Chiefswood
Text from the plaque
Completed in 1856, Chiefswood owes its importance to its architecture and the prominence of the people who lived here. Derived from the popular Italianate style of the Picturesque movement, the grandeur of the house reflects the status of its builder and owner, Chief George H.M. Johnson, a Mohawk chief of Six Nations and an intermediary with non-Aboriginal society. His daughter, the celebrated poet Pauline Johnson, drew inspiration from the years she spent in this house.
Transcribed from the marker, not summarised.
Find the place
The County of Brant
Six Nations of the Grand River
At Chiefswood National Historic Site
at Road 54 and Pauline Johnson Road
N 43 05.978 W 80 05.697
Recorded October 2011. Check current access before visiting.
More information
More views
Where it stands
Visitors' notes
October 27, 2011
It's a safe bet that the federal plaque to Chiefswood (unveiled Sept. 2011) is among the first - if not the first - trilingual marker in the new 'side-by-side' text style. Note, too, how the Mohawk text appears first (at left), while, on the older federal plaque to E. Pauline Johnson, it appears last, suggesting a move from inclusive acknowledgement to symbolic preeminence. -Wayne