Kahnawake surnames
Encyclopedia
The Mohawk
Mohawk nation
Mohawk are the most easterly tribe of the Iroquois confederation. They call themselves Kanien'gehaga, people of the place of the flint...

 Nation reserve of Kahnawake, near Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, includes residents with surnames of Mohawk
Mohawk nation
Mohawk are the most easterly tribe of the Iroquois confederation. They call themselves Kanien'gehaga, people of the place of the flint...

, French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...

, Scots
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...

 and English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 ancestry, reflecting the adoption of European children into the community, as well as intermarriage with local colonial settlers over the life of the early village. Located along the St. Lawrence river opposite the city of Montréal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

 on the shores of the St-Louis rapids, dates back to 1667 as a Jesuit settlement called Mission Saint-François-Xavier du Sault-Saint-Louis. The original mission was located in what is now La Prairie
La Prairie
La Prairie may refer to a number of places in North America.Canada*La Prairie, Quebec*La Prairie United States*La Prairie, Illinois*La Prairie, Minnesota*La Prairie Township, Clearwater County, Minnesota...

 and was called Kentake by its first Oneida
Oneida tribe
The Oneida are a Native American/First Nations people and are one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois Confederacy in the area of upstate New York...

 settlers.

During the 1670s, the Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

 mission grew as many Mohawk
Mohawk nation
Mohawk are the most easterly tribe of the Iroquois confederation. They call themselves Kanien'gehaga, people of the place of the flint...

 families arrived and rapidly outnumbered the more than twenty other Native groups that were represented there. Following four displacements, the mission was moved to its present-day location in 1716, where it was called Kahnawake, or "at the rapids". In the Mohawk language
Mohawk language
Mohawk is an Iroquoian language spoken by around 2,000 people of the Mohawk nation in the United States and Canada . Mohawk has the largest number of speakers of the Northern Iroquoian languages; today it is the only one with greater than a thousand remaining...

, Kahnawake residents refer to themselves by the autonym Kahnawakehro:non. Some families from here also had descendants who moved to Kanesatake or Akwesasne
Akwesasne
The Mohawk Nation of Akwesasne is a Mohawk Nation territory that straddles the intersection of international and provincial borders on both banks of the Saint Lawrence River. Most of the land is in what is otherwise the United States...

.

The origins of some of Kahnawake's European family names were first published by Father Forbes in 1899. Below is detailed history of Kahnawake's most common surnames of European / North American origin.

Beauvais: the first Beauvais was André Karhaton, who married Marie-Anne Kahenratas before 1743. He was a young man from the Beauvais family of La Prairie who was adopted and raised in Kahnawake.

Canadien: this name comes from the wife of Charles Tehosteroton, grand-daughter of Big John Canadian, whose father is unknown.

Curotte: this name is based on the French name Cureau or Curot. Pierre Curotte Taronhiorens married Marie-Joseph Karenhatirontha before 1748. Pierre's origins are vague, but he may have been a stolen or illegitimate child.

D'Ailleboust: this name originates from Ignace Soteriioskon dit D'Ailleboust, born in about 1733 (and died in 1797) from the marriage of Catherine Kawennakaion and La Prairie resident Antoine D'Ailleboust, sieur de Coulogne et de Mantet. The name is now spelled Diabo.

De La Ronde: this name is from Paul Niioherasha, son of voyageur
Voyageur
Voyageur is a French word meaning "voyager" or "traveler".Voyageur can refer to:*Voyageurs, persons who transported furs by canoe during the fur trade era....

 Charles-François Denys de la Ronde Thibaudière and Magdeleine Pemadjisoanokwe from Kanesatake. Their own ancestors include Simon and Jeanne Dubreuil, who arrived in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 in 1651. The name is now spelled Delaronde or Laronde.

De Lorimier: Claude-Nicolas-Guillaume de Lorimier
Claude-Nicolas-Guillaume de Lorimier
Claude-Nicolas-Guillaume de Lorimier was a businessman, official and political figure in Lower Canada. He was also known as Guillaume, Chevalier de Lorimier, Major de Lorimier, and by the Iroquois name Teiohatekon....

 was an officer and wealthy land-owner in Kahnawake. Born in Lachine
Lachine
Lachine may refer to a number of places in the Montreal area:* Lachine, Quebec, the community* Lachine Rapids* Lachine Canal* The Fur Trade at Lachine National Historic Site...

 in 1744, he commanded Native troops during the Seven Years War and the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

. In 1783, he married Marie-Louise Schuyler, an Iroquois woman, and they moved to Kahnawake. In 1801, he married Iroquois Anne Skaouennetsi, with whom he had four children, including Antoine-George de Lorimier. He died in Kahnawake in 1825. Before and after the 1837-1838 Lower Canada Rebellion
Lower Canada Rebellion
The Lower Canada Rebellion , commonly referred to as the Patriots' War by Quebeckers, is the name given to the armed conflict between the rebels of Lower Canada and the British colonial power of that province...

