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109-462: The community was founded in the mid-18th century by Mohawk families from Kahnawake (also known as Caughnawaga), a Catholic Mohawk village that developed south of Montreal along the St. Lawrence River. Today Akwesasne has a total of 12,000 residents, with the largest population and land area of any Kanienʼkehá:ka community. From its development in the mid-eighteenth century, Akwesasne was considered one of

218-560: A Jesuit mission , it has also been known as Seigneury Sault du St-Louis , and Caughnawaga (after a Mohawk village in the Mohawk Valley of New York). There are 17 European spelling variations of the Mohawk Kahnawake . Kahnawake's territory totals an area of 48.05 km (18.55 sq mi). Its resident population numbers slightly above 8,000, with a significant number living off reserve . Its land base today

327-489: A matrilineal kinship system, with children considered born into the clan of the mother and deriving their status from her family. There was some European settlement after the reserve land was "donated" by the French Crown in the mid-17th century. The French government stationed French colonial troops there (who formed liaisons with local women and had children by them). Shopkeepers also formed families, and through

436-519: A distinctly separate people and spoke a branch of Iroquoian called Laurentian . But by the time Samuel de Champlain explored the same area 75 years later in the early 1600s, the villages had disappeared. Historians theorize that the stronger Mohawk from the South waged war against the St. Lawrence Iroquoians to get control of the fur trade and hunting along the river valley. By 1600, the Mohawk used

545-631: A generation, many Kahnawake men participated in building the Empire State Building , and other major skyscrapers in New York City, as well as many bridges. They brought their families with them, and most Mohawk from Kahnawake lived in Brooklyn. They called their neighbourhood "Little Caughnawaga" after their homeland. While the men worked on skyscrapers, the women created a strong community for their families. Many also worked outside

654-444: A local data centre located within the territory, hosts and manages many Internet gambling websites, and provides high-tech employment to its people. MIT is the closest and fastest source for "legally hosted" gambling websites for North American players. Established in 1998, MIT by 2006 had become a "remarkably profitable" enterprise. While working to strengthen their culture and language, the people of Kahnawake have generally not had

763-566: A non-Mohawk partner were sent eviction notices regardless of how long they had lived on the reserve. The only exemption was for those of such couples who had married before the 1981 moratorium. Although some concerned Mohawk citizens contested the racially exclusive membership policy, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruled that the Mohawk Kahnawake government may adopt policies it deems necessary to ensure

872-525: A profound knowledge of the river, from the time they were children through adulthood. One effect of the losses was to make the community determined not to suffer more encroachment. They drew together and became stronger. The Mohawk success on major high-rise construction projects inspired the legend that Native American men had no fear of working at heights. Numerous Kahnawake men continued as iron and steelworkers in Canada. Thirty-three Kahnawake (Mohawk) died in

981-559: A three-year term. The Tribal Clerk is chosen every third year. In 1960, First Nations people were enfranchised in Canada. In 1985, Status Indians who voted in a Canadian election were allowed to retain their status. Previously they would have become non-Status, as per the Indian Act . It is uncertain how many Akwesasro꞉non participate in Canadian elections. Akwesasne is currently represented in Canada's Parliament by: Akwesasne

1090-566: Is a Kanienʼkehá꞉ka (Mohawk) word meaning "at the rapids". Here, additional First Nations joined the community, converting to Roman Catholicism ; the Mohawk dominated in number. During the colonial years, this community participated in the fur trade . Some men regularly traveled to Albany, New York for better prices from the English and Dutch than the French were willing to give. In addition, warriors and families became involved in raiding and

1199-420: Is an important means of re-education into principles that offer an alternative to the current Canadian system, and helps build a future especially for the young people of the community. The Kahnawake Gaming Commission offers licenses to Internet-based gambling sites for poker, casino, and sportsbook . It has established Kahnawake as a substantial player in that business. Mohawk Internet Technologies (MIT),

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1308-422: Is intended for use before any arrest of an affected party under the Canadian system. It has procedures to be used by the victim and offender, and their supporters. With assistance by trained facilitators to resolve issues, the process is intended to restore peace and harmony, rather than to be an adversarial process. In contrast to the Canadian system of adversarial justice it, would allow the parties to personalize

1417-722: Is one of several self-governing Kanien’kehá:ka territories of the Mohawk Nation within the borders of Canada, including Kanesatake on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River northwest of Montreal; Tyendinaga in Ontario; Akwesasne , which straddles the borders of Quebec, Ontario and New York across the Saint Lawrence River; and the Six Nations of the Grand River in Ontario north of Lake Erie . In

1526-512: Is represented in the: In 1924, Native Americans were enfranchised in the United States if they had not been previously; by that time, two-thirds were already citizens. During the era of Indian Removal of the 1830s, Native Americans who chose to stay in historic territories became state and federal citizens; those who moved with their tribes to Indian Territory were not considered citizens. As Native American lands were purchased during

1635-543: Is the "traditional" governing and religious body of the Mohawk (Kahniakehaka) people. The MNCC operates as a member nation of the Iroquois Confederacy or Haudenosaunee . The Mohawk Council of Akwesasne (MCA) is a government whose representatives are elected within the northern districts of the territory on the Canadian side of the border. The MCA was developed from the Indian Bands system introduced by

