Molly Of The Mohawks: The Making of the Opera (post-production 2016)

Mary “Molly” Brant (1736-1796) was one of the most influential women of the 18th century. Molly was a Mohawk woman of the wolf clan. She married Sir William Johnson, the Superintendent General of Indian Affairs for Great Britain, and lived with him on his estate in New York’s Mohawk Valley. Molly and William worked hard to maintain the Silver Covenant Chain of Friendship between the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) and Great Britain.

Sir William Johnson died in 1774, just as Britain’s colonies were beginning to rebel. Although the Haudenosaunee at first hoped to remain neutral, Molly and her younger brother Joseph were among those who supported the British in this conflict. Others fought for the Americans. With the unity of the Haudenosaunee broken, those who supported the British saw their territories attacked and their communities destroyed by American troops in 1779.

Many settled in Canada when the war came to an end. As for Molly, she and her children settled in Kingston, Ontario. 

Genre: 

Opera, Documentary