Among the 14 monuments on Confederation Square is one honouring Thayendanegea, a Mohawk whose name means “bind together to strengthen,” which is exactly what Thayendanegea is known for. He is, however, better known by his English name of Joseph Brant.
Thayendanegea was a Mohawk warrior and chief of the Six Nations. During the American Revolution he led his people in support of British rule. He led Mohawk and colonial loyalists against American rebels on the New York frontier. He once said that they fought in the war not as loyalists but “nation-to-nation as loyal and faithful allies to the Crown.”
When the war ended, he brought his people to Canada. He was granted land along the Grand River in Ontario, where he lived and continued Anglican missionary work.
He was the first legislative chaplain of Queen’s Park and together with Dr. John Stuart he translated a prayer book and parts of the Bible into Mohawk. Brantford and Brant County are both named after Thayendanegea.