BRANTFORD, Ontario, July 7, 2006 — It was a day of celebration highlighting the reality that not every hero of the Bible is actually in the Bible. On Sunday, June 25-in the middle of their centennial year-the Canadian Bible Society (CBS) marked the life of First Nations war hero Teyoninhokarawen. Also known as Captain John Norton, Teyoninhokarawen's life was celebrated with a sacred service and historic re-enactment before 200 guests at Ontario's oldest Protestant church, the Mohawk Chapel in Brantford.
Norton is an example of all that is unique in the formation of Canada regarding the interconnectedness of First Nations and European cultures. His father was Cherokee, his mother Scottish. He spoke five European and 10 Native languages. He chose the aboriginal way of life, was adopted by Joseph Brant and was sent as an ambassador back to England to appeal to the Privy Council concerning the Haldimand Land Grant. He became the leader of the First Nations warriors, allies to the British in the War of 1812. But that's not why the Bible society remembers the man.
"Norton represents the Canadian connection in the first efforts of the British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS, parent society to the CBS) more than 200 years ago," said Dennis Hillis, CBS district director for South Central Ontario. "He was their first translator. The Mohawk Gospel of John was their first publication. The very first distribution of the BFBS was to Canada, right here in 1806."
The commemoration included a re-enactment of the arrival of the first 500 copies of the Gospel of John in Mohawk at the very spot where the special delivery took place two centuries ago. That delivery is depicted in stained glass, on the sixth window of the chapel.
"It was right here, at this chapel, at this very spot 200 years ago in 1806, that Norton distributed the very first production of Scripture in the Mohawk language," said Hillis, adding that the Mohawk trace their Christian roots back 300 years to the 1700s. "He provided them with a text in both English and Mohawk, giving them the means to become literate in the English language, which ultimately gave them a great economic advantage."
The celebration began with traditional drumming and singing by Jonathan Maracle and his band Broken Walls. Native dancers in full regalia danced in the shadow of the Royal Chapel of the Mohawks.
Rev. Norm Casey, Pastor of the Six Nations Parish, led guests in a traditional Four Directions Ceremony and prayer. Chief David General of the Six Nations, MP Lloyd St Amand, MPP David Levac, and Rev. Phyllis Nesbitt, national director of the Canadian Bible Society were among those who brought greetings.
Nesbitt reminded the congregation-which had assembled in the chapel and spilled out onto the lawn-that "God is a God of the unusual," then told the story of how Norton's translation of the Gospel of John into the Mohawk language became the first translation of the BFBS. She added that since Norton's translation, Scripture has been translated into 36 First Nations languages.
Chair of the CBS Mohawk translation team, Mavis Etienne, read from one of the original Norton translations.
The congregation also screened a new video produced by the CBS telling the story of Norton's life and of his lasting legacy. The film, Kahaha:ra's: (I take the Path) the Life and Legacy of Captain John Norton Teyoninhokarawen, was in production for 18 months, and will "give the First Nations people involved in translation work a historic perspective and affirmation that what they are doing today will make a difference in lives for generations to come," said Hillis.
As the congregation exited the Chapel, each person received a free copy of the new video on DVD.
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