1744-406: Is unevenly distributed due to the federal Indian Act , which governs individual land possession. It has rules that are different from those applying to Canadian non-reserve areas. Most Kahnawake residents originally spoke the Mohawk language, and some learned French when trading with and allied with French colonists. Together with most of four Iroquois nations, including the Mohawk, they allied with

1853-546: The American Revolutionary War . With settlement of the border between Canada and the United States in the early 19th century, a larger portion of the territory was defined as being within the United States. The portion in New York state is known as the federally recognized St. Regis Mohawk Reservation . The portion in Ontario is referred to as Akwesasne Reserve No. 59 ( Mohawk : Kawehnò:ke ), and

1962-619: The Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall and the Diocese of Valleyfield in Canada, and the Diocese of Ogdensburg in New York. Following passage of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, the United States federal government encouraged the tribe to adopt a constitution and elected government. The Mohawk chose to retain their traditional system of hereditary chiefs. In the 1940s, Ernest Benedict founded Akwesasne's first newspaper, Kawehras! ("It Thunders!"). Benedict covered

2071-619: The French and Indian War ), the French wanted to keep the Mohawk as allies, and away from English influence. The Tarbell brothers were born to English colonists in Groton, Massachusetts . They had been taken captive as children in 1707 along with their older sister Sarah, then 14, during Queen Anne's War . John and Zachariah were 12 and 8, respectively. The three children were taken by the French and Abenaki raiders some 300 miles to Montreal. They all became Catholic and were renamed. Sarah/Marguerite

2180-465: The Indian Act of Canada and the Act's historical and legal predecessors. They are known to Canada as Mohawks of Akwesasne Bands 59 and 15 . The MCA operates as a non-partisan , representative democracy , divided into three geographic and administrative districts. The districts are Kana:takon (Saint Regis, Quebec), Kawehno:ke (Cornwall Island, Ontario) and Tsi Snaihne (Snye, Quebec). The several islands of

2289-625: The Lachine Rapids also influenced their naming decision. Kahnawake is located on the southwest shore where the Saint Lawrence River narrows. The territory is described in the native language as "on, or by the rapids " (of the Saint Lawrence River) (in French, it was originally called Sault du St-Louis , also related to the rapids). This term refers to their village being located along the natural rapids of

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2398-732: The Mohawk from the south, epidemics of Old World infectious diseases , or migration towards the Great Lakes region. Archeological evidence points most strongly to devastating wars with neighbouring Iroquoian tribes, the Huron and the nations of the Iroquois League , especially the Mohawk. Several dialects of Laurentian may have existed in the 16th century in the St. Lawrence River valley. The sparse records made by Jacques Cartier during his voyages cannot be considered conclusive, and

2507-602: The Montreal borough of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve and the alternate spelling "Osheaga" serves as the name of Montreal's annual Osheaga Festival . On the basis of the Laurentian vocabularies of Cartier, the linguist Marianne Mithun concludes that Laurentian was an Iroquoian language, and its speakers were "clearly in contact with the Lake Iroquoian peoples [Huron and Iroquois]" (Mithun, 1981). Charles Julian analyzed

2616-493: The Red River region in the west, Métis descendants of European trappers and indigenous women, gradually developed what has become a separate, recognized ethnic group, based on a distinct hunting and trading culture. Kahnawake surnames , such as Beauvais, D'Ailleboust, de La Ronde Thibaudière, Delisle, de Lorimier, Giasson, Johnson, Mailloux, McComber, McGregor, Montour, Phillips, Rice, Stacey, Tarbell, and Williams, represent

2725-564: The Seven Nations of Canada . It is one of several Kanienʼkehá꞉ka (Mohawk), meaning "people of the flint" in Mohawk, territories within present-day Canada; others are Kahnawake , Wahta , Tyendinaga , Kanesatake , and the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation (which includes several subdivisions of Mohawk, the other five nations of the Iroquois League , and some other Native American tribes), founded after

2834-413: The 1790s and early 19th century, visitors often described the visible "great mixture of blood" at Kahnawake. They noted that many children who appeared to be of European ancestry were being brought up culturally as Mohawk. At times there has been more tension about the relations of full-blood and mixed-race members of the tribe, both in the late 19th and 20th centuries. In other areas of Canada, particularly

2943-541: The 1870s and 1880s, land and resource pressures renewed local concern about ethnic Europeans living at Kahnawake. In addition, the national government's passage of legislation, from enfranchisement to the Indian Advancement Act of 1884, which prohibited traditional chiefs and required Canadian-style elections, split the community and added to tensions. Some young Mohawk men wanted a chance to advance independently to being chiefs; other people wanted to keep

3052-542: The 18th century, many marriages occurred between European men and Indian women. Multiracial children born to Mohawk mothers were readily assimilated into the mother's family, clan, and nation. During the 17th and early 18th centuries, the English and French were competing in North America and in Europe. Together with allied First Nations or Native American tribes, they conducted raids along the undefined border between

