User talk:Mohawkscout

I have been following and contributing to the Joseph Brant entry for a number of years. I feel that the section on Descendants should be retained, subject to verification, for a variety of reasons. I totally agree that some of the inclusions may not meet "notability" guidelines, but they do have inherent value to an overall understanding of the subject. All can be verified using existing references sources cited in the article. The entry is badly in need of re-editing - I will offer some suggestions (with verifiable references) within the next few weeks. In the meantime it would be greatly appreciated if changes are left intact until we have all (30+ watchers/contributors?) had an opportunity to review the article. Mohawkscout (talk) 09:59, 20 October 2010 (UTC) Mohawkscout (Terry Walton), terry@cal.berkeley.edu


 * Why do they have inherent value? Adam Bishop (talk) 12:39, 20 October 2010 (UTC)

Adam, Sorry for the delay in getting back to you - I have been away and only recently returned. Returning to the subject of descendants, there are at least two notables (Lt. Cameron D. Brant, d. 2nd Battle of Ypres, 1915) and Ethel Brant Monture (his sister, d. 1977), who was the author of two books on Joseph Brant, and a noted ethnologist. She was the North American Indian (her preference of terminology) representative on the National Council of Christians and Jews for many years, among many interests. She was an outstanding speaker and consultant to various tribes and organizations. She was something of a mentoring aunt to me (my grandfather's generation)- I first met her in the '60's when she served as a consultant to the Navajo Tribal Council (Annie Winnetka, chairperson) in Window Rock, AZ, where I was working as an adult basic education teacher after college. Both Cameron and Ethel Brant are included in Canadian educational curriculum components on the First Nations.

The Joseph Brant Museum (Burlington, Ontario) has a genealogical database of many proven Joseph Brant descendants. It has been inaccessible recently because of a computer conversion, but hopefully it will be fully restored at some point. I would like to see a link to the database, which will make our discussion of "not-so notables" moot. The Wikipedia piece on the museum, incidentally, contains a number of inaccuracies and should be re-edited.

However, to address your question regarding the "inherent value" of including some descendants: It has been my experience that Native Americans share an interest in family and genealogy that compares more than favorably with the general population. The literature and recorded data since the 19th Century is immense. Much of it has been generated by government agencies and tribal organizations, as well as by cultural anthropologists, historians and other professionals in the field. The Six Nations, for example, have an active genealogical group located on the reserve in Ohsweken that meets regularly not far from Brant's first house on the Grand River near Brantford. Including a small but hopefully representative section on descendants, with a link to the database at the Joseph Brant Museum, would be appropriate. Joseph Brant himself was extremely family-oriented, which was carried on by his wife, Catherine Croghan Brant, until her death in 1836. The Mohawks and the Six Nations, as you know, were matriarchical. The Brant daughters and wives of the 19th and 20th centuries have served as guardians of the Brant legacy - I could go on and on but I hope you see my point.

I will be happy to assist in any way I can. I have a number of published sources that should be added to the references, and will offer suggested corrections where I have noted inaccuracies or less than complete information.

Terry Walton, terry@cal.berkeley.edu.