Ahyouwaighs, Chief of the Six Nations, from '"History of the Indian Tribes of North America"
John T. Bowen, American, born England, about 1801 - 1856
after Henry Inman, American, 1801 - 1846
after Charles Bird King, American, 1785 - 1862
about 1838
Hand colored lithograph on paper
Sheet: 19 11/16 × 14 3/8 in. (50 × 36.5 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Gift of Marilyn Brunson in memory of James L. Brunson
PR.2001.32.2
Publisher
Frederick W. Greenough, Philadelphia
Geography
Place Made: United States, North America
Period
19th century
Object Name
Research Area
Not on view
Inscriptions
Initialled, in stone (by lithographic artist?), at terminus of arm at right: R.T.; printed, lower margin: AHYOUWAIGHS / CHIEF OF THE SIX NATIONS. / PUBLISHED BY F. W. GREENOUGH, PHILADA. ["A" is superscript above period] / Drawn Printed & Coloured at I. T. Bowen's Lithographic Establishment No. ["o" is superscript above period] 94 Walnut St. / Entered according to act of Congress in the Year 1838 by F. W. Greenough, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Eastern District of Penna. ["a" is superscript over period]. Dealer label on backing: DONALD A. HEALD / FINE ART / 885 West End Avenue / New York, New York 10025 / 212-864-6905 / Museum Quality Framing. Sheet is embossed to left of figure: SONDLEY LIBRARY / ASHEVILLE, N.C.
Label
Ahyouwaighs, or John Brant, wears a peace medal around his neck. It was likely given to him by the British in recognition of his leadership and for leveraging Mohawk support to fight against the United States during the War of 1812. After the war, Brant successfully campaigned for Mohawk land rights in Canada and was later the first Indigenous person elected to the Upper Canada assembly in 1830.
His father, Thayendanegea, or Joseph Brant, was educated at Eleazar Wheelock’s Connecticut Indian School prior to the founding of Dartmouth. Dartmouth historian Colin Calloway credits the elder Brant, who also allied with the British, for helping to protect Dartmouth against attacks from Indigenous nations allied with the British during the Revolutionary War.
From the 2025-26 exhibition Revolution Reconsidered: History, Myth, and Propaganda, curated by Michael W. Hartman (Jonathan Little Cohen Curator of American Art), Haely Chang (Jane and Raphael Bernstein Associate Curator of East Asian Art), Elizabeth Rice Mattison (Andrew W. Mellon Curator of Academic Programming and Curator of European Art), Ashley B. Offill (Curator of Collections), and Evonne Fuselier (Hood Museum Board of Advisors Mutual Learning Fellow)
Course History
NAS 81.03, Pen and Ink Witchcraft: Native American History in Treaties, Collin Calloway, Winter 2019
NAS 81.03, HIST 96.08, Pen and Ink WItchcraft, Collin Calloway, Winter 2020
ENGL 52, Vox Clamantis: Wilderness in 19th Century American Literature, Michael Chaney, Winter 2020
Exhibition History
Revolution Reconsidered: History, Myth, and Propaganda, Harteveldt Family Gallery and Owen Robertson Cheatham Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, October 18, 2025 - August 8, 2026.
Provenance
Sondley Library, Asheville, North Carolina; Donald A. Heald Fine Art, New York; sold to Mr. and Mrs. J. Brunson; given to present collection, 2001.
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