3161-581: The 1920s, when the traditional seven-clan system became absorbed in the Longhouse Movement , which was based on three clans. This was strong through the 1940s. Historically, the federal and Quebec governments have often located large civil engineering projects benefiting the southern Quebec economy through Kahnawake land because of its proximity to the Saint Lawrence River. The reserve is criss-crossed by power lines from hydroelectric plants, railways , and vehicle highways and bridges. One of

3270-580: The American Continental Army , from the west. When Forster agreed, Lorimier went to Akwesasne, where he recruited 100 warriors for battle. The British-allied forces took some American prisoners during the encounters, but these were later freed. In the early 1800s, non-indigenous settlers leased a part of the Akwesnasne reserve located in mainland Quebec, known as Dundee . In 1888, the superintendent of Indian Affairs requested that

3379-489: The Bible and liturgy into Mohawk. They observed Mohawk customs, for instance, refusing to marry individuals who belonged to the same clan . Through the 18th and 19th centuries, they maintained parish registers that recorded the Mohawk names of individuals for life events, even when the people had taken European names as well. At the time of the American Revolutionary War , the Mohawk, Onondaga, Seneca and Cayuga were allied with

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3488-497: The British Indian Department reported that the community was growing frustrated by marriages in which white husbands acquired rights over the lives and properties of their Mohawk wives according to British Canadian laws. This was in opposition to Iroquois culture, which had a matrilineal kinship system, with descent and property invested in the maternal line. Abuse of alcohol was a continuing problem. In 1828,

3597-614: The British against the rebel American colonists. Forced to cede most of their remaining lands in New York to the new government after the colonists' victory, many of the Iroquois people migrated to Canada, where many settled at the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation . Some Mohawk joined the growing community at Akwesasne. Under the Jay Treaty , the Iroquois retained rights to cross the newly established borders between Canada and

3706-539: The British government during the American Revolutionary War and the Lower Canada Rebellion . They have since become mostly English speaking. Although people of European descent traditionally refer to the residents of Kahnawake as Mohawk, their autonym is Kanien’kehá:ka (the "People of the Flint"). Another meaning is "those who speak [the language] Kanien'kéha"). The Kanien’kehá:ka were historically

3815-526: The Giasson, Deblois, Meloche, Lafleur, Plante and de Lorimier families to leave, as all were of partial European ancestry. Some, like the de Lorimier brothers, gradually sold their properties and pursued their lives elsewhere. Others, such as Charles Gédéon Giasson , were finally given permanent status at the reserve. Because the Indian Department did not provide adequate support to the reserve,

3924-557: The Great Lakes began adopting the cultivation of maize . By the 14th century, Iroquoian -speaking peoples, later called the St. Lawrence Iroquoians , had created fortified villages along the fertile valley of what is now called the St. Lawrence River. Among their villages were Stadacona and Hochelaga , visited in 1535–1536 by French explorer Jacques Cartier . While they shared certain culture with other Iroquoian groups, they were

4033-618: The Laurentians may have spoken several distinct languages. A few Laurentian words are still in use today as toponyms : most notably the word canada , meaning "village" in Laurentian. Jacques Cartier used the word to describe both the region and the river that crosses it. The name of Donnacona , the Iroquoian chieftain Cartier met at Stadacona, remains in use as the name of the town of Donnacona , Quebec. Hochelaga remains in use in

4142-459: The MCK, caused an uproar within and beyond the community, attracting national press attention. Steve Bonspiel, publisher and editor of Kahnawake newspaper The Eastern Door , said that the issue dated back to 1973. At that time, when non-Native people with no ties in the community were asked to leave, they were harassed and even physically attacked. Bonspiel thought the council's 2010 threat to publish

4251-526: The Mohawk Council of Kahnawake and the reserve's Inter-governmental Relations Team, the community has filed claims with the government of Canada. It is seeking monetary compensation NOTE: Kahnawake is not seeking financial compensation for the mismanagement of the land. Kahnawake recognizes the full extent of the 'seigneury" to be Kahnawake Mohawk Territory and is moving to reacquire its land along with financial compensation for infrastructure criscrossing

4360-585: The Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs (traditional government), the elected Mohawk Council of Akwesasne in the North, and Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe in the South. The latter are the two recognized by the governments of Canada and the United States, respectively, as well as by lower-level jurisdictions such as provinces and states. The Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs (MNCC, colloquially "the Longhouse")

4469-519: The Montreal side of the highway; many in the crowd threw rocks and chairs at the cars and yelled ethnic slurs. Many windows were broken and some Mohawk were hit by rocks and cut by glass. Thirteen people were arrested. Blame has fallen on the provincial government for letting the convoy pass; on the Sûreté du Québec for holding the cars for so long, and for mostly not stopping people from throwing rocks; on

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4578-620: The Rebellions, the community was fiercely divided regarding the rights of mixed-race residents, such as Antoine-George de Lorimier (the son of Claude-Nicolas-Guillaume de Lorimier ), and whether he should be evicted. Although his mother was Mohawk and native to Kahnawake, because of his father's and his own connections to the European community, George de Lorimier became a controversial figure in Kahnawake, even after his death in 1863. In

