyship." "Why do you say that?', and Joseph answered quickly, "Because, your ladyship, no lover worth a lady's while would waste his time and breath in all that speech-making. If my people were to make love in that way our race would be extinct in two generations." [Monture, p. 36]

On his return to the colonies, he saw action in the Battle of Long Island in August 1776. He led four of the six nations of the Iroquois League in attacks against colonial outposts on the New York frontier. The Iroquois League was a confederation of upper New York State Indian tribes formed between 1570 and 1600 who called themselves "the people of the long house." Initially it was composed of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca. After the Tuscarora joined in 1722, the league became known to the English as the Six Nations and was recognized as such in Albany, New York, in 1722. They were better organized and more effective, especially in warfare, than other Indian confederacies in the region. As the longevity of this union would suggest, these Indians were more advanced socially than is often thought. Benjamin Franklin even cited their success in his argument for the unification of the colonies. They lived in comfortable homes, often better than those of the colonists, raised crops, and sent hunters to Ohio to supply meat for those living back in New York. These hunters were usually young braves or young married couples, as was the case with Joseph Brant's parents.

During the U.S. War of Independence a split developed in the Iroquois league, with the Oneida and Tuscarora favoring the American cause while the others fought for the British under the leadership of Mohawk Chief Joseph Brant. A few of the leaders favored a neutral stance, preferring to let the white men kill each other rather than become involved. Brant feared that the Indians would lose their lands if the colonists achieved independence. Basic to animosities between Indians and whites was the difference in views over land ownership. The Indians felt that the land was for the use of everyone and so initially saw no reason to not welcome the Europeans. The colonists, on the other hand, were well acquainted with the priviledges of ownership (or lack thereof) and were eager to acquire land of their own.

Brant commanded the Indians in the Battle of Oriskany on August 6, 1777. In early 1778 he gathered a force of Indians from the villages of Unadilla and Oquaga on the Susquehanna River. On September 17, 1778 they destroyed German Flats near Herkimer, New York. The patriots retalliated under the leadership of Col. William Butler and destroyed Unadilla and Oquaga on October 8th and 10th. Brant's forces, along with loyalists under Capt. Walter N. Butler, then set out to destroy the town and fort at Cherry Valley. There were 200-300 men stationed at the fort but they were unprepared for the attack on August 11, 1778. The attackers killed some 30 men, women, and children, burned houses, and took 71 prisoners. They killed 16 soldiers at the fort but withdrew the following day when 200 patriot reinforcements arrived. The settlement was abandoned and the event came to be known as the "Cherry Valley Massacre." Brant won a formidable reputation after this raid and in cooperation with loyalists and British regulars, he brought fear and destruction to the entire Mohawk Valley, southern New York, and northern Pennsylvania. He thwarted the attempts of a rival chief, Red Jacket, to persuade the Iroquois to make peace with the revolutionaries. In 1779, U.S.

Major General John Sullivan led a retaliatory expedition of 3700 men against the Iroquois, destroying fields, orchards, granaries, and their morale. The Iroquois were defeated near present-day Elmira, N.Y. In spite of this, Indian raids persisted until the end of the war and many homesteads had to abandoned. The Iroquois League came to an end after admitting defeat in the Second Treaty of Ft. Stanwix in 1784.

Around 1782, Brant married his third wife, Catherine Croghan, daughter of an Irishman and a Mohawk. With the war over, and the British having surrendered lands to the colonists and not to the Indians, Brant was faced with finding a new home for himself and his people. He discouraged further Indian warfare and helped the U.S. commissioners to secure peace treaties with the Miamis and other tribes. He retained his commission in the British Army and was awarded a grant of land on the Grand River in Ontario by Govenor Sir Frederick Haldimand of Canada in 1784. The tract of 675,000 acres encompassed the Grand River from its mouth to its source, six miles deep on either side. Brant led 1843 Iroquois Loyalists from New York State to this site where they settled and established the Grand River Reservation for the Mohawk. The party included members of all six tribes, but primarily Mohawk and Cayugas, as well as a few Delaware, Nanticoke, Tutelo, Creek, and Cherokee, who had lived with the Iroquois before the war. They settled in small tribal villages along the river. Sir Haldimand had hurriedly pushed through the land agreement before his term of office expired and was unable to provide the Indians with legal title to the property. For this reason, Brant again traveled to England in 1785. He succeeded in obtaining compensation for Mohawk losses in the U.S. War for Independence and received funds for the first Episcopal Church in Upper Canada, but failed to obtain firm title to the Grand River reservation. The legality of the transfer remains under question today.

