Norton, John (Teyoninhokarawen), 1770-1827 : John Norton (1770-1827) was born in or near Crail, Scotland, on December 16, 1770. His father, a Cherokee, was taken to Scotland by a British officer in 1774 following the Anglo-Cherokee War. He probably began to use the name John Norton at this time and passed it on to his son. His mother, Christian Anderson, was a Scottish.
Norton likely came to North America with his parents as a young child because his father, a soldier, had been appointed there. Then, the family would have returned to Scotland, where he was educated. In 1785, he was in Quebec City with his parents. Like his father, he joined the army, but he deserted in 1787 at Fort Niagara. Afterwards, he travelled in western New York and probably lived amongst the Cayuga.
In 1791, Norton was a schoolmaster in the Mohawk community of Tyendinaga (Bay of Quinte, Ontario). Later that year, he was involved in battles with different Indigenous nations in the Ohio Valley (Battle of the Wabash, November 4, 1791). He also worked in the fur trade, for John Askin, a Detroit merchant.
Gifted with languages, Norton worked as an interpreter for both the Indian Department and Joseph Brant (Thayendanegea). Around 1797, Brant adopted him as a nephew. In 1799, he became the Chief of diplomacy and war for the Six Nations (Haudenosaunee) and received the name Teyoninhokarawen.
In 1804, at the request of Brant, Norton left for England. The goal of this diplomatic journey was to clarify land ownership issues at the Grand River (Ontario) related to the Haldimand Proclamation (October 25, 1784). Because his position as a representative for the Six Nations was challenged, especially by William Claus, Superintendent of the Indian Department, Norton was not able to work with the British colonial authorities. However, he was received in several circles and made lasting friendships among the political, philanthropic, religious, intellectual and aristocratic elite. He translated the Gospel according to John in Kanien'kehá (Mohawk language) for the British and Foreign Bible Society who published it in 1804. In Scotland, he reunited with members of his maternal family. He tried, without success, to join the British Army.
Norton was back to the Grand River in January of 1806. He kept writing to his English friends, notably Robert Barclay, John Owen and the Duke of Northumberland. In 1808, he sent to Barclay, who wanted to publish it, a journal describing his journey of 1804-1805 (this autograph journal is now in the collection of Library and Archives Canada).
Wanting to reconnect with his paternal family, Norton travelled to the Cherokee Nation in 1809-1810. Returning to the Six Nations, he played a prominent role in the War of 1812 as he led groups of Indigenous warriors. The British colonial authorities recognized his contribution and his influence amongst their Indigenous allies in the conflict. After the war, he campaigned for compensations for Indigenous warriors.
Norton was the father of at least three children, two of whom probably died in infancy. His son John (Tehonakaraa) reached adulthood. In May 1813, in an Anglican ceremony, he married a young Delaware (Lenape) woman named Catherine (Karighwaycagh).
In 1815, he travelled to Scotland and England with his spouse and his son John. He spent time with his family and friends, an made new encounters such as Walter Scott, the famous writer, and the Prince Regent, future King George IV. Norton was granted the honorary titles of major and lieutenant-colonel of the Six Nations and their Indigenous allies (local rank). He wrote a journal on his journey to the Cherokees, on the history of the Haudenosaunee and on the War of 1812 (this journal is in the archives of the Duke of Northumberland, Alnwick Castle, England, and was published by the Champlain Society in 1970 and 2011). His wife and son went to school in Scotland, and the later remained there for a while to complete his education.
In 1816, Norton was back in Upper Canada and devoted himself to agriculture and Christianity. In 1823, he mortally wounded a man, Joseph Crawford (Kahishorowanen), in an argument over a supposed relationship with his wife. He got off with a light sentence (manslaughter and a 25 pounds fine), but, in fear of revenge, he left the Grand River for a long journey. He travelled again to the Cherokee and to the Mexican territory (now New Mexico and Texas). He was involved in discussions between the Mexican authorities and a group of Shawnee that wanted to settle there. He probably died in 1827 at the age of 56, at an unknown location, without having seen the Grand River again.
Sources:
John Norton, A Mohawk Memoir from the War of 1812. John Norton - Theyoninhokarawen, Carl Benn, ed., Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 2019.
John Norton, The Journal of Major John Norton, 1816, Carl F. Klink, James J. Talman, ed., Introduction to reissue and additional notes by Carl Benn, Toronto, The Champlain Society, vol. 72, 2011 (1970).
Carl F. Klinck, "Norton, John," in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 6, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003 (1987).
