| George Henry Martin Johnson | |
|---|---|
Chief George Johnson, seated centre, with anthropologist Horatio Hale on the left, and fellow chiefs of the Mohawk nation |
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| Born | Deyonhehgon October 7, 1816 Bow Park, Grand River, North America |
| Died | February 19, 1884 (aged 67) Grand River, Canada |
| Nationality | Mohawk |
| Other names | Onwanonsyshon |
| Ethnicity | Iroquois |
| Citizenship | Canadian |
| Alma mater | Mohawk Institute |
| Occupation | Interpreter |
| Known for | Six Nations chief |
| Title | Chief |
| Spouse | Emily Susanna Howells (m. 1853–1884) |
| Children | Pauline Johnson, 3 others |
George Henry Martin Johnson (Onwanonsyshon) (October 7, 1816 – February 19, 1884) was a chief of the Mohawk of the Six Nations in Canada and an interpreter.
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Johnson was born at Bow Park on the Grand River on the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation near Brantford in 1816. He was the son of John Smoke Johnson, a Mohawk Bear clan chief, and Helen Martin, a Mohawk whose Dutch mother Catherine Rolleston had been captured and adopted into the Wolf clan.[1] Her father Ohyeatea (George Martin) was also Mohawk.[1] Helen Martin was of the Wolf clan, whose members had founded the Reserve after resettling from New York during the American Revolution.
George Johnson was educated at the Mohawk Institute, established by the British for the education of Native children, where he became fluent in both the Mohawk and English languages.
In 1838, Johnson was hired by the Reverend Adam Elliot as an interpreter. In 1840, he became interpreter for the Anglican mission at the Reserve. He became influential in both the English and Mohawk communities.
In 1853, Johnson married Emily Susanna Howells, a native of England whose family had immigrated to the United States in 1832. She was said to be a cousin of the American author William Dean Howells. Both families, and the Native community in general, opposed Johnson's interracial marriage to a white woman, although he also had European ancestry.[2] Reverend Elliot refused to perform the marriage ceremony, so the couple found an Anglican priest who would.[2]
The couple educated their four children to embrace both their Mohawk and English heritage. The Johnsons entertained leading figures of the time at their home of Chiefswood, which George had built in 1856. His youngest daughter Pauline Johnson became a well-known poet and performer.
Johnson became friends with Jasper Tough Gilkison, superintendent to the Six Nations. He was appointed government interpreter. He was also elected as a chief of the Six Nations, succeeding his mother's brother, Henry Martin. For Johnson's efforts to control the theft of timber and sale of whiskey on the reserve by unscrupulous non-native men, he was badly beaten in 1865. He was attacked again and shot in 1873.
In 1884 Johnson died at his estate Chiefswood on the Grand River near Brantford in 1884. It has been listed as a National Historic Site, as it is the only Native mansion surviving from the pre-Confederation years.