Born c. March 1742
Upper Ohio River (near present-day Akron, Ohio)
Died November 24, 1807
Grand River, Ontario, Canada

Mohawk war chief, politician, missionary

"We are of the same opinion with the people of the United States; you consider yourselves as independent people; we [Indians] … look upon ourselves as equally independent."
Portrait: Joseph Brant.
Reproduced by permission of the Corbis Corporation (Bellevue).

Joseph Brant was a Mohawk leader who led his people into battle on the side of the British during the Revolutionary War (1775–83). Brant was a skilled politician with the manners of a British gentleman, and he learned to live in both the white and Indian worlds. Brant's loyalty to Great Britain was surpassed only by his loyalty to his people, and he spent his lifetime trying to ensure their land rights and the continuation of their culture.

Joseph Brant was born about 1742 in the forest along the...