Birth of Mary Brant
Signature of Mary Brant. Brant Family fonds, Claus Papers, Library and Archives of Canada, MG 19, F1, vol. 2, e007913627
1736
Mary, or “Molly,” Brant (Mohawk name: KoñwatsiˀTsiaiéñni) was one of the most prominent Indigenous women in North American history. A Mohawk from upper New York, Brant went on to become the head of a group of Haudenosaunee matrons who wielded significant power within the Iroquois government. Adding to her influence, Brant became the consort of Sir William Johnson, a powerful British Indian agent with whom she had eight children. Brant, along with her younger brother Joseph Brant, helped keep the Haudenosaunee Confederacy on Britain’s side during the American Revolution.
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