The Kahniakenhaka people, also known as the Mohawks, are one of six tribes within the Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois, Confederation, one of the world’s oldest democracies. Located in a region which stretched from Quebec City to mid-Pennsylvania, the Kahniakenhaka people were valued within the Haudenosaunee Confederation for their flint, a resource which was highly valued for tool making (George-Kanentiio, 61). In fact, their self-ascribed name, Kahniakenhaka, means “people of the flint.” Yet they were also known as the “Keepers of the Eastern Door” for their responsibility as the defender of the eastern front of the Haudenosaunee Confederation. As such, they were among the first peoples to make contact with European settlers and were the first to suffer the effects of European colonization (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica). As colonizer nations formed, the Haudenosaunee Confederation, and in particular the Mohawk people found themselves divided between Canadian and American lands. But they were one people with one government and didn’t want to become divided by other nation states. Unsurprisingly, their story since first contact with settlers has been one of conflict. At its core, this conflict is based on the Mohawk people’s struggle for sovereignty, as shown in the Cornwall Bridge conflict, the St. Regis Tribal Council, and the Oka Crisis of 1990.
A prime example of this ongoing struggle for sovereignty can be seen within the Cornwall Bridge conflict. The Cornwall Bridge conflict began in December of 1968, when roughly one-hundred Mohawks, mostly women and teenagers, blocked the Cornwall Bridge. This came as a reaction to a Canadian government legislation, passed earlier in the fall of 1968, requiring any peoples who crossed the bridge to pay customs duties, taxes, on all goods exceeding $5 (Katharina Motyl & Regina Schober ,189). On the surface, this law seemed reasonable. Cornwall Island lay entirely within Canadian Borders, but right along the US-Canadian boundary in Northern New York. Much like any border crossing, one was required to pay customs duties on goods you carried across the border. However, the Mohawk peoples were located on the Cornwall Island. This meant that Mohawk people who bought goods on the US side of their territory had to pay the fines or have their property seized when trying to bring it into Mohawk territory on the Canadian side. This action directly violated Article III of the Jay Treaty (1974) which “provided and assured the Indians free and unrestricted passage and trade across the border” (Hauptman, 148). Tensions escalated to stand-offs with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Ontario Provisional Police, with forty-one Mohawks being arrested. Eventually, dialogue between the Mohawks and the Canadian government in 1969 resulted in duty-free passage for all Mohawk peoples (Hauptman, 149). While considered a victory, this conflict illustrated underlying tensions and recurring issues of the region. Much like the narratives of other Indian tribes, the Mohawks had to fight tooth-and-nail for the rights guaranteed to them by previous treaties, even recent and contemporary ones. It seems unthinkable that the Canadian government would blatantly aggress on treaties with pother sovereign nations, such as the US. Yet, this was by no means the end of their struggle for sovereignty.
Another prime example of the Mohawks struggle for sovereignty can be found in the complex tensions and conflicts surrounding the contentious St. Regis Tribal Council. The St. Regis Tribal Council represents the Mohawk Indian reservation in Franklin County, New York, United States. It is known to the native peoples who live there by its Mohawk name, Akwesasne (Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs, Homepage). The main reason for conflict occurs within the governmental systems that are either recognized or inherent within Mohawk society and, in a larger sense, within the Haudenosaunee Confederation. The Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs, one of six National Councils which form the Haudenosaunee Confederation, view the St. Regis Tribal Council as a false government. In fact on their own website home page, they describe it as “a form of government that was forcibly imposed upon the Akwesasne Mohawk people by New York State in 1892.” Furthermore, the St. Regis Tribal council received federal recognition in 1972, even though it did not meet the minimum requirements under Federal law (Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs, Homepage). Because the Mohawk peoples lacked the funds to contest this is a prolonged legal battle, the Mohawks of this region are now led by a controversial government. The conflict remains unresolved as both the St. Regis Tribal Council and the Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs continue to operate today. This reflects the division between Mohawk peoples needs and US governmental wants. The Mohawks want sovereignty under one government, the US wants control over the territory, so it recognized the government it wanted, not the one given to the Haudenosaunee Nations by the Creator.
The final major example is the Oka Crisis of 1990. The Oka Crisis took place within the Mohawk territories of Kanehsatake and Kahnawake, located near Montreal, Quebec. The crisis began following a blockade by the Kanienkehaka people, who sought to resist the expansion of a golf course and new luxury homes, by the Oka Golf Club and town municipality, into the last remaining tree stands of the reservation land as well as a Mohawk graveyard. Tensions escalated with armed clashes between the opposing sides (Zig Zag, anonymous Indian author). After repeated armed clashes and escalation by the Canadian government, the golf course expansion which sparked the crisis was eventually cancelled and the land under dispute purchased from the developers by the federal government for $5.3 million (The Canadian Encyclopedia). This served as an inspiration for Indian movements across the US and Canada, as indigenous peoples across North America fought for their sovereignty (Sally M. Weaver, 1). This crisis showed the true power and resilience of the Mohawk people. They were no strangers to fighting for their rights and they did so with fortitude and bravery. However this crisis seems absolutely insane to me. I struggle to comprehend how the Canadian government was able to justify this invasion of sovereign land, especially because the developers were trying to build a golf course over sacred burial lands. This reflects the underlying tones of disrespect and trivialization the Mohawk people have to face everyday in their fight to maintain their sovereignty.
In closing, the Mohawk people’s story after European contact has been one of resistance and strength. As I delved deeper into the story of the Mohawk people, I found myself amazed by their power and disgusted by the obviously immoral actions perpetrated by both US and Canadian governmental powers alike. In the words of Vine Deloria Jr, I too felt “my blood boil at the injustice being perpetrated on innocent people” (Deloria Jr, xii). The Mohawk people, though oppressed by the system, continued to fight for what was right. I believe their story shows us all the importance of recognizing the indigenous peoples of the Americas, and the prices that can be payed should their cries go unanswered.