Sir William Johnson (1715-1774) was one of the most successful British agents for Native American diplomacy.
To
highlight, he was an immigrant full of ambition who wanted to be at the
forefront of the political scene. At a conference in 1746, a New York councilor
named Cadwallader Colden said that he saw Johnson “dressed and painted after
the manner of an Indian War Captain.”[1] Johnson was followed by
Mohawks dressed like they were setting off to go to war. His long-standing
relationship with the Mohawks offered tangible benefits that helped Johnson
further his political career in the Colony of New York. One benefit was the
protection granted to his family and property from Native American raids that
plagued the area. Working as Johnson’s accomplices, the Mohawks helped him
confront his political enemies, convincing “...Governor Clinton of Johnson’s
indispensability in New York’s Indian affairs….”[2] While Johnson was not the
only negotiator, the English had to communicate with the Mohawks, he was the
only one who had the most success in his mission. He was able to gain a high
level of understanding by assimilating himself into the Mohawks’ society and
learning their culture from the inside. However, this long-standing
relationship between Johnson and the Mohawks did not occur overnight. Three
factors were involved in building this relationship: gift-giving; his marriage
to Molly Brant; and his friendship with Chief Theyanoguin.
Gift-giving dates back to the creation myth of the Haudenosaunee when the Sky Woman, the creator of the world, gifted her husband bread baked with berries and in return, she was given venison.[3] Another example can be found in the myth of Hiawatha, a Mohawk leader, and Deganawida, two prominent founders of the Haudenosaunee. During a period of internal warfare, Hiawatha, overcome by grief after losing his children, was comforted by Deganawida with a wampum belt. By honoring this vital tradition, Johnson was able to demonstrate his knowledge of the Six Nations` culture. This was shown at a treaty conference in 1750 when a procession of leaders from the Six Nations “dressed in laced hats and matchcoats and ruffled shirts”[4] entered the meeting. These articles of clothing were gifted to the sachems by Sir William Johnson. The act of giving gifts was an ancient custom in the Haudenosaunee society, created to strengthen their relationships with each other. Johnson’s ability to interact and communicate with the leaders of the Mohawk Nation made him a valuable liaison between the British and the Haudenosaunee. He was able to merge the gap between the two cultures by working in close proximity to the Mohawks. The beneficial relationship between Johnson and the Mohawks grew into a relationship that enriched the life and culture of both parties. Through his knowledge of gift-giving, Johnson was able to foster goodwill.[5] By giving trade goods to the Mohawks, Chief Theyanoguin was obliged to repay Johnson the only way he knew how. Chief Theyanoguin spread the news of Johnson’s influence amongst the Mohawks to the other Six Nations within the Iroquois Confederacy.[6] It was in 1742 that Johnson was adopted by the Mohawks as an honorary sachem.[7]
As aforementioned, Johnson’s relationships with prominent Mohawks namely, Chief Theyanoguin and Molly Brant, helped him to achieve the social standing and political power he desired. Through his marriage to two prominent Mohawk women, Caroline Henrick and Molly Brant, Johnson was able to increase his reputation and his political power amongst the Mohawks. While his marriage to Caroline Henrick is important, it was Molly Brant who was “chiefly associated” with Johnson.
As a young girl, she
was taken into Sir William Johnson’s home and was able to meet the demands that
were asked of her while living in his household. Through his marriage to Molly
Brant, Johnson was able to have a closer relationship with the Keepers of the
Eastern Door, meaning they were protectors against eastern invaders and
protected the League’s interests in the east.[8]
However, the relationship was not one-sided when it came to advantages. The Mohawks used Johnson for their own advantage when it came to protecting their rights as Keepers of the Eastern Door. Through his relationship with Chief Theyanoguin, Johnson was able to make a political statement that benefited both the Mohawks and himself. Later in 1751, Johnson resigned from his position as the Indian Commissioner of New York, claiming that the British government failed to reimburse him, causing him to use personal funds to keep the Mohawks loyal. By using Johnson’s resignation to their advantage, he and Theyanoguin planned to recreate the Covenant Chain, a series of treaties and alliances between the British and the Haudenosaunee, in their own image. By 1751 the sachems of the Six Nations were unable to present a unified front against their enemies and the British. Using his resignation as a stepping stone, Johnson and Theyanoguin abandoned the Covenant Chain due to the failure of appointed officials by the Crown “....to prevent Canadian agents and traders from enticing factions of the Six Nations to favor France.”[9] Another important reason the Covenant Chain was broken was due to the encroachment of white English settlers on Iroquois land.[10]
Bibliography
Secondary Sources
Hart, William B. “Black ‘Go-Between’ and the Mutability of ‘Race’ Status, and Identity on New York’s Pre-Revolutionary Frontier.” In Contact Points: American Frontiers from the Mohawk Valley to the Mississippi, 1750-1830, 88–113. University of North Carolina Press, 1998.
Holton, Woody. “The Ohio Indians and the Coming of the American Revolution in Virginia.” The Journal of Southern History 60, no. 3 (August 1994): 453 - 478.
Muller, Kevin R. “Pelts and Power, Mohawks and Myth: Benjamin West’s Portrait of Guy Johnson.” Winterthur Portfolio 40, no. 1 (2005): 41–76. Mullin, Michael J. “Personal Politics: William Johnson and the Mohawks.” American Indian Quarterly 17, no. 3 (1993): 350–58.
O’Toole,
Fintan. White Savage: William Johnson and
the Invention of America. Albany, New
Preston, David L. The Texture of Contact: European and Indian Settler Communities on the Frontier. University of Nebraska Press, 2009, p. 94.
Richter, Daniel K. The Ordeal of the Longhouse: The Peoples of the Iroquois League in the Era of European Colonization. Williamsburg, Virginia: The University of North Carolina Press, 1992. p. 14.
Shannon,
Timothy J. “Dressing for Success on the Mohawk Frontier: Hendrick, Willia
Shannon, Timothy J. “The World That Made William Johnson.” New York History, vol. 89, no. 2 (2008): p. 119.
Snow,
Dean R. “Searching for Hendrick: Correction of a Historic Conflation.” New York History
88, no. 3 (January 1996): 29–253. Johnson, William.
[1] Timothy
J. Shannon. “Dressing For Success on the Mohawk Frontier: Hendrick, William
Johnson, and the Indian Fashion,” The
William and Mary Quarterly, vol. 53, no. 1, (Jan, 1996), 14.
[2] Timothy
J. Shannon. “The World That Made William Johnson,” New York History, vol. 89, no. 2 (2008): p. 119.
[3] Daniel K. Richter. The
Ordeal of the Longhouse: The Peoples of the Iroquois League in the Era of European Colonization. (Williamsburg,
Virginia: The University of North Carolina Press, 1992). p. 14.
[4] Shannon.
“Dressing For Success on the Mohawk Frontier: Hendrick, William Johnson, and
the Indian Fashion,” 14.
[5] Kevin
R. Muller. “Pelts and Power, Mohawks and Myth: Benjamin West’s Portrait of Guy
Johnson.” Winterthur Portfolio, Vol.
40, No. 1, (2005), 54.
[6] Muller.
“Pelts and Power”, 54.
[7] Fintan
O’Toole, White Savage: William Johnson
and the Invention of America. (New York: State University of New York,
2009), 69.
[8] Clark.
“Sir William Johnson and Pontiac,” 92 - 93.
[9] Ethan A. Schmidt, Native Americans in the American Revolution:
How the War Divided, Devastated, and Transformed the Early American Indian
World. Santa Barbara, California: Praeger, 2014, 54.
[10] Schmidt, Native Americans in the American Revolution, 54.
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