Kanesatake, Quebec
Encyclopedia
Kanehsatake is a 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...

 (Kanienkehaka) settlement on the shore of the Lake of Two Mountains at the Ottawa River
Ottawa River
The Ottawa River is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. For most of its length, it now defines the border between these two provinces.-Geography:...

 in southwestern 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...

, 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...

. The Doncaster 17 Indian Reserve
Doncaster, Quebec
Doncaster is a Mohawk Indian Reserve in the Laurentides region of Quebec, Canada...

 also belongs to the Mohawk of Kanesatake. The population of the community is 1700.

The community was formally founded under supervision of the Sulpician Order in the early 18th century. The Mohawk, based further south in present-day New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, had used the territory as a hunting ground since the late 16th century. Historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...

s and anthropologists believe they pushed out or destroyed the St. Lawrence Iroquoians
St. Lawrence Iroquoians
The St. Lawrence Iroquoians were a prehistoric First Nations/Native American indigenous people who lived from the 14th century until about 1580 CE along the shores of the St. Lawrence River in present-day Quebec and Ontario, Canada, and New York State, United States. They spoke Laurentian...

, a discrete Laurentian
Laurentian
Laurentian may refer to:*Anything related to Saint Lawrence or the Saint Lawrence River*Laurentia, the craton at the heart of the North American continent...

 (Iroquoian)-speaking group who had inhabited villages along the St. Lawrence River since at least the 14th century. This is one of several reserves or settlements where the Kanienkehaka are self-governing in Canada, including Kahnawake, 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...

 and the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation. It was one of the Seven Nations of Canada
Seven Nations of Canada
The Seven Nations of Canada were a historic confederation of Canadian First Nations living in and around the Saint Lawrence River valley beginning in the eighteenth century. They were allied to New France and often included substantial numbers of Roman Catholic converts. During the Seven Years War...

.

History

Beginning about 1000 AD, nomadic indigenous people around the Great Lakes began adopting the cultivation of maize
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...

. By the 14th century, Iroquoian-speaking peoples, later called the St. Lawrence Iroquoians
St. Lawrence Iroquoians
The St. Lawrence Iroquoians were a prehistoric First Nations/Native American indigenous people who lived from the 14th century until about 1580 CE along the shores of the St. Lawrence River in present-day Quebec and Ontario, Canada, and New York State, United States. They spoke Laurentian...

, had created fortified villages along the fertile valley of what is now called the St. Lawrence River. Among their villages were Stadacona
Stadacona
Stadacona was a 16th century St. Lawrence Iroquoian village near present-day Quebec City.French explorer and navigator Jacques Cartier, travelling and charting the Saint Lawrence River, reached it on 7 September 1535. He returned to Stadacona to spend the winter there with his group of 110 men...

and Hochelaga
Hochelaga
Hochelaga may refer to:Hochelaga* Hochelaga , a 16th century village on the Island of Montreal* Hochelaga Archipelago, Montreal and surrounding islands...

, visited in 1535-1536 by explorer Jacques Cartier
Jacques Cartier
Jacques Cartier was a French explorer of Breton origin who claimed what is now Canada for France. He was the first European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River, which he named "The Country of Canadas", after the Iroquois names for the two big...

. While they shared certain culture with other Iroquoian groups, archeological and linguistic
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....

 studies since the 1950s have demonstrated they were a distinctly separate people. They spoke a branch of Iroquoian called Laurentian
Laurentian
Laurentian may refer to:*Anything related to Saint Lawrence or the Saint Lawrence River*Laurentia, the craton at the heart of the North American continent...

.

By the time Samuel de Champlain
Samuel de Champlain
Samuel de Champlain , "The Father of New France", was a French navigator, cartographer, draughtsman, soldier, explorer, geographer, ethnologist, diplomat, and chronicler. He founded New France and Quebec City on July 3, 1608....

 explored the same area 75 years later, the villages had disappeared. Huron and Kanienkehaka based in other Iroquoian territories used the valley for hunting grounds and routes for war parties. Historians are continuing to examine this culture, but theorize that the stronger Kanienkehaka (Mohawk) waged war against the St. Lawrence Iroquoians to get control of the fur trade
Fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...

 and hunting along the valley below Tadoussac. (The Montagnais controlled Tadoussac.) By 1600, the Mohawk used the valley for hunting grounds.

To encourage the Kahnawake People to move southwest of Montreal, they contend that in 1717 the French colonial governor gave them a grant for nearly nine square miles at the Lake of Two Mountains. The Sulpician Order, which had established a mission with the Mohawk, received a smaller grant for land next to them. The religious order had the deeds changed so that all the land was granted to them. Believing the Order supervised land in trust for them, the Kanienkehaka did not discover the deception until the late 19th century. They lost a land claim case in the late 20th century on technical issues.

Recent history

In the late 20th and early 21st century, rising Mohawk political activism brought changes to Kanehsatake. In 1990, the adjacent town of Oka
Oka, Quebec
-References:...

 decided to construct an extension of a private golf course onto a pine grove and burial ground
Burial Ground
Burial Ground is the ninth studio album by Swedish death metal band Grave, released in June 2010.-Track listing:# "Liberation" - 3:40# "Semblance In Black" - 7:50# "Dismembered Mind" - 6:10# "Ridden With Belief" - 7:57# "Conquerer" - 4:44...

 long used by the people of Kanehsatake, where tombstones marked their ancestors' graves. The Mohawks occupied the land and barricaded access to it. When the Sûreté du Québec
Sûreté du Québec
Sûreté du Québec or SQ is the provincial police force for the Canadian province of Québec...

 and Canadian Forces
Canadian Forces
The Canadian Forces , officially the Canadian Armed Forces , are the unified armed forces of Canada, as constituted by the National Defence Act, which states: "The Canadian Forces are the armed forces of Her Majesty raised by Canada and consist of one Service called the Canadian Armed Forces."...

 intervened, the result was the prolonged standoff of the Oka Crisis
Oka Crisis
The Oka Crisis was a land dispute between a group of Mohawk people and the town of Oka, Quebec, Canada which began on July 11, 1990 and lasted until September 26, 1990. At least one person died as a result...

