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TVmovie marred by major errors ·. OHSWEKEN - Last etrf3/?0 -..?~ month! the movie Divided Tom by guilt, Joseph Brant Loyalties was shown on CBC tried to have himself arrested. television. It cost several mil- The authorities ruled that lion dollars to make and it Isaac's death was accidental. had many memorable scenes. When he went to the Confed- However it had some glaring eracy chiefs' council they too errors which were apparently examined the evidence and put in st:ictly for dramatic ef- pronounced it an accident. He feet. It 1s too bad that film- tried to resign his army com- makers feel that such things mission but that was also re- have to be done. To me it fused. According to the movie, verges on dishonescy. In the very first scene, Chief Pontiac, the great Ot- tawa Indian leader, was murdered in New York State. In real life he was murdered in Cahokia, Illinois, almost 1,000 miles away. Also, he was killed in 1769, not-1768, when the treacy of Fort Stanwix was signed by the Six Nations Iroquois. Another historical error was the episode depicting how Isaac Brant, Joseph's son, met his end. It showed a teenaged Isaac being fatally stabbed in the body as he and his father struggle in a forest somewhere in Ohio. It didn't really happen that way at all. First of all, Isaac was al- most 30 years old when the fateful exchange took place. He had had too much to drink at a local hotel when .he spotted his father in an ad- joining room. His loud threats were heard by Joseph Brant. When he saw that his son was inebriated and was brandish- ing a knife h~ went in to take it away from him. Although the war chief was now in his 50s, he was not one to back away from trouble. Age may have taken away some of his youthful strength but not his courage. In the ensuing struggle his son Isaac was ac- cidentally cut on the head. A doctor was called and Isaac's head was bandaged. Later Isaac again got angry and ripped off the bandages. He died a few days later. he went into self exile at Burlington, Ont., after the death of his son. This part of the movie was plausible, as his other actions show his clear remorse. The unfortunate Isaac had not had an easy life. His mother, Joseph's first wife, had died of one of the new diseases circulating at the time. As was the custom among the Iroquois, the young lad was brought up by his grandparents and aunts on his mother's side. He was probably spoiled. The events just before the American Rev- olution took his father away to important meetings and conferences for months at a time. Isaac fell into bad com- pany and grew to love drink- ing and partying. The event during and after the war made some enemies for Joseph Brant, especially among the Americans. Since they couldn't do anything to Captain Brant directly they undoubtedly tried to use Isaac as a pawn. The unfor- tunate Isaac probably never even realized this during his short life ,time. ·nie moviemakers did show Joseph Brant trying to unite the western tribes in a great gathering in Ohio. This part of the story was true. Thirty years later Tecumseh at- tempted the very same thing in the same area.