Mohawk – Wyandot Ancestry of Lt. John Young's ... - Davidkfaux.org

compelling reason to assume that Martin’s version is more likely correct relative toinformation provided by Nelles family members. The present author does not recall thename Tahatonne or Tahanata appearing in any record pertaining to the Mohawks of theGrand River (1787 – 1896) other than the 1815 list and the Nelles obituary respectively –or if so it is not easily recognizable. As we shall see, the evidence strongly suggests thatthese are entirely different names with entirely different meanings – the surfacesimilarities being an illusion.An examples of a possible earlier instance of the name Tahatonne is found on 5 April1687 a Mohawk named Tahaiadons offered proposals at a conference in Albany – thismay be the same sachem, so TA-HA-IA-DONS. With reference to Tahanata, on theabove 1789 deed signed by the Canajoharie Mohawks there is a name, DavidDehanonyantha. His identity is unknown. Phonetically this is similar to, and perhapsmore precisely written, Tahanata (D and T being equivalent in Mohawk). It isexceedingly difficult even for those who are fluent in the language to determine whethertwo Mohawk names are identical, due to spelling and dialectical differences and changein word meaning over time. One other example of a Six Nations name likely to beequivalent to Tahanata was “Tachanuntie or Tachanontia”, an Onondaga Chief attendingthe June 1744 Conference in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He was known as “the BlackPrince” due to his African – Indian heritage, although others say it was due to his tatoos(Colden, 1747, p.110; Shannon, 2008).There is also the strong possibility that names introgressed from other Iroquoian Nations(more on this subject later), especially after the wars of the mid 17 th Century whenIroquoian speaking tribes such as the Huron, Wenro, Attiwandaronk, and Erie wereeffectively destroyed, and many of the survivors adopted into member nations of theIroquois Confederacy.Clearly Tahanata is a Six Nations name (Iroquoian language family) with some antiquity.For example on 12 July 1742 among the Tuscaroras at a conference in Philadephia wasTahnatakqua. Reg Henry (see below) told the present author that frequently endings suchas “ha” to personal names are dropped in everyday use. An example relating to theMohawks is Brant Canagaradunckwa (various spellings). On 23 August 1752 Brantappended a note written in Mohawk to Conrad Weiser in a letter sent by Daniel Claus.He signed his name “Kanakaradon” in this document (Kelsay, 1986). He dropped the“ckwa” which is equivalent to the “kqua” in the name above. Among the Mohawks ofthe Bear Tribe from Canajoharie, accompanying Sir William Johnson to Montreal in1760, was Johannes Tehanagrackhas. Here the “ckhas” could have been “optional” so ifdropped yielding Tehanaghra. If the last “r” was meant to be a “t” this name would beidentical to Tahanata - maybe.In truth, there is no clear evidence that either name has appeared in the historical recordamong the Mohawk prior to their appearance as the names of Cotter and Nellesrespectively.32