Tyendinaga history
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ORONHYATEKHA (meaning “burning cloud,” baptized Peter Martin), physician, office holder, administrator of a fraternal order, and author; b. 10 Aug. 1841 on the Six Nations Reserve near Brantford, Upper Canada, grandson of George Martin*; m. 28 Aug. 1863 Ellen Hill (Karakwineh, meaning “moving sun”), great-granddaughter of Joseph Brant [Thayendanegea*], and they had six children, of whom a daughter and a son survived to adulthood; d. 3 March 1907 in Savannah, Ga, and was buried on the Tyendinaga Reserve near Deseronto, Ont.
Although it is difficult to assemble a balanced picture of Oronhyatekha’s life and career – biographies written during his lifetime are marred by hagiography and embellishment, much of which the subject propagated – it is still possible to present an outline of his achievements. Born into a Mohawk family on the Grand River, he learned early to take advantage of the resources at hand. In 1846–54 he attended the New England Company’s industrial school near the reserve, perfecting his English and learning the shoema
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Dr. Oronhyatekha: Security, Justice, Equality
by Kieth Jamieson and Michelle A. Hamilton
Dundurn Press
368 pages, $26.99
This biography is about one of the most interesting men in Canadian history about whom little is known, and it thus fills an important gap. Dr. Oronhyatekha (Burning Sky) was baptized Peter Martin in 1841 in the Mohawk Territory of the Six Nations of the Grand River, near Brantford, Ontario. He lived an eventful life, travelling widely, and died in Savannah, Georgia, in 1907. Oronhyatekha’s funeral was held in Toronto and was attended by thousands. His body was taken by train for interment in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, north and west of Kingston, Ontario.
Probably the best-known story about Oronhyatekha is an address he made to the Prince of Wales when only nineteen years old. The prince, then aged eighteen and the eldest son of Queen Victoria, was paying a royal visit to Canada. Chosen to speak by the Six Nations of the Grand River, Oronhyatekha so impressed the future king that he was was given the opportunity to attend Oxford University. On his ret
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Summary
As a physician, temperance advocate, chairman of the Grand General Indian Council of Ontario, the Supreme Chief Ranger of the Independent Order of Foresters, and mistakenly known as a Mohawk Chief, Dr. Oronhyatekha was a well-known, larger-than-life figure in North America and internationally. Since then, his memory has faded in mainstream society. Recently, however, he has re-emerged as a person of historical significance, designated as such by Parks Canada. Now the subject of the first full-length biography, co-authors Michelle Hamilton and Keith Jamieson, have separated out the true stories of his life from apocryphal ones. Although he was much more than a doctor, what follows is the story of how Oronhyatekha, a Mohawk boy baptized Peter Martin at the Six Nations of the Grand River, tenaciously pursued his dream of becoming a physician.
In 2005, Parks Canada erected a plaque near Dr. Oronhyatekha’s (Burning Sky) grave at the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory and designated him a national historic person, partially based on the belief that he was the first accredited indige
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