, there was controversy about De Lorimier's staying in the community. His sons sold their properties and made lives elsewhere. (Although not descendants, the modern-day Delormier and Dell families adopted the name in the early twentieth century to abide by Canadian legislation's forcing people to have a "Canadian" family name.)

Delisle: this name is from Jacques Tewennitashen, born in about 1746 and deceased in 1826. According to tradition, he was the son of an English prisoner brought to Kahnawake. In 1766, he married Catherine Skawenniooha, from Kahnawake.

Giasson: Ignace Giasson married Marie-Louise de Sacquespée, daughter of Amable-Benoît de Sacquespée and Marie-Angélique d' Aillesboust des Musseaux in January 1792, in Montréal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

. Ignace had two boys: Ignace Jr. married Marie Pollard, a resident of Châteauguay, and lived there; Charles-Gédéon married Agathe McComber, a daughter of Kahnawake resident Jarvis McComber through his first wife, Charlotte Tsionnonna. Marie-Angélique, daughter of Ignace (senior), became the second wife of Jarvis McComber in 1812.

Hill: Jacob Hill, aka Kannetakon, was brought back by Kahnawake men following an expedition to Schenectady. He married Marie Anastasie Konkaientha in 1766. Some of his descendants took the surname JACOB.

La Saussaye: Charles aka Wanoronk appears in the registries in 1783. He appears to be a Huron from Lorette
Lorette
Lorette may refer to the following places:* Lorette, Loire, a commune in the Loire department, France* Lorette, Manitoba, a community in Manitoba, Canada* Lorette, Pommes, a fried potato dish from French cuisine....

, and son of Oskwesannete and Marie.

Mailloux: Amable Mailloux married French-Canadian Félicité Rollin in Châteauguay in 1793. Their three sons, François-Xavier Tiorateken, Louis Onokohte and Pierre Ohahakehte, were brought up by Kahnawake resident Antoine Otes dit Zacharie and married local Native women. The name is now spelled Mayo or Myiow.

McComber: This name is from Jarvis (Gervais, Gervase) McComber, son of Constant McComber and Mary Earle. In about 1796, at sixteen years of age, he left Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

 and, on his own, moved to Kahnawake. He was hired by Thomas Arakwente, who later adopted him. Following several expeditions to the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...

, he married Arakwente's daughter and refused to go back to his family. In 1805, he converted from the Protestant faith to Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....

. He owned many acres of land, and served as a military officer and interpreter on numerous occasions. He married three times. His first wife was Charlotte Tsionnonna; his second wife was Marie-Angélique Giasson, whom he married in 1812; he married a third time in 1842 to a woman by the name of Hypolite. After having a total of twenty-eight children, he died in 1866 at the age of ninety-five.

McGregor: Pierre Anatorenha McGregor was taken captive with his sister Marie from Deerfield
Deerfield
Deerfield is the name of many places in the United States. In some cases, these places correspond to the previous locations of "deer fields" created by Native Americans.*Deerfield, Illinois*Deerfield, Indiana*Deerfield, Iowa*Deerfield, Kansas...

, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

 during a raid in 1704. He and his sister were adopted by an Iroquois family of Kahnawake after being brought there after the raid.

Merry or Murray: Trueman aka Sotsitsionwane was the son of Ephraim and Diane Merry from Boston. He was baptized under the name of Pierre in 1805. He married Marie Saiorio in 1805, Marie Tikos in 1838 and Marie Tsiawenhatie in 1840.

Monique: Louis Onwaskannha was born in 1760, and died in 1810. He married Dorothee Kariwaienhne. He was a Huron from Lorette
Lorette
Lorette may refer to the following places:* Lorette, Loire, a commune in the Loire department, France* Lorette, Manitoba, a community in Manitoba, Canada* Lorette, Pommes, a fried potato dish from French cuisine....

 who had moved to Kahnawake in the early nineteenth century.