4687-625: The SRMT. Kahnawake The Kahnawake Mohawk Territory ( French : Territoire Mohawk de Kahnawake , pronounced [ɡahnaˈwaːɡe] in the Mohawk language , Kahnawáˀkye in Tuscarora ) is a First Nations reserve of the Mohawks of Kahnawá:ke on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec , Canada, across from Montreal . Established by French Canadians in 1719 as

4796-561: The Saint-Lawrence River, and were often enclosed by a wooden palisade. Up to 2000 persons lived in the larger villages. By the time the explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1608, however, he found no trace of the Iroquoians visited by Jacques Cartier some 75 years earlier. Scholars have developed several theories to explain the complete disappearance of the St. Lawrence Iroquoians, among them devastating wars waged by

4905-438: The St. Lawrence River within the jurisdiction of the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne are generally counted as being a part of the nearest mainland. General elections are held triennially, with 12 representatives (Chiefs) chosen from the districts and one Grand Chief. Each district elects four Chiefs, and all districts vote at-large to elect a Grand Chief. Thus the council is 12 plus 1. A by-election may also be held if one or more of

5014-402: The St. Lawrence River. In the 1990s, the people of Akwesasne raised money in a variety of ways to fund a renovation of their St. Regis Church. They wrote a history of the church and its priests. The three main areas: Others: Akwesasne borders the towns of Brasher, New York, Fort Covington , New York and Bombay , New York. Sections of the southeastern portion of Akwesasne are considered by

5123-502: The St. Lawrence. But in the mid-20th century, the path of the river was changed with construction of the Saint Lawrence Seaway canal and the people lost access to the river. The French colony of New France used Kahnawake as part of a southwestern defence for Ville-Marie (later Montreal) and placed a military garrison there. The Jesuits founded a mission to administer to local Mohawk and other First Nations. This

5232-684: The St. Regis Reservation. In 1969, Benedict founded the North American Indian Travelling College (now known as the Native North American Travelling College), which serves as a cultural centre, publishing house, and resource for classes and lectures at Akwesasne and beyond. It operates an art gallery and theatre at Akwesasne. In the late 1960s, a period of heightened Native American activism, Benedict also started Akwesasne Notes . The newspaper became highly influential and

5341-533: The Town of Bombay to be within the town's jurisdiction but the tribe disputes this. To the west is the Town of Massena, New York . Many islands in the St. Lawrence River are part of Akwesasne. Generally the Akwesasro꞉non are majority English-speaking in daily use. On the Canadian parts of the territory, Akwesasne borders the towns of Cornwall, Ontario , and Dundee, Quebec . Akwesasne is governed by three bodies:

5450-529: The United States in order to maintain their trade and tribal ties. In 1806, Catholic Cayuga, Oneida and Onondaga from Ogdensburg, New York , joined the St. Regis band. The Battle of the Cedars ( French : Les Cèdres ) was a series of military confrontations, early in the American Revolutionary War , which involved limited combat. The actions took place between May 19–27, 1776, at and around Les Cèdres, Quebec (located 28 mi (45 km) west of Montreal), in

5559-420: The United States. The explorer Jacques Cartier observed in 1535 and 1536 about a dozen villages in the valley between Stadacona and Hochelega , the sites of the modern cities of Quebec City and Montreal . Archeologists have unearthed other villages farther west, near the eastern end of Lake Ontario . St. Lawrence Iroquoians lived in villages which were usually located a few kilometres (miles) inland from

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5668-534: The Walbank Survey, the national government surveyed and subdivided the land of the reserve, allotting some plots individually to each head of household eligible to live in Kahnawake. The violence stopped as the new form of privatisation of land was instituted, but antagonism toward some community members did not. The election of council chiefs began in 1889, but the influence of Kahnawake's shadow government of traditional clan chiefs persisted. This lasted into

5777-495: The accused and plaintiff. The members of the legal team are not required to have a law degree but are required to complete training and are approved by a review commission. Akwesasne has five elementary schools on the territory. Generally, Akwesasnro:non travel off the reservation for secondary education. Post-secondary education is offered on the reservation through Iohahi:io Akwesasne Education & Training Institute and State University of New York (SUNY) extension programs with

5886-498: The available lexicon and compared it with those of Iroquoian languages still spoken (to some degree) in the 21st century and found that it shared the highest number of cognates with Huron , Mohawk , and Onondaga , with 47 cognates found for all three. Many sound changes are found in common with Huron such as the reduction of consonant clusters containing /j/ , however Laurentian also shares features with other Northern Iroquoian languages that Huron lacks. For example Laurentian shows

5995-618: The band surrender this land. A surrender was given, but the first nation always contested its validity, as it was not their intention to surrender the land. In December 2018, the First Nation of Akwesnasne accepted a specific claim settlement of $ 240M for the Dundee parcel, 37 years after the claim was first filed with the government of Canada . Kana:takon School, originally called the Saint Regis Village School,

6104-499: The collapse of the Quebec Bridge in 1907, one of the worst construction failures of all time. The small community was devastated by the loss of so many men. They erected crosses of steel girders at both ends of the reserve to honour them. Many Kahnawake ironworkers went to New York City to work during the first half of the 20th century. Its building boom stimulated construction of notable skyscrapers and bridges. For more than

