Mohawks on the Nile: Natives Among the Canadian Voyageurs in Egypt, 1884-1885

by Carl Benn

Mohawks on the Nile explores the absorbing history of sixty Aboriginal men who left their occupations in the Ottawa River timber industry to participate in a military expedition on the Nile River in 1884-1885. Chosen becuase of their outstanding skills as boatmen and river pilots, they formed part of the Canadian Voyageur Contingent, which transported British troops on a fleet of whaleboats through the Nile’s treacherous cataracts in the hard campaigning of the Sudan War. Their objective was to reach Khartoum, capital of the Egyptian province of Sudan. Their mission was to save its governor general, Major-General Charles Gordon, besieged by Muslim forces inspired by the call to liberate Sudan from foreign control by Muhammad Ahmad, better known to his followers as the "the Mahdi."

In addition to Carl Benn’s historical exploration of this remarkable subject, this book includes the memoirs of two Mohawk veterans of the campaign, Louis Jackson and James Deer, who recorded the details of their adventures upon returning to Canada in 1885. It also presents readers with additional period documents, maps, historical images, and other materials to enhance appreciation of this unusual story, including an annotated roll of the Mohawks who won praise for the exceptional quality of their work in this legendary campaign in the chronicle of Britain’s expansion into Africa.

280 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Dr Carl Benn has been a member of the Department of History at Ryerson University in Toronto since 2008, where he teaches native-newcomer relations, material culture, and museum studies. Previously, he worked in the museum field for 34 years, latterly as Chief Curator of the City of Toronto Museums and Heritage Services, where he fulfilled senior curatorial and managerial duties, restored historical properties, curated exhibits, and produced other public resources. During that time he also taught part-time at the University of Toronto in undergraduate History and graduate Museum Studies. His books include: Historic Fort York (1993); The Iroquois in the War of 1812 (1998); The War of 1812 (2002); Mohawks on the Nile (2008); Native Memoirs from the War of 1812: Black Hawk and William Apess (2014), and the forthcoming A Mohawk Memoir from the War of 1812: John Norton – Teyoninhokarawen (2018). His currently is undertaking research for a book on the history of the Royal Ontario Museum. He also has published extensively in journals, online, and in other venues, and has provided historical and curatorial consulting services to First Nations communities, governmental agencies, and other clients in Canada and the United States.