Flemish Bastard

The Flemish Bastard (also known as Smiths John) (fl. 1650 - 1687) was a Canadian Mohawk chief. He has been described as an astute diplomat and he has been considered the primary spokesman for the pro-French faction of Canada.

Biography

The Flemish Bastard was born to a Mohawk mother and a Dutch father, who was an intermediary between the French, the Dutch, and the English. After becoming a Mohawk chief in 1650, the Flemish Bastard led a band of Mohawks in an attack on Trois-Rivières, a city in Quebec. He led another attack on 30 August 1656 on a group of Ottawas and Hurons at the Lac des Deux-Montagnes. When he arrived at Pointe Sainte-Croix (now Point Platon, New York) with 40 Mohawks, the Flemish Bastard was preparing for war. A captain in the Carignan-Salières Regiment, M. de Saurel, led 300 men on 24 July 1666 to a battle against the Mohawks in order to avenge the deaths of two of the regiment's officers, Capt. de Traversy and M. de Chazy, as well as the capture of other Frenchman, including M. Canchy de Lerole. Before Saurel reached the Mohawk villages, however, he met the Flemish Bastard heading a peace assembly, who was turning over the French captives. Afterward, Saurel abandoned his original plans and returned to Quebec. On 8 November 1666, the Flemish Bastard was sent back to his homeland with a Mohawk elder. The French told him to return "within four moons" with captives of the Huron and Algonkin tribes. The final reference to the Flemish Bastard, referring to him as "Smiths John", mentions that he was one of the Christian Indians during Jacques-René de Brisay de Denonville, Marquis de Denonville's expedition against the Senecas in 1687.

References

• Verney, Jack (1992). The Good Regiment. McGill-Queen's Press. ISBN 9780773518186.