Tejonihokarawa was born in about 1660 into the Wolf Clan of his mother; the Mohawk and all Iroquoian nations had a matrilineal kinship system, in which descent and social status were passed through the maternal line.

[1] He was given the name Hendrick Peters in July 1690 when he was baptized by Godfridius Dellius as a Christian and member of the Dutch Reformed Church.

[3] His actions helped build the alliance with the English and preserve the Iroquois Confederacy as a key power to be reckoned with in North America in the early 18th century.

While in London, Tejonihokarawa requested Anglican missionaries to help offset French Catholic influence in Iroquois territory.

Numerous converted Mohawk had migrated to the St. Lawrence River area, settling at the mission village of Kahnawake south of Montreal.

[3] In turn, Queen Anne had asked Tejonihokarawa for help in resettling Palatine German refugees in New York.

This area was upriver and west of existing Dutch and English settlements, as well as the upper Mohawk village of Canajoharie.