Host 1: Hello I’m Will.
Host 2: And I’m Isaac,
Host 3: And I’m Dallas
Host 1: On today’s episode we’re going to tell you an uncommon story, of why the Native Americans mostly sided with British during the American Revolution.
Host 2: Most Americans have heard that most Native Americans fought for the American side.
Host 3: I believe that is a common view.
Host 1: British and French entities were busy carving out alliances with Native groups, through things such as trading
Host 2: Oh, yea I read in an article by Edward St. Germain, “In 1763, the British implemented the Proclamation Act, which was designed to stop the settlers from encroachment on their land.”
Host 3: I could see why they sided with the British, it kept them safe from colonization. And they had a stronger relationship Prior to the war due to trading.
Host 1: Wow, that’s not something you read about in a history textbook!
Host 2: Do you know something else that isn’t in a textbook? The story of Native American Joseph Brant! He was A soldier and a diplomat.
Host 3: Because of a relationship between Sir William Johnson, Joseph Brant and several other Mohawk were allowed to attend a school.
Host 1: That school would later end up being Dartmouth College.
Host 2: After his education, He returned to Joseph's side during the French and Indian War. After that concluded, he stayed with his brother-in-law and assisted in running the British “Indian Department”.
Host 3: “During this time, he also was a missionary which is where he learned to speak at least three languages of the different Issaquah tribes, and [historians] believe he spoke all 6 tribal languages.” (American Battlefield Trust)
Host 1: In 1775, after the battles at Lexington and Concord, the Six Nations met to talk about their role in the American war for independence.
Host 2: “While many advocated for neutrality, almost prophetically, Brant predicted that independence for the colonists meant that the natives across the North American continent would lose their land.”
Host 3: When the war for independence concluded in 1783, unfortunately the Treaty of Paris did not acknowledge the six tribes or any indigenous groups independents, the British had failed to accomplish the Promise which prompted many native to join the British side.
Host 1: Afterwords Brant was responsible for forming the Western Confederacy, a group of thirty native nations which agreed to fight for the Fort Stanwix Treaty.
Host 2: Brent also sought British support in 1785 and while the British compensated the Mohawk losses in the war and gave Brant a pension, The British refused to join in support of the thirty tribes.
Host 3: Afterwords, he tangled with American French Canadian and British bureaucrats to attempt to establish a place for his people to live.
Host 1: Britain never successfully negotiated a future for the natives. A promise which prompted many native tribes to join their cause.
Host 2: Learning about the untold story of Joseph Brant made us realize that he is only one story of many Native Americans who voices and stories have not been heard.
Host 3: This story tells us sadly how a lot of the promises made to the Native Americans on both the American and the British side were never met at the end of the war. And that the Mohawk people were fortunate to be paid for their losses and that Brant also received a pension
Host 1: Not only did the Native Americans lose people during the war they also lost their land. This still devastates the Native Americans to this day.