Hendrick Theyanoguin

Hendrick Theyanoguin
This engraving was sold in London after Hendrick's death in the Battle of Lake George. He holds a belt of wampum in his left hand.
Chief of the Mohawk Bear Clan
Personal details
Bornc. 1691
Westfield, Massachusetts Bay Colony
DiedSeptember 8, 1755 (aged 64)
near Lake George, Province of New York
Military service
AllegianceIroquois Confederacy
Battles/wars

Hendrick Theyanoguin (c. 1691 – September 8, 1755), whose name had several spelling variations, was a Mohawk leader[1] and member of the Bear Clan.[2] He resided at Canajoharie or the Upper Mohawk Castle in colonial New York.[3] He was a Speaker for the Mohawk Council. Hendrick formed a close alliance with Sir William Johnson, the Superintendent of Indian affairs in North America.

Until the late 20th century, Hendrick's biography was conflated with an older Mohawk leader given the same first name in baptism, Hendrick Tejonihokarawa (also known as Hendrick Peters) (c. 1660 – c. 1735). The latter was a member of the Wolf Clan (an important difference, as shown by the historian Barbara Sivertsen) and based in Tiononderoge, the Lower Castle, closer to the English base in Albany. The English built Fort Hunter in Tionondaga in 1711 with an Anglican mission. The Mohawk village became mostly Christianized early in the eighteenth century.

  1. ^ Braceras, Jennifer (December 8, 2016). "Those Imperialistic Christian Missionaries - Some Williams College professors want 'context' for a monument to spreading the Gospel". Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
  2. ^ "Archive of material relating to the Israeli raid on Entebbe in 1976 will be auctioned April 10th". Westport, Connecticut: ARTFIX Daily. March 27, 2018. Archived from the original on April 17, 2018.
  3. ^ Sivertsen 1996.