Ho Nee Yeath Taw No Row

The Mohawk chief Ho Nee Yeath Taw No Row was part of the delegation of Iroquois leaders who met with England’s Queen Anne in 1710. While in London, he and the other delegates were lavishly entertained and showered with gifts. In addition to presenting the group with a silver communion plate and other furnishings for a new chapel that missionaries were establishing in Mohawk territory, the queen also commissioned oil portraits of each of the delegates. The resulting paintings by John Verelst are believed to be the first full-length oil portraits of Native Americans. So popular were Ho Nee Yeath Taw No Row and his fellow ambassadors that printmaker John Simon created mezzotints after these paintings.