He was the first known aboriginal scholar at Oxford University; a successful CEO of a multinational financial institution; a native statesman; an athlete of international standing; and an outspoken champion of the rights of women, children, and minorities.

[1][2] The fact that Oronhyatekha achieved these results during the Victorian era, when racism and pressure for First Nations peoples to assimilate were commonplace, has made him a figure approaching legend in some aboriginal circles.

Born 10 August 1841 on the Six Nations of the Grand River near Brantford, Ontario, he was the sixth son of Peter Martin and Lydia Loft (from Tyendinaga), and one of up to eighteen children.

[5] However, he returned to the Six Nations Reserve shortly afterwards, in June of that year, to clear his name of charges made by missionary Abraham Nelles, who worked there.

In 1874, he was elected the President of the Grand Council of Indian Chiefs, a provincial organization largely made up of Anishinabe and Iroquoian communities in southwestern Ontario.

In 1878, while living in London, Oronhyatekha applied to become a member of the Independent Order of Foresters, a fraternal and financial institution.

By 1881 he had become Supreme Chief Ranger of Foresters, the organisation's international CEO, a position that he held for a record 26 years.

During his tenure as SCR, Oronhyatekha transformed the order into one of the wealthiest fraternal financial institutions in the Victorian world; today, it counts more than one-million members in North America and the European Union.

Oronhyatekha was an active Orangeman and served as County Grand Master of Middlesex Country Orange Lodge.

Here, he built a second family home, an IOF meeting and dining hall, a bandstand, the Isle Hotel and cottages for guests, and a wharf at which boats from the mainland could dock.