6213-450: The community continued to struggle financially. At one point, the Kahnawake chiefs suggested selling the reserve to raise money for annuities for the tribe. Social unrest increased, with young men attacking houses, barns and farm animals of people they resented. In May 1878 an arson fire killed Osias Meloche, the husband of Charlotte-Louise Giasson (daughter of Charles Gédéon Giasson, noted above), and their home and barn were destroyed. Under

6322-518: The commute of many locals throughout the summer, leading to rioting and the burning of effigies, and to the "Whiskey Trench" episode. On August 28, 1990, a convoy of 50 to 75 cars, bearing mostly women, children and elders, left Kahnawake in fear of a possible advance by the Canadian Army . While the Mohawks' cars were being searched by the provincial police force, a crowd of hundreds gathered on

6431-605: The council for interfering in the private lives of persons who had chosen non-Native partners. She noted the Mohawk had long been successful at integrating people within their communities, and have still preserved their language and culture over the centuries. Some residents who received eviction notices agreed to leave; others proved they spend only limited time in the community, so were permitted as visitors. The council said it would send second notices to people who did not respond, and then would publish their names. The governing band council defended its right to ask non-Natives to leave

6540-420: The council. Clan mothers as well as chiefs had roles in this system. The goal was to quickly restore peace to the community and control behaviour that threatened it. The system was based on the four principles of reason, persuasion, satisfaction and compensation, with both wrongdoer and victim as part of the process. It was intended to achieve "[d]ue compensation and condolence, and a promise of agreement" between

6649-639: The decisions or not, these are decisions made by First Nations people on their own land (...) It is not for me to make those decisions, or the Government, and we are not going to be making those decisions. Ellen Gabriel , the head of the Quebec Native Women's Association and a Mohawk resident at Kanesatake , criticized the MCK. She said their actions did not represent the traditional inclusiveness of Mohawk communities, which had historically assimilated adoptees and marriage partners. She criticized

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6758-559: The evidence of tribal members' adoption of and intermarriage with non-Natives. Tarbell ancestors, for instance, were John and Zachary, brothers captured as young children from Groton, Massachusetts in 1707 during Queen Anne's War and taken to Canada. Adopted by Mohawk families in Kahnawake, the boys became assimilated: they were baptized as Catholic and renamed, learned the Mohawk ways and were also given Mohawk names, married women who were daughters of chiefs, reared children with them, and became chiefs themselves. Historic sources document

6867-623: The existence of an epenthetic vowel like found in Susquehannock , Old Mohawk and, Old Onondaga but not in Huron. Because of this he concludes that Laurentian forms its own subgroup within Northern Iroquoian. In 1545 Jacques Cartier published a journal of his voyages, including the first list of Laurentian words. Here are some examples (numbers and parts of the human body), as written by Cartier: A second shorter vocabulary list

6976-403: The federal government continued to require the tribe to hold elections. Both the federal government and New York State encouraged the tribe to adopt representative elected government, but they resisted. They were put on the congressional list for termination in the 1950s, as part of a policy assuming that assimilation was best for Native Americans, but Congress did not approve the termination of

7085-539: The first of such projects was the fledgling Canadian Pacific Railway 's Saint-Laurent Railway Bridge . The masonry work was done by Reid & Fleming, and the steel superstructure was built by the Dominion Bridge Company . In 1886 and 1887, the new bridge was built across the broad river from Kahnawake to the Island of Montreal . Kahnawake men worked as bridgemen and ironworkers hundreds of feet above

7194-466: The government intended the territory to be closed to European settlement. But the Jesuits assumed rights as seigneurs of the Sault, and permitted French and other European colonists to settle there and collected their rents. The Jesuits managed the seigneury until April 1762, after the British defeated France in the Seven Years' War and took over their territory east of the Mississippi River in New France. The new British governor, Thomas Gage , ordered

7303-495: The government to make numerous land cessions to enable construction of railway, hydro-electric, and telephone company industrial projects along the river. As a result, Kahnawake today has only 13,000 acres (5,300 ha). In the late 20th century, the Mohawk Nation was pursuing land claims with the Canadian government to regain lost land. The modern claim touches the municipalities of Saint-Constant , Sainte-Catherine , Saint-Mathieu , Delson , Candiac and Saint-Philippe . Led by

7412-498: The home. In the summers, the families would return to Kahnawake to stay with relatives and renew connections. Some of the people who grew up in Brooklyn as children still have the local New York accent, although they have long lived in Kahnawake. Kahnawake high steel workers in New York were the subject of the 1966 documentary High Steel , as seen through the story of Harold McComber. The elected Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) have generally established predominance in governing

7521-444: The issue of non-Native residents, announcing community meetings for discussion and plans to issue a new regulation. It barred non-Kahnawake residents from the meeting. Before European contact, the Iroquois Confederacy ( Haudenosaunee ) had a long tradition of justice administered within the clan and council system. The clan would govern the behaviour of clan members, and conflict between members of clans would be settled by consensus of

