Brantford and the Yuya Joe blog

Those of you who know me and my music may wonder where the fascination with Brantford and Six Nations comes from. It is a deeply-rooted sentiment, only coming to fruition in recent months.

My dad is from Charlottetown, PEI, and my mom grew up in Grand Falls, New Brunswick. Each of those towns is a magical memory and a living part of me, as my summers were spent in and around them. I used to spend time at the Tomlinson dairy farm in Arthurette, not far from Grand Falls, and in Prince Edward island my personal Echo Beach, my own Some Beach Somewhere is Brackley Beach, just north of the capital. Cavendish Beach and the Anne of Green Gables area are more well known, but Brackley offers miles of unspoiled ocean shoreline, completely open to the public and left with natural dunes.

I grew up in Hamilton, Stoney Creek, Kitchener and Burlington, Ontario, where my family moved when I was 8 and the town I spent my formative teen years in. We lived at 455 Maple Avenue, just around the corner from Joseph Brant Museum, which I visited many times, studying and memorizing all the exhibits, buying soapstone and postcards to carry the vibes home with me.




Six Nations Chiefs meeting in Brantford


The main thoroughfare in downtown Burlington is Brant Street, which was once the brightest street in North America at night, the primary hospital is Joseph Brant, so I grew up with his iconic legacy in my mind and soul and all around me.



Tom Longboat is a local legend in the Hamilton and Brantford areas, and people who know about his exploits still believe that Tom was one of the greatest athletes humanity has ever produced.








Then of course there is Robbie Robertson of The Band, whose Mom was from Six Nations. Robbie grew up in Toronto but he spent his childhood summers on the Six Nations Reserve near Brantford with his mom's family, and the deep resonance of his music emanates from a cross pollination between the Toronto and USA sounds, and the soulful music of North America's Native Peoples.




Bob Dylan and Robbie Robertson at The Band's Last Waltz concert





In the Spring of 2011 I helped my dad and stepmom move from Burlington to Brantford, and as I already had several cousins living there, it has now joined Burlington, Grand Falls, Charlottetown and Orillia (where my mom has lived for the past 25 years) as my family "hometowns."

If you know of any Brantford-area or Six Nations blogs I can add here, please make suggestions in the comments section below.

Peace 2 All.

Yuya Joe