Her Majesty's Chapel of the Mohawks was built in 1785 at the order of King George III. The simple wooden structure survives today as the oldest Protestant church in Ontario and is the only church outside the United Kingdom with the status of Chapel Royal. The church contains some lavish appointments including a silver service and bible dating from 1712 when Queen Anne had a church erected for the Mohawk on the Mohawk River in New York. Also erected for the Indians in 1785 was a saw and grist mill and a school.

Brant continued with his missionary work. He felt that his followers could learn much from observing the ways of the white man and made a number of land sales of reservation property to white settlers to this end, despite the unsettled ownership. He tried unsuccessfully to arrange a settlement between the Iroquois and the United States. He traveled in the American West promoting an all-Indian confederacy to resist land cessions. Late in his life, he continued the work he had begun as a young man of translating the Creed and important passages of the Old and New Testament into the 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. Joseph Brant died on the reservation on August 24, 1807.
 

*****
 

>From http://members.aol.com/circofire/Brothers.html
 

The talk given here was made at a council held in an Onondaga village on Buffalo Creek, on April 21, 1794 by Joseph Brandt.

"We Have Borne Everything Patiently for This Long Time"

Brothers: You, of the United States, listen to what we are going to say to you; you, likewise, the King.

Brothers: We are very happy to see you, Colonel Butler and General Chapin, sitting side by side, with the intent of hearing what we have to say. We wish to do no business but what is done open and above-board.

Brother: You, of the United States, make your mind easy, on account of the long time your President's speech has been under our consideration; when we received it, we told you it was a business of importance, and required some time to be considered of

Brother: The answer you have brought us is not according to what we expected, which was the reason for our long delay; the business would have been done with expedition, had the United States agreed to our proposals. We would then have collected our associates, and repaired to Venango, the place you proposed for meeting us.

Brother: It is not now in our power to accept your invitation; provided we were to go, you would conduct the business, as you might think proper; this has been the case at all the treaties held, from time to time, by your commissioners.

Brother: At the first treaty, after the conclusion of the war between you and Great Britain, at Fort Stanwix, your commissioners conducted the business as it to them seemed best; they pointed out a line of division, and then confirmed it; after this, they held out that our country was ceded to them by the King; this confused the chiefs who attended there, and prevented them from making any reply to the contrary; still holding out, if we did not consent to it, their warriors were at their back, and that we would get no further protection from Great Britain.

This has ever been held out to us, by the commissioners from Congress; at all the treaties held with us since the peace, at Fort McIntosh, at Rocky River, and every other meeting held, the idea was still the same. Brother: This has been the case from time to time. Peace has not taken place, because you have held up these ideas, owing to which much mischief has been done to the Southward.

Brother: We, the Six Nations, have been exerting ourselves to keep peace since the conclusion of the war; we think it would be best for both parties; we advised the confederate nations to request a meeting, about half way between us and the United States, in order that such steps might be taken as would bring about a peace; this request was made, and Congress appointed commissioners to meet us at Muskingum, which we agreed to, a boundary line was then proposed by us, and refused by Governor St. Clair, one of your commissioners. The wyandots, a few Delawares, and some others, met the commissioners, though not authorized, and confirmed the lines of what was not their property, but a common to all nations.

Brothers: The idea we all held out at our council, at Lower Sandusky, held for the purpose of forming our confederacy, and to adopt measures that would be for the general welfare of our Indian nations, or people of our color; owing to those steps taken by us, the United States held out, that when we went to the Westward to transact our private business, that we went with an intention of taking an active part in the troubles subsisting between them and our Western brethren; this never has been the case We have ever wished for the friendship of the United States.

Brother: We think you must be fully convinced, from our perseverance last summer, as your commissioners saw, that we were anxious for a peace between us. The exertions that we, the Six Nations, have made towards the accomplishing this desirable end, is the cause of the Western nations being somewhat dubious as to our sincerity. After we knew their doubts, we still persevered; and, last fall, we pointed out methods to be taken, and sent them, by you, to Congress; this we certainly expected would have proved satisfactory to the United States; in that case we should have more than ever exerted ourselves, in order that the offers we made should be confirmed by our confederacy, and by them strictly adhered to.

Brother: Our proposals have not met with the success from Congress that we expected; this still leaves us in a similar situation to what we were when we first entered on the business.

Brother: You must recollect the number of chiefs who have, at divers times, waited on Congress; they have pointed out the means to be taken, and held out the same language, uniformly, at one time as another; that was, if you would withdraw your claim to the boundary line, and lands within the line, as offered by us; had this been done, peace would have taken place; and, unless this still be done, we see no other method of accomplishing it. Brother: We have borne everything patiently for this long time past; we have done everything we could consistently do with the welfare of our nations in general-notwithstanding the many advantages that have been taken of us, by individuals making purchases from us, the Six Nations, whose fraudulent conduct towards us Congress never has taken notice of, nor in any wise seen us rectified, nor made our minds easy. This is the case to the present day; our patience is now entirely worn out; you see the difficulties we labor under, so that we cannot at present rise from our seats and attend your council at Venango, agreeable to your invitation. The boundary line we pointed out, we think is a just one, although the United States claim lands west of that line; the trifle that has been paid by the United States can be no object in comparison to what a peace would be.