7630-410: The lack of police or army or riot squad; and on local radio stations that broadcast the location of the convoy. After some time, Kahnawake negotiated separately with the armed forces to remove the blockade to the bridge. Fifty men from Kahnawake volunteered to fight with the United States armed forces during the Vietnam War . Laurentian language Laurentian , or St. Lawrence Iroquoian ,

7739-438: The largest native newspaper in the world. Among its noted features were a series of posters included as centrefolds. A supporter gave the newspaper Edward Curtis photographs, which editors combined with quotes from Native American authors for the popular poster series. In 1987, the Akwesasne Task Force on the Environment was founded in response to environmental concerns, including PCB contamination from industries located along

7848-567: The late 18th and early 19th centuries, the British considered Kahnawake one of the Seven Nations of Canada . The name is derived from the Mohawk word kahnawà:ke , meaning "place of the rapids", referring to their major village Caughnawaga near the rapids of the Mohawk River in what is today central New York. When converted Catholic Mohawk moved to the Montréal area, they named the new settlement after their former one. The proximity of

7957-636: The later stages of the American colonial invasion of Quebec that began in September 1775. No casualties occurred. Claude de Lorimier , a British Indian agent from Montreal, traveled west to Oswegatchie (Ogdensburg, New York), where there was a fort garrisoned by a company of the 8th Regiment of Foot under the command of British Captain George Forster. De Lorimier proposed recruiting some Indians to launch an attack on Montreal, then held by

8066-416: The mission, then a more formal log church. In 1795 the Mohawk completed construction of a stone church, which still stands. Named after the French priest St. Jean-François Regis , the mission was the source of the French name of the adjacent Saint Regis River, an island in the St. Lawrence River, and the nearby village. The church was long a landmark to ships on the river approaching the rapids. In New York,

8175-594: The most easterly nation of the Haudenosaunee (Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy) and are known as the "Keepers of the Eastern Door". They controlled territory on both sides of the Mohawk River and west of the Hudson River in present-day New York, where they protected other parts of the confederacy to the west against invasion by tribes from present-day New England and the coastal areas. Kahnawake

8284-420: The multi-cultural community of the Mohawk, who absorbed numerous captives into their tribe. Starting in 1755, French-Canadian Jesuit priests founded the St. Regis Mission at Akwesasne. The Tarbell brothers were listed among the founding chiefs, representing numerous clans as of 1759, in papers of Loran Kanonsase Pyke, the patriarch of Akwesasne's Pyke family. The Jesuits first built a log and bark church at

8393-750: The name was later adopted to apply to the Saint Regis Mohawk Reservation. The villagers have since renamed their community Kana꞉takon ("the village", in Mohawk). After victory in the Seven Years' War , the British took over Canada and New France east of the Mississippi River . They allowed the Kanienʼkehá꞉ka to continue to have Catholic priests at their mission. The Jesuits helped preserve Mohawk culture, translating

8502-506: The names of people ineligible to live on the reserve was inappropriate as a means to use public pressure and potentially physical threat against them. Coverage of this issue by the Eastern Door that year resulted in the council reversing their decision. The Federal Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl said there was nothing illegal about the band's eviction of non-members: It is important for people to realize that whether I like

8611-404: The nation lose the right to live in the homeland. The MCK said that its policy was to preserve the people's cultural identity. In the 21st century, they did not want non-Natives living at the reserve, even if a person had adopted the Mohawk language or culture. The policy is based on a 1981 community moratorium on non-Native residency, which Kahnawake enacted into law in 1984. All couples who had

8720-673: The nineteenth century and Native land claims were extinguished, more were classified as US citizens as they moved to reservations. Akwesasne is represented in the United States Senate by: Akwesasne is represented in the: In 2016, Akwesasne established an independent indigenous legal system and court to deal with non-criminal offenses within the reserve. The 32 new laws cover civil matters handled by an indigenous legal team director of public prosecution, public prosecutor and two justices. The system does not rely on jail terms but uses restorative justice to bring resolution between

8829-597: The parties. Many at Kahnawake and other First Nations communities believe their people are not being well served by the Canadian justice system . First Nations people are over-represented in it and in prisons. They believe this is in part due to the imposition of the Canadian justice system on traditional ways, by which the government has tried to assimilate the First Nations into European-based culture. The Canadian government has gradually favoured "indigenization" of

8938-540: The political turmoil of the nearby, smaller Kanesatake reserve. In support of Kanesatake during its Oka Crisis in 1990, people from Kahnawake blocked the Honoré Mercier Bridge to Montreal, which had an access road through their reserve. The Kanesatake reserve had been blockaded and isolated by the Sûreté du Québec in a conflict over use of lands the Mohawk considered sacred. The bridge blockade affected

9047-605: The portions in Quebec as Akwesasne Reserve No. 15  [ fr ] ( Mohawk : Kaná:takon & Tsi Snaíhne ). The name Akwesasne in Mohawk means "Land Where the Partridge Drums", referring to the rich wildlife in the area. Akwesasne territory incorporates part of the St. Lawrence River, the mouths of the Raquette and St. Regis rivers, and a number of islands in these three rivers. The eastern border of

