Archief AFC407 - John Norton (Teyoninhokarawen) collection

John Norton (ca. 1760 - 1831), also known as Teyoninhokarawen, was an Indian Agent, an advocate for the First Nations in Upper Canada and the adopted nephew and deputy of Joseph Brant, a Mohawk leader of the Six Nations reserve. Norton's ancestry is unclear - he may have been of mixed Cherokee- Scottish descent or of Cherokee descent and raised in Scotland. In the 1780s he came to Upper Canada and in 1796 he was appointed as an Indian Interpreter. He is known for his efforts in rallying the support of the First Nations during the War of 1812. Norton was also the author of a comprehensive manuscript which includes an account of his travels, a history of the First Nations and an account of his participation in the War of 1812. It was not published within Norton's lifetime but it was preserved in the library of Alnwick Castle.
J. McE Murray (d. 1945) was secretary-treasurer of the Ontario Historical Society. In 1942, Murray came into possession of an original journal and several letters of John Norton. At the June 24, 1943 Brantford meeting of the Ontario Historical Society he read a paper about John Norton which he subsequently decided not to have printed. After his death, his daughter supplied the original handwritten text to the OHS for publication. It was published in the Ontario Historical Society Papers and Records in 1945.
Carl F. Klinck was an English professor at the University of Western Ontario with an interest in Canadian literature and criticism. In 1966, Klinck discovered the 1816 journal of John Norton at Alnwick Castle. He and J.J. Talman arranged for the publication of the journal by the Champlain Society, serving as editors and writing an introduction.