(1772-1859)
Her grandfather was also let go, but Mary herself was adopted and cared for by a chief and his wife, who were childless; and given the name Degonwadonti. Her adopted mother was a medicine woman who taught her the art of natural healing, and since the Mississaga's, with whom she now lived, were migratory hunters, the family moved about frequently, though much of the next eight years was spent in the Niagara Region and the Grand River Valley (now Brant County). She married Black Wolf, who was later killed in battle.
Meanwhile, the land at Grand River was purchased from the Mississaga and given to Joseph Brant, in exchange for his loyalty to the British cause. He began a settlement known as Brant's Ford and later Brantford, on the land, and Mary's family was relocated to the Hamilton area.
In 1804, George Cunningham was killed at a barn raising, and Mary, a single mother with six children to care for, married British immigrant John Johnson and the couple had one son. In later years, she was reunited with the Sitts family and twice travelled to New York for a visit. Mary Sitts 'Degonwadonti' Nelles Cunningham Johnson died on September 8, 1859, at the age of 87, and is buried in the churchyard of Boston Baptist Church, about 20 miles south of Brantford, Ontario.
She had wittnessed a lot during her lifetime, from the American Revolution to the invasion of Iroquois enemies that separated her family. Her life with the Mississaga was not always easy, and she survived many hardships, as they were moved about like pawns on a chessboard. Ironically, whe later resided with the Iroquois allies and was on hand to see the United Empire Loyalists make their way into Upper Canada. Hers had been an eventful life.
--Several Against One
She was being carried through darkness
by the decorated one who held a stick toward the sky.
The wind was sweet with honeysuckle, and gently
blowing just enough to make the Weeping
Willow sway from side to side.
She was ten in 1779 when taken to the other side;
the massacre caused her to have dreams of screaming,
always from which she awoke--weeping.
This was a life she didn't know--one of darkness,
until that summer when Indian Violets gently
poked their heads into her life.
Never had a sky been so blue nor had she felt a part of that sky.
She married Black Wolf from the Indian side--
Mohawk territory New York. He would gently
take her and then cradle her during her screaming
dreams where she would awake again in the darkness.
Their way became like the Weeping
Willow tree and the wind--swaying, weeping,
bending--then again--reaching for the sky--
always together, even while separate.
But a darkness came over her as she recalled the white side.
Hooves shook the earth as screaming
people bloodied the ground.
Gently she was lifted up--again dreaming--again gently
laid and comforted while weeping.
Years passed. A baby was born, and her screaming
echoed through the meadow. The Great Spirit in the sky
sent life to the betrayed and broken people's side.
A gift for their faithful endurance during darkness.
At dawn they were touched by darkness,
when Black Wolf was shot. On a wooden scaffold, gently
he was placed in the sacred burial. On this side
one was never gone and his spirit could be heard weeping.
She lay on him one last time and rising, begged for the sky
to take her too. Pleading, hopelessly screaming,
She placed the marriage stick by his side. Darkness
still looms and screaming is heard when the wind gently
blows through the Weeping Willow--calling her into the sky.
Abraham Nelles - Was born in 1794 in Brant's Villages and died in 1874 in Boston, Massachusetts.
William Cunninham - Was born on August 17, 1797 at Brant's Village and died on March 21, 1840 in Little York, Grand River. He married Sarah Slaght in 1820.
George Cunningham Jr. - Was born on November 11, 1799 in Brant's Village and died on April 11, 1884 in Little York, Grand River. He married Abigail Slaght; Sarah's sister; also in 1820.
Henry Cunningham - Was born on March 13, 1802 at Little York and died on February 19, 1844 at Townsend, Norfolk, Upper Canada. He married yet another Slaght sister, Mary; on May 8, 1821 and the couple had ten children: Mary Ann, Peter, Nancy, Elizabeth, Eliza, Abraham, Moses, Miriam, Martha Obedience and Abigail Jane.
Andrew Cunningham - Was born in 1804 at Little York and died in 1820. He never married.
Joseph Johnson - Was born on June 13, 1808 at Little York and died on January 26, 1896. He married Hannah Smith on February 26, 1826.