Philippe: Pierre Sonorese was born about 1733 and died in 1786. He married Anna Atsiaha around 1755. Not much is known of him from asides from the possibility that he may have been from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The name is now spelled Philip.

Rice: Edmund Rice
Edmund Rice (1638)
Edmund Rice , was an early immigrant to Massachusetts Bay Colony who was born in Suffolk, England, and lived in Stanstead, Suffolk and Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire prior to sailing with his family to America. He arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in summer or fall of 1638, presumed to be first...

, from Berkhamstead, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, immigrated to Massachusetts Bay Colony
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...

 in 1638. His grandson Edmund's two sons, Silas and Timothy Rice, were kidnapped by Kahnawake men in 1704 during Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War , as the North American theater of the War of the Spanish Succession was known in the British colonies, was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought between France and England, later Great Britain, in North America for control of the continent. The War of the...

. Adonijah and Ashur Rice, cousins of Silas and Timothy, were also captured at the same time from a flax field in Massachusetts, brought to Kahnawake and raised by local families. Adonijah was eight years old when he arrived and he grew up and married in Kahnawake. His brother Ashur was eventually ransomed by this family and returned to Massachusetts as a young man. Silas, who was nine years old when he arrived, became Tannhahorens and died in 1779 at the age of 90. Timothy, who was seven years old when he arrived, became Oseronhokion and even served as a chief. Both went on to marry local Mohawk women.

Stacey: John Aionwatha Stacey, an English Protestant boy, was taken captive near Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...

 in about 1755 during the Seven Years War. Stacey was brought to Kahnawake with Jacob Hill. Married successively to Agnes Karakwannentha, Louise Daudelin in 1784, and Marie Angélique D'Ailleboust des Musseaux in 1769, he had a total of fourteen children.

Tarbell: this name came from John and Zachary Tarbell, ethnic English brothers taken captive as boys along with their sister Sarah from Groton, Massachusetts
Groton, Massachusetts
Groton is a town located in northwestern Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The population was 10,646 at the 2010 census. It is home to two noted prep schools: Groton School, founded in 1884, and Lawrence Academy at Groton, founded in 1793. The historic town hosts the National Shepley Hill Horse...

 in June 1707 during Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War , as the North American theater of the War of the Spanish Succession was known in the British colonies, was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought between France and England, later Great Britain, in North America for control of the continent. The War of the...

. After being brought to Kahnawake, the boys were adopted into Mohawk families and converted to Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....

. (Sarah was redeemed by a French family, converted and in 1708 joined the Congregation of Notre Dame
Congregation of Notre Dame
The Congregation of Notre Dame was founded in 1653 by Marguerite Bourgeoys in Montreal, Canada. This was one of the first non-cloistered communities. The community's motherhouse has continued to be based in Montreal...

.) The boys as adults married daughters of chiefs, had children and became chiefs themselves. In the 1750s, they led about 30 families to found the new community of Akwesasne
Akwesasne
The Mohawk Nation of Akwesasne is a Mohawk Nation territory that straddles the intersection of international and provincial borders on both banks of the Saint Lawrence River. Most of the land is in what is otherwise the United States...

. In 1739 the brothers visited family in New England for the first time since capture.

Williams: Eunice Williams, the daughter of minister John Williams, was captured during the Iroquois-Abenaki-French raid on Deerfield
Deerfield
Deerfield is the name of many places in the United States. In some cases, these places correspond to the previous locations of "deer fields" created by Native Americans.*Deerfield, Illinois*Deerfield, Indiana*Deerfield, Iowa*Deerfield, Kansas...

, Massachusetts, on the night of 28 February 1704. Eunice was seven years old at the time. She was adopted, converted to Catholicism and renamed Marguerite (as well as receiving a Mohawk name), and married Francois xx xx, from within the Kahnawake community. She was thoroughly assimilated and refused to leave the community to return to New England life. She visited her brother Stephen Williams more than once in Massachusetts, but lived in Kahnawake the remainder of her life. She died on 26 November 1785 at the age of 89. The name as it is found today in Kahnawake and Kanesatake descends from her and her children.

Zacharie: Otes Zacharie was a retired Huron chief married to a Kahnawake woman called Charlotte. They had two sons, Antoine Otes aka Aientas aka Tekaronhonte, and Michel Kaniatariio.

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