John Smoke Johnson
Encyclopedia
Mohawk nation
Mohawk are the most easterly tribe of the Iroquois confederation. They call themselves Kanien'gehaga, people of the place of the flint...
chief and leader in Canada. Johnson fought for the British Crown in the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
and was elected by his tribal council as a "Pine Tree Chief", a non-hereditary position. He was influential in the Mohawk and British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
communities of Ontario, Canada.
Early life and education
Smoke Johnson, a "full-blooded" Mohawk of the Bear clan of his mother, was born in 1792 in Ontario at the Six NationsSix Nations 40, Ontario
Six Nations is the largest First Nation in Canada with a total of 23,902 band members. 11,865 are reported living in the territory. It is the only territory in North America that has the six Iroquois nations living together. These nations are the Mohawk, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Seneca and...
Indian Reserve
Indian reserve
In Canada, an Indian reserve is specified by the Indian Act as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." The Act also specifies that land reserved for the use and benefit of a band which is not...
, the son of Jacob Tekahionwake Johnson (1758–1843) and . He was reared in traditional Mohawk culture, but likely learned English as well.
His father Tekahionwake was born in Mohawk territory in the colony of New York, in what became the United States. Tekahionwake was baptized and took the name Jacob Johnson, adopting his surname from that of Sir William Johnson, the influential British Superintendent of Indian Affairs, who acted as his godfather. Jacob passed the Johnson surname down in his family. With the United States victory in the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, the Mohawk and other Iroquois allies of the British were forced to cede their large territories in New York. They moved to Canada, where the British Crown granted them land in compensation at the Six Nations and other reserves in what became Ontario.
Marriage and family
Smoke Johnson married Helen Martin (1798 – March 27, 1866), daughter of Catherine Rolleston, a Dutch woman who had been captured as a girl and adopted as a Mohawk into the Wolf clan, and Ohyeatea, also known as George Martin. They had seven children: Mary, Aaron, Joseph, William, Margret, Susannah and George Henry MartinGeorge Henry Martin Johnson
George Henry Martin Johnson was a chief of the Mohawk of the Six Nations in Canada and an interpreter.-Early life:...
(Onwanonsyshon).
Career
George Henry Martin JohnsonGeorge Henry Martin Johnson
George Henry Martin Johnson was a chief of the Mohawk of the Six Nations in Canada and an interpreter.-Early life:...
also advanced to be a Mohawk chief, based on his mother's Wolf clan and family influence in the matrilineal society. Fluent in English and the Mohawk language
Mohawk language
Mohawk is an Iroquoian language spoken by around 2,000 people of the Mohawk nation in the United States and Canada . Mohawk has the largest number of speakers of the Northern Iroquoian languages; today it is the only one with greater than a thousand remaining...
, he became an interpreter for the Canadian government and a leader on the Six Nations reserve. As an informal diplomat and negotiator, he helped facilitate relations between the British and Native communities.
George Johnson married Emily Howells, a native of England whose family had immigrated to the United States in 1832. They were the parents of four children, including the well-known poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
Emily Pauline Johnson
Pauline Johnson
Emily Pauline Johnson , commonly known as E. Pauline Johnson or just Pauline Johnson, was a Canadian writer and performer popular in the late 19th century...
.
External links and further reading
- Horatio Hale, "Chapter III: The Book of Rites", The Iroquois Book of Rites (1883), Gutenberg Website, references to J. S. Johnson and his son George M. Johnson
- Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
- O'Toole, FintanFintan O'TooleFintan O'Toole is a columnist, assistant editor and drama critic for The Irish Times. He has written for The Irish Times since 1988 and was drama critic for the New York Daily News from 1997 to 2001. He is a literary critic, historical writer and political commentator, with generally left-wing views...
, White Savage: William Johnson and the Invention of America; New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005. ISBN 0-374-28128-9. - "John Smoke Johnson", The Pauline Johnson Archive, McMaster University