Joseph Brant's Ball-Headed Club

Ball-headed club
Iroquois (Mohawk)
Wood, ribbon, feather
Length 52 x width 13.5 x cm
18th century
Area of Origin: Great Lakes, Canada
Belonged to Joseph Brant (Thayendanega)

In Canada, Joseph Brant (1742 – 1807) is remembered as the Mohawk military leader who sided with the British in the American War of Independence (1776 – 1783). Following the British defeat, Brant led Loyalists and his followers to Canada where they had been granted land, a small portion of which became the Six Nations of the Grand River Reserve in 1841. Brant’s memory is honoured in the sash worn by Seth Newhouse in 1889.

Copy and images from Royal Ontario Museum.