Catharine Brant (1759–1837), also known as Ahdohwahgeseon, was a clan mother of the

Mohawk nation The Mohawk, also known by their own name, (), are an Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous people of North America and the easternmost nation of the Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois Confederacy (also known as the Five Nations or later the ...

. She was the third wife of

Joseph Brant Thayendanegea or Joseph Brant (March 1743 – November 24, 1807) was a Mohawk military and political leader, based in present-day New York and, later, Brantford, in what is today Ontario, who was closely associated with Great Britain du ...

and an important leader among the

Six Nations of the Grand River Six Nations (or Six Nations of the Grand River) is demographically the largest First Nations reserve in Canada. As of the end of 2017, it has a total of 27,276 members, 12,848 of whom live on the reserve. The six nations of the Iroquois Confederacy ...

Family background

Catharine was the daughter of

George Croghan George Croghan (c. 1718 – August 31, 1782) was an Kingdom of Ireland, Irish-born fur trader in the Ohio Country of North America (current United States) who became a key early figure in the region. In 1746 he was appointed to the Onondaga Cou ...

, a deputy agent in the

British Indian Department The Indian Department was established in 1755 to oversee relations between the British Empire and the First Nations in Canada, First Nations of North America. The imperial government ceded control of the Indian Department to the Province of Cana ...

. On her mother's side, Catharine came from a noble Mohawk family. In the

matrilineal Matrilineality, at times called matriliny, is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which people identify with their matriline, their mother's lineage, and which can involve the inheritan ...

society of the

Haudenosaunee The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

, this made Catharine a Yakoyaner (Clan Mother), and gave her the right to nominate the Tekarihogen, the most important civil chief of the Mohawk.

Removal to Canada

During the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, many Mohawks sought refuge at the British post of Niagara to escape U.S. destruction of Haudenosaunee villages. It was at Niagara that Catharine married Joseph Brant sometime during the winter of 1779–1780. Following the British defeat in the war, Catharine and Joseph Brant relocated with many other Indigenous families to a new homeland on the Grand River in the

Province of Quebec Quebec is Canada's largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, New Brunswick to the southeast and a coastal border ...

. In 1795, Joseph Brant received a grant of 700 acres at Burlington Beach, where he relocated with his family sometime around 1802. Here the Brants lived in a mansion staffed by numerous slaves, many of whom had been taken as prisoners during the American Revolution. In all, Joseph Brant owned some 40 enslaved persons, making the Brant family one of the most substantial slaveholders in Canadian history. Joseph Brant died at his Burlington Bay home in 1807.

Later life

After Joseph's death, Catharine returned to the Grand River where she continued to be an important leader. In 1828, she appointed her son John Brant to the position of Tekarihogen. After John died in the cholera epidemic of 1832, Catharine nominated her grandson, Walter Kerr, who was the son of her daughter Elizabeth Brant and

William Johnson Kerr William Johnson Kerr (1787 – April 23, 1845) was a political figure in Upper Canada. He was born in 1787, the son of Robert Kerr and grandson of Sir William Johnson. He was a captain in the Indian Department and with John Brant and Joh ...

. Catharine died on the Grand River in 1837. Until the end of her life, she was an influential leader among the Six Nations and a staunch advocate for the maintenance of their longstanding traditions in the midst of settler society.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brant, Catharine 1750s births 1837 deaths British Indian Department Canadian Mohawk women Indigenous leaders in Ontario 19th-century Native American leaders Native American people of the Indian Wars Native American people in the American Revolution Pre-Confederation Ontario people Six Nations of the Grand River people Women Native American leaders Women Indigenous leaders in Canada 19th-century First Nations women 19th-century First Nations people