Joseph Brant

His life cannot be summed up in terms of success or failure although he had known both. He burned his former hometown of Canajoharie because it had been re-occupied by American settlers. While the colonists called the Indian killings "massacres" they considered their own forces' widespread destruction of Indian villages and populations simply as part of the partisan war but the Iroquois equally grieved their losses.

While not born into a hereditary leadership role within the Iroquois League Brant rose to prominence due to his education abilities and his connections to British officials. Through his sister Molly Brant and his later leadership he was associated with Sir William Johnson the influential British Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the province of New York. Perhaps the American Indian of his generation best known to the Americans and British he met many of the most significant Anglo-American people of the age including both George Washington and King George III.