After Johnson fought for the British Crown in the War of 1812, he was honoured by his tribal council as a "Pine Tree Chief", a non-hereditary position.

His father Tekahionwake was born in Mohawk territory in the Province of New York in pre-Revolutionary British America, in what became the United States following the American Revolutionary War.

The Johnsons had seven children, who were considered to be born into the Wolf clan: Mary, Aaron, Joseph, William, Margret, Susannah and George Henry Martin (Onwanonsyshon).

He fought for the British Crown in the War of 1812 and was honored by his tribal council when chosen as a "Pine Tree Chief", a non-hereditary position.

His son George Henry Martin Johnson was selected as a hereditary Mohawk chief of his mother's Wolf clan in the matrilineal society.