Brother: We are of the same opinion with the people of the United States; you consider yourselves as independent people; we, as the original inhabitants of this country, and sovereigns of the soil, look upon ourselves as equally independent, and free as any other nation or nations. This country was given to us by the Great Spirit above; we wish to enjoy it, and have our passage along the lake, within the line we have pointed out. Brother: The great exertions we have made, for this number of years, to accomplish a peace, and have not been able to obtain it; our patience, as we have already observed, is exhausted, and we are discouraged from persevering any longer. We, therefore, throw ourselves under the protection of the Great Spirit above, who, we hope, will order all things for the best We have told you our patience is worn out; but not so far, but that we wish for peace, and, whenever we hear that pleasing sound, we shall pay attention to it.
 
 
 

With respect, I am forwarding this, with the permission and contact details of the writer, Mark ... his comments round out and present wonderful factual and historical information on that which I was able to find and post regarding Joseph Brant.
 

Neshoba
 
 

----- Original Message ----- From: <vosm@eznet.net> 
Sent: Monday, September 10, 2001 1:29 AM 
Subject: Re: On This Day In History: November 24, 1807 - Joseph Brant Died
 

> Ther is so much in this rendition of Joseph Brant that is not accurate.

Joseph Brant did not inherit his title of chief from his father.  Chiefs were either condoled by their clans or were appointed as Pine Tree chiefs by their people.

Condoled chiefs are Confederacy Chiefs, they have a vote in grand council. They are nominated by their respective clan mothers and go through long consideration before being condoled.  Everyone in the clan has a say in their condolense and then it goes to the other chiefs of the nation for aceptance.  From there, it goes to Grand Council to be ok'd.  They represent the clans of their mother's.

It has nothing to do with their fathers or their father's rank.

Pine tree chiefs are selected to represent their people in everyday business of the nation, but not of the confederacy.  They are chosen when a need arises, they do not inherit the title, since it cannot be passed on, it dies with the holder.

Joseph Brant betrayed his people in many ways.  He dragged them into a conflict involving the British and Americans against the warnings of many of the condoled chiefs and clan mothers.

His relationship with Sir William Johnson was the primary source of his power among the Mohawk people, since they understood that Johnson was the key to their survival in an ever more complex political world.  This noose would have been loosened if not for the marriage of Molly Brant to Johnson before the revolution broke out and the fact that she was the Wolf Clan clan mother.

At the end of the war, the Mohawk people had little choice but to follow Brant to Canada.  He had led them to ruin in their homelands and in Canada, he took it upon himself to sell large tract of their land grants to friends of his in the white community pocketing the money for himself and friends.  Near the end of his life, he had to travel with armed body guards for his own protection from his own people.

In many ways, he was a warrior for his people, but in the end, he sold out to his masters, the British.

Keep printing the stories{.}, we won't know the difference unless they are there to read and discuss.  This is how we learn the truth, by having access to it.
 

                  Mark

Red Jacket was no more a chief than Brant.  He certainly was not a condoled chief, and there is much dispute among the Seneca over whether he was even a pine tree chief.  As such, he would have had no voice in Grand Council, and would have only been speaking for someone else.  His power was of an orator, at this he excelled.  He did council the Seneca to stay out of the war, but he had no power to enforce his will upon the people.  When he spoke at later councils where land secessions were the issue, he was speaking for the clan mothers most of the time.  He very often was forced to speak words he did not agree with since he was a spokesman for them and not there to offer his own opinion.  Much of the blame for losses of land have been blamed on him, but he had no real say in th end results.  At this time in history, we should look back on him more kindly, if he had not kicked out the council fire at Big Tree in 1818, the so-called treaty would have been valid.  Since he did extinguish the fire before the treaty was signed, he invalidated it, leaving open legal Seneca claims to tens of thousands of acres of homeland in west-central N.Y.
 

The league came to an end after the second treaty of Ft. Stanwix in 1784? Perhaps the author should have taken the time to study the Canadaigua treaty of 1794.  It clearly states the U.S. government's recognition of the Conferedacy (or league) and of the soveriegn status of it's member nations.  Today, the league still stands, Grand Council still meets at Onondaga and the federal government of America still recognizes the soverign status of the Haudenosaunee.