. One police officer was killed by gunshot.

Oka Crisis

In 1990 there was a 78-day standoff between the Mohawk Nation and allies (both native and non-native) and various levels of government over the City of Oka's plans to develop a pine grove and cemetery for another nine holes of a private golf course and new luxury housing. The land had long been used by the Mohawk. Their ancestors' tombstones stand in the cemetery. A few years' previously, the Mohawk had lost a federal lawsuit claim for the land, when the Court rejected their argument that they had been granted the land in the early 18th century but deprived by deception of the Sulpician Order, which they understood was holding the land in trust for them. In response to city moves to develop the land, the Mohawk barricaded a dirt road leading to it.

The city requested support from the Sûreté du Québec
Sûreté du Québec
Sûreté du Québec or SQ is the provincial police force for the Canadian province of Québec...

. They barricaded highway 344 leading to Kanesataka. In the first days of the confrontation, a police officer was killed in an exchange of gunfire with the Mohawk people. In solidarity, Mohawk from Kahnawake blockaded the approach to the Mercier Bridge, which passed through their land. Residents of the area became enraged about traffic delays. Later Quebec requested support from the Canadian Army, their right under the constitution. Provincial and national leaders participated in negotiations between the Mohawk and Quebec.

Community conflicts

Elections were first held for chiefs and council at Kanesatake in 1991. Jerry Peltier was elected grand chief.

John Harding and fellow council Nchiefs Steven Bonspille
Steven Bonspille
Steven Bonspille was Grand Chief of the Kanesatake Mohawk 1700-member community located near Montreal, Quebec, Canada.-History:Bonspille was one of the key figures in a power struggle in the early 2000s in the community...

 and Pearl Bonspille opposed James Gabriel's attempt to control policing by hiring private officers for a drug raid in January 2004. They believed Gabriel's action was an attempt to usurp the power of the Police Commission. The 67 special constables were forced to take shelter in the local police station for protection against rioting that broke out. After his home was burned, Gabriel left the community for Montreal.

A Community Watch team was organized to counter the lack of a police force. A liaison team was established with the Sûreté du Québec
Sûreté du Québec
Sûreté du Québec or SQ is the provincial police force for the Canadian province of Québec...

 (the provincial police force). Political communication lines were opened up with the government to prevent another Oka Crisis
Oka Crisis
The Oka Crisis was a land dispute between a group of Mohawk people and the town of Oka, Quebec, Canada which began on July 11, 1990 and lasted until September 26, 1990. At least one person died as a result...

.

In 2004 and 2005, disputes over the governance practices of then Chief James Gabriel
James Gabriel
James Gabriel was Grand Chief of the Mohawk community at Kanesatake from 1995 to 2004. His tenure in office was controversial, marked by bitter divisions between his supporters and opponents.-Background:...

 resulted in violence in Kanehsatake. Chiefs Pearl Bonspille, Steven Bonspille
Steven Bonspille
Steven Bonspille was Grand Chief of the Kanesatake Mohawk 1700-member community located near Montreal, Quebec, Canada.-History:Bonspille was one of the key figures in a power struggle in the early 2000s in the community...

 and John Harding opposed Gabriel, leading to a series of incidents that ended Gabriel's tenure as grand chief. There was purported arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...

 of the chief's home and car, and Gabriel left the community for Montreal.

Elections were held in late spring of 2005. On June 26, 2005, Steven Bonspille defeated Gabriel in the election for grand chief. The election also resulted in Harding and Pearl Bonspille's being replaced in office as chiefs on the council. New members were voted in as chiefs on the seven-member council. Tribal engagement in politics has remained high: in 2008 there were 25 candidates running for seven seats on the council.

Tobacco trade

Tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...

 is a traditional herb indigenous
Indigenous (ecology)
In biogeography, a species is defined as native to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention. Every natural organism has its own natural range of distribution in which it is regarded as native...

 to North and South America. Archeological evidence has shown its use has been part of ritual
Ritual
A ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value. It may be prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community. The term usually excludes actions which are arbitrarily chosen by the performers....

 religious and political traditions in native cultures in the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...

 for at least two thousand years. Under current laws 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...

 and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, state and provincial authorities attempt to control trade of tobacco products through prices and sales taxes, in part because of health concerns related to high tobacco use.

Despite the associated political issues, Kanehsatake has benefited by economic returns from the sales of tobacco (in cigarettes) to non-natives free of tax. Beginning about 2003 with only two fishing shacks set up at each end of the territory, the community has expanded its tobacco sales. In 2009 it had more than thirty stores selling tobacco. Factories developed in 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...

, and shortly after in Kahnawake, both Mohawk reserves
Indian reserve
In Canada, an Indian reserve is specified by the Indian Act as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." The Act also specifies that land reserved for the use and benefit of a band which is not...

in Canada, have been providing Kanehsatake with their product since the business began.

Residents have directed such revenue to invest in the community by developing land and creating other businesses, such as a restaurant, clothing store, and gas station. This investment has benefited the Kanienkehaka people.

External links



Links re: Policing and governance issues of 2003-2005
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