Introduction

“Knowledge of the courage, sacrifice, and contribution of native peoples in the war of 1812 will forever change your understanding of Canada’s history.”

— Tim Johnson (Waha:tsa), Co-chair, Landscape of Nations, Six Nations of the Grand River

The Battle of Queenston Heights on October 13, 1812 served as an extraordinary expression of historic alliances that extended back generations and marked an essential moment in the emergence of a fledgling country whose borders and character were being tested and defined. The heroics and exploits of Major-General Sir Isaac Brock and General Roger Hale Sheaffe on the battlefield and in diplomacy are well known to history. Largely unknown, however, is the significant role that Six Nations and Native al- lies played in supporting their British and Canadian compatriots at Queenston Heights.

Native allies also played critical roles during the War of 1812 in the capture of Forts Detroit and Mackinac, the Battles of Beaver Dams (which Laura Secord had warned about and fought almost entirely by Kanawake Mohawk warriors), Stoney Creek, the blockade of Fort George in 1813, and other events, thereby determining the course of Canadian history.

Upon deeper examination historic figures such as John Norton and John Brant, war captains among the Six Nations, Native warriors like Young Warner, John Tutela, John Smoke Johnson, and others have emerged from the shadows illuminating the invisible pages of our shared history.

Only now are we as a society beginning to address the legacy of these contributions and reassessing the covenant of friendship that tarnished darkly over the past two centuries.

HONOURING INDIGENOUS ALLIES

In addition to the Six Nations (Mohawk Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora) members of these Indigenous nations also took part in the War of 1812:

Abenaki of Three Rivers and St. Francis
Anishnaabeg
Cherokee
Delaware
Huron of Lorette
Kanesatake Mohawk M
enominee
Métis
Mississauga
Moravian
Algonquin
Akwesasne Mohawk
Dakotah (Sioux)
Fox
Kahnawake Mohawk
Kickapoo
Mesquakie
Miami
Mohican
Muncey