9156-438: The process of addressing wrongdoing and in so doing provides the parties with a "new and different choice" to resolve disputes based on traditional principles that the parties can initiate on their own without the involvement of the criminal justice system. The initiative has challenges, for instance, gaining the support of Peacekeepers and community members who may not be familiar with these traditional cultural principles. But, it

9265-487: The reserve to be entirely and exclusively vested in the Mohawk, under the supervision of the Indian Department . Despite repeated complaints by the Mohawk, many government agents continued to allow non-Native encroachment, and mismanaged the lands and rents. Surveyors were found to have modified some old maps at the expense of the Kahnawake people. From the late 1880s until the 1950s, the Mohawk were required by

9374-433: The reserve. This elected government is the only body with which the Canadian government will deal. With continuing late 20th-century conflicts over who could reside at the reserve, the elected chiefs of the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) passed laws regulating membership or eligibility for residence at Kahnawake. In 1981 they passed a law that non-natives could not reside in the community; those Mohawk who marry outside of

9483-452: The resistance of many Mohawk to the system of elections imposed by the federal government on the "American" side of Akwesasne; it insisted on representative elections. On May 24, 1948, a vote was held in which "The Six Nations Chiefs", based on historic clans and hereditary office, received 83 votes. "The Elected Chiefs" received only one vote, and "The Seven Nations Chiefs" did not receive any votes. The elected chiefs resigned from office, but

9592-463: The seats become vacant. The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe (SRMT) is a government elected by Mohawk Tribal citizens of the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation , a southern district of the territory within the border of the United States. The SRMT operates as a Constitutional republic. The Tribal Council is composed of three Chiefs, three Sub-Chiefs, and a Tribal Clerk. Elections are held each year on the first Saturday of June to choose one Chief and one Sub-Chief for

9701-399: The small community: While the media has had a field day with this story and some have used the word 'racist,' we will, once again, state the issue isn't about anyone's feelings towards non-natives, it is simply an issue of residency and our right to determine who can and cannot live on the 13,000 acres we call home," said Mohawk Chief Michael Delisle Jr. In September 2014, the council revived

9810-797: The sometimes strained relations between Mohawk and ethnic Europeans at Kahnawake, usually over property and competition for limited resources. In 1722, community residents objected to the garrison of French soldiers because they feared it would cause "horrible discord" and showed the French did not trust the locals. In the mid-1720s, the community evicted the Desaulnier sisters, traders who were garnering profits formerly earned by members of Kahnawake. In 1771, twenty-two Mohawk pressed British officials to help them prevent two local families from bringing French families to settle "on lands reserved for their common use". In 1812, many were opposed to specific types of "mixed" marriages. In 1822, Nicolas Doucet, an agent of

9919-488: The south. Because of the St. Lawrence River to the north, New York State, United States, to the south, and the absence of a road link to the rest of Quebec, to the east, the Quebec portion of the Akwesasne reserve is a practical exclave claimed by Canada. To travel by land from Tsi Snaihne (Snye or Chenail, Quebec) or Kana:takon (Saint Regis, Quebec) to elsewhere in Canada, one must drive through New York State. In Canada,

10028-527: The southern portion is formed by the St. Regis River. The territory is divided between north–south by the Canada–United States border . The northern portion is further divided by the Canadian provincial boundary between Ontario to the west and Quebec to the east. The Three Nations Crossing connects Kawehno:ke (Cornwall Island, Ontario) to the City of Cornwall in the north and Rooseveltown , New York in

10137-574: The survival of its people. In February 2010, the issue was renewed when the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake elected to evict 35 non-Natives from the reserve. While the action was legal according to the membership laws, critics believed the council was acting specifically against some individuals. These persons had lived on the reserve for 10 years or more and contributed to the community. The council said they were responding to complaints from residents about limited housing and land being occupied by non-Natives. The eviction resolution, endorsed by all 12 chiefs of

10246-720: The system. Kahnawake used section 107 of the Indian Act to nominate community members as justices of the peace , and in 1974 Justice Sharron was appointed as the first justice of the peace at the reserve. Many of the cases have dealt with traffic and parking violations, but her scope is wider, as the JP has jurisdiction over Criminal Code offences related to the following four areas: cruelty to animals, common assault, breaking and entering, and vagrancy. The Kanien’kehá:ka wanted further improvements. Since 2000, Kahnawake has started to reintroduce Skenn:en A'onsonton (to become peaceful again),

10355-435: The territories of New France and New England. Captives were sometimes held for ransom, and European families and communities worked to buy them back. In some cases, families of the indigenous communities kept captives for adoption. For instance, more than 100 captives were taken during the 1704 Raid on Deerfield ; they were forced overland to Montreal and Kahnawake. The minister of Deerfield was ransomed, but his teenage daughter

10464-747: The territory within Ontario is called the Akwesasne 59 Indian Reserve , and the territory within Quebec is called the Akwesasne Indian Reserve. In the U.S. state of New York, the territory of Akwesasne coincides with what is called the federally recognized St. Regis Mohawk Reservation . This portion of Akwesasne is bisected by New York State Route 37 . This major state highway in the North Country of New York, extends for 127.4 mi (205.0 km) on an east–west axis. Beginning about 1000 AD , nomadic indigenous people around

