Indian Joe, (Captain Joe, Old Joe, Jo Indian, Joe Injun,
Abenaki
The Abenaki ( Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was pred ...
translation of Joseph: Susapp
) was a
Native American scout.
Biography
Born near
Louisbourg, Nova Scotia
Louisbourg is an unincorporated community and former town in Cape Breton Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia.
History
The harbour had been used by European mariners since at least the 1590s, when it was known as English Port and Havre à l'Ang ...
of
Mi'kmaq
The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Mi'kmaw'' or ''Mi'gmaw''; ; , and formerly Micmac) are an Indigenous group of people of the Northeastern Woodlands, native to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces, primarily Nova Scotia, New Bru ...
origin, he was adopted by
Abenaki
The Abenaki ( Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was pred ...
people, who took him to St. Francis (today's
Odanak
Odanak is an Abenaki First Nations reserve in the Central Quebec region, Quebec, Canada. The mostly First Nations population as of the 2021 Canadian census was 481. The territory is located near the mouth of the Saint-François River at its co ...
). He served as a scout under Colonel
Jacob Bayley (1726-1815). He was injured in the
Rogers' Rangers raid on the village. He eventually moved to the area of Cowass (today's
Newbury, Vermont).
[
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 ...
, Joe again served under Jacob Bayley and later under Moses Hazen. After the war, he and Molly lived in Danville, Vermont
Danville is a New England town, town in Caledonia County, Vermont, Caledonia County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,335 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The primary settlement in town is recorded as the Danville (CDP), ...
[ and on an island on what is now called Joe's Pond in Danville.][ He received an annual pension and had guardians to take care of him. These were John McDonald of Hyde Park, Timothy Hinman of Derby, and Frye Bayley of Newbury.][
]
Legacy
Several places are named after Joe and Molly:
* Joe's Pond between present day Danville and Cabot[
* Molly's Pond in Cabot][
Other tributes:
* "A Dirge for Jo Indian", composed in 1922, by Eastwood Lane as part of his Adirondack Sketches
]
See also
* Military history of the Mi’kmaq people
References
Further reading
* Johnson Family of Newbury TPapers, 1775-1886, Docs. 574.76.1 & 575.33, MSA 426.28, Vermont Historical Society.
* William Parker Neal, Indian Joe Trilogy: Indian Joe The Friendly Indian Guide, Indian Joe The Famous Abenaki, Molly - Squaw of Indian Joe. anville, VT: United Methodist Church & the author, 1976-? (See http://www.joespondvermont.com/products.html)
* Frederic P. Wells, History of Newbury, Vermont ... St. Johnsbury, VT: Caledonian, 1902.
{{Authority control
Canadian Mi'kmaq people
Abenaki people
18th-century Native American people
19th-century Native American people
Native American history of Vermont
Year of birth unknown
1819 deaths
1730s births