The turmoil of the American Revolution is the setting for Mistress Molly, The Brown Lady: Portrait of Molly Brant, the story of a courageous and adverturesome young Mohawk woman.
As a young girl growing up in the Mohawk Valley in the middle of the eighteenth century, Degonwadonti was quick to learn the ways of her people. The influx of the British encouraged her family to teach her and her brother the proud history of the Tribes of the Six Nations Indians. However, the continual wave of settlers arriving to the colonies in North America could not be ignored, and she grew up proudly speaking their language, adopting an English name, and attending their schools.
The young woman Molly Brant, epitomized the virtues of being a member of the Six Nations Indians, and at the same time a product of British influence. Her marriage to Sir William Johnson, the man the Indians called Warragheyagey, and who was the Superintendant of Indian Affairs and the white brother of all Six Nations, took her to the forefront of the problems which would grow between the Indians and the British.
The endeavours of this great woman commanded the respect and admiration of Indian Chiefs and British leaders. She was named the Head of the Society of Six Nations Matrons by her people, and was a proud guest of honour at the opening ceremonies as Upper Canada's first parliment was convened.
close this panelBorn in Tavistock, Ontario, Helen Caister Robinson was educated there and in Toronto, where she now lives.
Her interest in Molly Brant grew out of her research for a previous book ont he Brant family, Joseph Brant, A Man for his People (1971).
An active member of the Canadian Authors Association, the Toronto Women's Press Club, the Writers' Union, Canscaip (the Canadian Society of Children's Authors, Illustrators, and Performers), and the Big Sisters' Association, her preivous books include Decades of Caring (1979), the history of the Big Sisters' Association in Toronto. Her numerous articles include contributions to the Canadian Children's Annual, Canada, and Your Home.
Mrs. Robinson's special writing interest is making both Canadian history and natural history come alive for young adult readers, and Mistress Molly reflects that interest.
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