Joseph Brant or Thyandenegea
Joseph Brant, a Mohawk interpreter, was a chief and statesman who left his mark on the history of North America. He was born about 1742 near Akron, Ohio and died in 1807 in Upper Canada.
During the Seven Years War, he was with the Americans who invaded at Fort Niagara, as well as the force that besieged Montreal in 1760.
Thyandenegea (his original name) converted to Anglicanism and became a missionary. In Connecticut, Brant attended Moor's Indian Charity School. It was here that he learned to be an interpreter, and taught his language, Mohawk, to Samuel Kirkland.
Brant knew at least half the languages of the Six Nations of the Iroquois, and did a great deal of translating and interpreting, for which he was paid by the US army. At one time, plans were made to send him to Columbia University in New York (then called King's College). Due to a backlash of anti-Indian feeling following the Pontiac uprising, he didn't arrive.
Brant visited England in 1775-6, where he was interviewed by James Boswell, who published an article about him in London Magazine. During the American Revolution, he remained loyal to the king. He was elected war chief of the Six Nations, and led four of the Iroquois tribes (members of the League of Six Nations) against them, fighting on the British (Canadian) side.
Joseph Brant did a great deal to create a unified Six Nations that could oppose American expansion, and to achieve better treaty settlements by working in a large group. Though this effort was not a complete success, Brant did manage to negotiate some cash. about fifteen thousand pounds, as compensation for the Mohawks.
His name is remembered in Brantford, Ontario and in Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital in Burlington. Also located in Burlington is the Joseph Brant Museum, housed in a purpose-built replica of Joseph Brant's original home, which was built in 1800.