Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory is the main
First Nation
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
reserve
Reserve or reserves may refer to:
Places
* Reserve, Kansas, a US city
* Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish
* Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County
* Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...
of the
Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte First Nation
The Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte (MBQ) (Mohawk: ''Kenhtè:ke Kanyen'kehà:ka'' ) are a Mohawk First Nation within Hastings County, Ontario. They control the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, which is a Mohawk Indian reserve on the Bay of Quinte in s ...
. The territory is located in Ontario east of
Belleville on the
Bay of Quinte
The Bay of Quinte () is a long, narrow bay shaped like the letter "Z" on the northern shore of Lake Ontario in the province of Ontario, Canada. It is just west of the head of the Saint Lawrence River that drains the Great Lakes into the Gulf of ...
. Tyendinaga is located near the site of the former Mohawk village of ''
Ganneious''.
History
Prior to founding
According to the official history of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte, Tyendinaga was the birthplace of
The Great Peacemaker
The Great Peacemaker (''Skén:nen rahá:wi'' kʌ̃.nːʌ̃.ɾahaːwiin Mohawk), sometimes referred to as Deganawida or Tekanawí:ta (as a mark of respect, some Iroquois avoid using his personal name except in special circumstances) was by tradi ...
, who was instrumental in the founding 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 ...
'', or Iroquois Confederacy, sometimes dated in the 12th century.
Various non-Indigenous scholars have suggested that the Haudenosaunee may have developed in the 15th century, but there is no consensus.
18th century
During much of the eighteenth century, the land that would later become the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory was populated by the
Mississauga
Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popul ...
. Beginning in 1784, the territory was settled by Mohawk who had been displaced from their home in
Fort Hunter, New York
Fort Hunter is a hamlet in the Town of Florida in Montgomery County, New York, United States, west of the capital at Albany, on the south bank of the Mohawk River and on the northeast bank of Schoharie Creek.
The hamlet developed around a fort ...
by the victory of the United States in the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
. The British ceded all their territory in the Thirteen Colonies east of the Mississippi River to the United States, including that of the Iroquois, after the colonies gained independence. Four of the six Iroquois nations had been largely allied with the British.
The chief of the Fort Hunter Mohawk was
John Deserontyon, a Loyalist Captain who had fought alongside British forces during the war.
At first, Deserontyon faced criticism for his chosen site of relocation from fellow chief
Joseph Brant
Thayendanegea or Joseph Brant (March 1743 – November 24, 1807) was a Mohawk people, Mohawk military and political leader, based in present-day New York (state), New York, who was closely associated with Kingdom of Great Britain, Great B ...
(who preferred to settle in the valley of the
Grand River). It was also opposed by British colonial officials
Frederick Haldimand
Sir Frederick Haldimand, KB (11 August 1718 – 5 June 1791) was a military officer best known for his service in the British Army in North America during the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War. From 1778 to 1786, he serve ...
and
Sir John Johnson
Brigadier General Sir John Johnson, 2nd Baronet (5 November 1741 – 4 January 1830) was an American-born military officer, magistrate, landowner and colonial official in the British Indian Department who fought as a Loyalist during the America ...
, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, who had been placed in charge of managing the resettlement.
The Crown had originally reserved this land for resettlement of Loyalists by the
Crawford Purchase
The Crawford Purchase was an agreement that surrendered lands that extended west along the north shore of the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario from the Mississaugas to the British crown to enable Loyalist settlement in what is now a part of ...
of 1783. The Crown did grant part of this land to the Mohawk along the Bay of Quinte. On May 22, 1784, about 20 Mohawk families, comprising a total of 100-125 individuals, arrived in the area after canoeing from
Lachine, Quebec
Lachine () is a borough (''arrondissement'') within the city of Montreal on the Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It was an autonomous city until the municipal mergers in 2002.
History
Lachine, apparently from the French term ' ...
. The landing of these first families is commemorated annually with a re-enactment and a thanksgiving for their safe arrival.
Throughout the 1780s, the settlement grew and developed. A teacher named Vincent and paid by the Indian Department was assigned to the settlement, and a schoolhouse and a church were completed in 1791.
In 1788, when the settlement had a population of about one hundred, Fort Hunter Mohawk captains ''Kanonraron'' (Aaron Hill) and ''Anoghsoktea'' (Isaac Hill) came to the territory. They had left the Grand River settlement, as they resented the growing influence there of Joseph Brant and his policy of leasing land to white settlers among the Mohawk.
After repeated requests, including a petition to
King George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
by Sir John Johnson in 1785, the Mohawk who had settled at the Bay of Quinte were granted a 12 by 13-mile tract of land on the bay by Lieutenant Governor of
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...
