Kahn-Tineta Horn (born 16 April 1940,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
) is a
Mohawk Mohawk may refer to:
Related to Native Americans
*Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York)
*Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people
*Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been t ...
political activist,
civil servant
The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...
, and former
fashion model
A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Thoug ...
. Since 1972, she has held various positions in the social, community and educational development policy sections of the Canadian federal
Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
. She is a member of the Mohawk Bear Clan of
Kahnawake
The Kahnawake Mohawk Territory (french: Territoire Mohawk de Kahnawake, 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, C ...
.
Horn and her daughters were notable participants in the 1990
Oka Crisis
The Oka Crisis (french: links=no, Crise d'Oka), also known as the Kanehsatà:ke Resistance (), was a land rights, land dispute between a group of Mohawk people and the town of Oka, Quebec, Canada, which began on July 11, 1990, and lasted 78 day ...
. Her daughter,
Waneek Horn-Miller
Waneek Horn-Miller (born November 30, 1975) is a Canadian water polo player from the Kahnawake Mohwak Territory. She was a member of the Canadian women's water polo team that won a gold medal at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg. Horn-Mill ...
(born 1975), was stabbed in the chest by a soldier's bayonet while holding her younger sister,
Kaniehtiio, then aged 4; a photograph of the incident, published on the front page of newspapers, symbolized the standoff between Mohawks and the
Canadian government
The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-in-C ...
.
Waneek became a broadcaster, and co-captain of Canada's first women's national water polo team at the
2000 Summer Olympics
The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...
in Sydney. Kaniehtiio is now a film and television actress.
Her eldest daughter, Dr. Ojistoh Horn, is a traditionally minded family medicine physician in Akwesasne.
Biography
In the 1960s and early 1970s, Kahn-Tineta Horn became widely known for her criticisms of anti-native racism and government policy regarding
First Nations
First Nations or first peoples may refer to:
* Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area.
Indigenous groups
*First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including:
**First Natio ...
peoples, and for her advocacy of native
separatism
Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seeking greate ...
. She was involved in the 1962 Conference on Indian Poverty in
Washington D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
, the blocking of the
International Bridge at Akwesasne in 1968, and other indigenous rights campaigns.
Kahn-Tineta caught the attention of the media in 1964, when she was "deposed as a Director of the National Indian Council, and as Indian Princess of Canada." By 1972, her separatist views had appeared in the pages of
The Harvard Crimson
''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper of Harvard University and was founded in 1873. Run entirely by Harvard College undergraduates, it served for many years as the only daily newspaper in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Beginning in the f ...
and
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
, and she had been interviewed by The Webster Reports of
KVOS-TV
KVOS-TV, virtual channel 12 ( UHF digital channel 14), is a Heroes & Icons owned-and-operated television station licensed to Bellingham, Washington, United States. Owned by Chicago-based Weigel Broadcasting, it is part of a duopoly with Seatt ...
, a
Bellingham, Washington
Bellingham ( ) is the most populous city in, and county seat of Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. It lies south of the U.S.–Canada border in between two major cities of the Pacific Northwest: Vancouver, British Columbia (locat ...
station which broadcasts to
Vancouver, British Columbia
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
.
Kahn-Tineta Horn has appeared in two
short film
A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...
s, ''Artisans de notre histoire, Volume 2: Les Explorateurs (1995)'' and ''David Thompson: The Great Mapmaker (1964)''. She has served as publisher of the Mohawk Nation News. She has served as Director of the Canadian Alliance in Solidarity with Native Peoples and coordinator of the Free Wolverine Campaign.
In 2002, she gave a speech at the "You Are on Native Land Conference" at
McGill University
McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...
titled, ''How Canada violated the
BNA Act
The British North America Acts 1867–1975 are a series of Acts of Parliament that were at the core of the constitution of Canada. Most were enacted by the Parliament of the United Kingdom and some by the Parliament of Canada. In Canada, some ...
to Steal Native Land: The Forgotten Arguments of
Deskaheh
Levi General (March 15, 1873 – June 27, 1925), commonly known as Deskaheh, was a Haudenosaunee hereditary chief and appointed speaker noted for his persistent efforts to get recognition for his people. He is most famous for bringing Iroquois con ...
.''
In 2006, Kahn-Tineta Horn was one of two women who submitted a "notice of seizure" to the developers of the
Melancthon Wind Farm near
Shelburne, Ontario on behalf of the
Haudenosaunee
The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian Peoples, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Indigenous confederations in North America, confederacy of First Nations in Canada, First Natio ...
, and taught a history class at
Concordia University
Concordia University ( French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...
in Montreal.
In 2008, at age 68, she suffered a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...
while "handcuffed in a police stress hold" at the Cornwall/Akwesasne border crossing.
References
External links
Kahn-Tineta Horn Speaking at Press Conference in 19641969 press photo Kahn-Tineta Horn Caughnawaga Princess*
ttp://www.snowwowl.com/gwritpeacemocassins.html Peace Moccasins: Kahn-Tineta Horn-Mohawk Mother and Grandmotherbr>
Mohawk Nation News
*
*
How Canada violated the BNA Act to Steal Native Land: The Forgotten Arguments of Deskaheh', 2002 speech at McGill University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Horn, Kahn-Tineta
1940 births
Living people
American Mohawk people
First Nations activists
Canadian female models
Canadian civil servants
Canadian women civil servants
Concordia University people
Native American activists
20th-century First Nations people
21st-century First Nations people
Canadian Mohawk people
People from New York City
Mohawks of Kahnawá:ke
20th-century Canadian women