10573-646: The territory. and symbolic recognition of its claim. Kahnawake was settled by a variety of historic indigenous peoples, although the Mohawk became by far the majority. They and other tribes had a practice of adopting captives into the tribe, often to replace people lost to illness or warfare. They generally chose to adopt young women and children taken in raids, as these were believed to be more amenable to assimilation. Individual families adopted such captives, and made them full members of their clan and tribe. The practice preceded European encounter, but later some European captives were also assimilated as Mohawk. The Mohawk had

10682-406: The traditional justice system of the Iroquois. It wanted to create an alternative dispute resolution process, as developed by the First Nation, or "reintroduced" according to its principles. The Justice Committee of the MCK and representatives of the Longhouse jointly presented the initiative to the community. Based on wrongdoing that has taken place within the geographic area of Kahnawke, the system

10791-466: The traditional, hereditary seven life chiefs selected from the seven clans. The inequalities in landownership among Kahnawake residents led to resentment of the wealthy. For instance, in 1884, the multiracial sons of the late George de Lorimier were the largest and wealthiest landowners in the community. Some Kahnawake residents questioned whether people who were not full-blood Mohawk should be allowed to own so much land. The Mohawk Council asked members of

10900-483: The traffic in captives during Queen Anne's War in the early 1700s between France and England. French and First Nations allies, including the Abenaki , would bring captives back to Kahnawake from New England settlements, often to be ransomed. Younger English children and women were sometimes adopted by Mohawk families and assimilated into the tribe. Due to exhaustion of land at Kahnawake and problems with traders' rum at

11009-460: The valley for hunting grounds and as a path for war parties. In the early 17th century, some Christian Iroquois (primarily Mohawk, but also some Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca) migrated from present-day New York to Kahnawake (formerly known as Caughnawaga, after their village along the Mohawk River), a Catholic mission village established by French Jesuits south of Montreal . Kahnawake

11118-567: The village expelled white traders who were "poisoning" the Iroquois "with rum and spirituous liquors". Tensions rose at the time of the 1837-38 Lower Canada Rebellion. The Mohawk had suffered incursions on their land, including non-Natives' taking valuable firewood. The Kahnawake cooperated with the British Crown against the Patriotes , largely over the issue of preserving their land and expressing their collective identity. Before and after

11227-434: The village, in the mid-1750s about 30 families migrated upriver about 20 leagues to set up a new community. Among the leaders were brothers and chiefs John and Zachariah Tarbell. Father Pierre-Robert-Jean-Baptiste Billiard accompanied the migrants as their priest. French officials supported the move, paying for a sawmill at the new mission. With tensions rising prior to the Seven Years' War (also known in North America as

11336-553: The water and ground. When the national government decided to pass the Saint Lawrence Seaway canal cut through the village, the people and buildings of Kahnawake were permanently separated from the natural river shore. The loss of land and access to the river, the demolition of houses, and the change in the community's relationship to the river have had profound effects on Kahnawake. The people had been sited there for hundreds of years, and their identities were related to

11445-579: Was also a base for those missionary priests who were sent to the west. Jesuit records give a settlement date of 1719. Kahnawake was created under what was known as the Seigneurie du Sault-Saint-Louis , a 40,320-acre (163.2 km ) territory which the French Crown granted in 1680 to the Jesuits to "protect" and "nurture" those Mohawk newly converted to Catholicism. When the seigneury was granted,

11554-468: Was an Iroquoian language spoken until the late 16th century along the shores of the Saint Lawrence River in present-day Quebec and Ontario , Canada. It is believed to have disappeared with the extinction of the St. Lawrence Iroquoians , likely as a result of warfare by the more powerful Mohawk from the Haudenosaunee or Iroquois Confederacy to the south, in present-day New York state of

11663-508: Was kept by a Mohawk family. She ultimately married a Mohawk man and had a family with him, choosing to stay with her new family rather than return to Deerfield. As a result of this history, many Kahnawake people have been of mixed ancestry but identify as Mohawk. Backgrounds may include ancestry of other Iroquois tribes, such as the Oneida , Onondaga , Cayuga , Seneca , and Tuscarora; and/or French, English, Anglo-American, Scots and Irish. By

11772-519: Was redeemed by a French couple and entered the Congregation of Notre Dame , a teaching order founded in Montreal by French women in 1653. Adopted by Mohawk families in Kahnawake, the two boys became thoroughly assimilated : learning the language and ways, and being given Mohawk names. They later each married daughters of chiefs and reared their children as Mohawk. They each became chiefs, and some of their sons also became chiefs. They were examples of

11881-556: Was run by the Catholic Sisters of Saint Anne until the 1970s. Today, the mission is still active and includes a rectory, the large stone church dating to 1795, and a cemetery. Parish records show that the Jesuits respected Mohawk traditions, recording their Mohawk names through the 18th and 19th centuries, even after they had also taken European names. The Roman Catholic parish at Akwesasne falls under three dioceses because of international borders and provincial boundaries:

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