John Graves Simcoe
John Graves Simcoe (25 February 1752 – 26 October 1806) was a British Army general and the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada from 1791 until 1796 in southern Ontario and the Drainage basin, watersheds of Georgian Bay and Lake Superior. ...
on 1 April 1793. This is affirmed in the Simcoe Deed, the Crown Grant to the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte, and Treaty 3 1/2.
Near the end of the eighteenth century, factionalism broke out on the Territory, with Isaac Hill challenging Deserontyon's leadership. Hill's followers killed two of Deserontyon's relatives in confrontations. The community settled the issue in a council that took place from 2 to 10 September, 1800, called by Deputy Superintendent of Indian Affairs
William Claus
William Claus (1765–1826) was a member of the Executive Council of Upper Canada, a colonel of the Canadian militia during the War of 1812, and the head of the Indian Department in Upper Canada from 1799 until his death.
Family Background
Will ...
. Hill agreed to recuse himself from the affairs of the Territory.
19th century
Throughout the first few decades of the 19th century, the Mohawk on the Territory objected repeatedly to the government leasing land to white settlers that had been guaranteed to them in the Simcoe Deed. The leases were largely to conduct timber harvesting.
The Mohawk were not give a share of the lease payments, nor any part if decisions about the leases. John Deserontyon died in January 1811.
After the end of the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
with the United States, a further wave of non-Indigenous settlement arrived in the area. A John Ferguson wrote to Claus in a letter dated 5 March 1819, expressing concern that in the purported Mohawk community were settlers who were "descendants of Germans; there is also a family of immediate descendants of Africans...
ere are also some descendants of Americans."
From 1820 to 1843, the government of Canada allowed
United Empire Loyalists
United Empire Loyalists (or simply Loyalists) is an honorific title which was first given by the 1st Lord Dorchester, the Governor of Quebec, and Governor General of The Canadas, to American Loyalists who resettled in British North America duri ...
(mostly white ethnic Europeans) to settle on the Territory, despite repeated appeals by the Mohawk for the government to remove the interlopers.
By the end of that period, two-thirds of the land base was under private ownership,
including an 800-acre tract of land sold circa 1836 to John Deserontyon's grandson, John Culbertson. This eventually became the townsite of
Deseronto, Ontario
Deseronto is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario, in Hastings County, located at the mouth of the Napanee River on the shore of the Bay of Quinte, on the northern side of Lake Ontario.
The town was named for Captain John Deseronto, a nat ...
(named after John Deserontyon).
Since the 1830s, the Mohawk have alleged that the private sale of that large parcel to Culbertson was illegal. They lost control of the parcel when third parties acquired interests, and it is now largely split between two townships. This dispute forms the basis of
The Culbertson Tract Land Claim by this Mohawk First Nation, which was heard by the Federal Court in 2013.
In 1843, the Mohawk constructed the Gothic chapel
Christ Church on the Territory. In 2004
Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
designated it as Her Majesty's Chapel Royal of the Mohawk; it is one of only six Royal Chapels outside Great Britain.
This building replaced the earlier wooden church that was completed in 1794.
![Coloured postcard of The Pines, Dr Oronhyatekha's home in Tyendinaga, postmarked 1909](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Coloured_postcard_of_The_Pines%2C_Dr_Oronhyatekha%27s_home_in_Tyendinaga%2C_postmarked_1909._%282867950603%29.jpg)
In 1860,
Oronhyatekha
Oronhyatekha (10 August 1841 – 3 March 1907), ("Burning Sky" or "Burning Cloud" in the Mohawk language, also carried the baptismal name Peter Martin), was a Mohawk physician, scholar, and a unique figure in the history of British colonialism. ...
came to teach at Tyendinaga after studying briefly at
Kenyon College
Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio. It was founded in 1824 by Philander Chase. Kenyon College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.
Kenyon has 1,708 undergraduates enrolled. Its 1,000-acre campus is se ...
. In the subsequent years, he left the Territory to spend time at
Six Nations. He also studied for a few months at the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
, at the recommendation of the
Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...
' personal physician,
Henry Acland
Sir Henry Wentworth Dyke Acland, 1st Baronet, (23 August 181516 October 1900) was an English physician and educator.
Life
Henry Acland was born in Killerton, Exeter, the fourth son of Sir Thomas Acland and Lydia Elizabeth Hoare, and educate ...
. He returned to Tyendinaga in 1863, and married Deyoronseh (Ellen Hill). His home in Tyendinaga was known as "The Pines". It was a palatial Victorian estate where he allowed only Mohawk to be spoken.
In April 1871,
Oronhyatekha was appointed as the physician for Tyendinaga; he was also practising medicine in
Napanee
Greater Napanee is a town in southeastern Ontario, Canada, approximately west of Kingston and the county seat of Lennox and Addington County. It is located on the eastern end of the Bay of Quinte. Greater Napanee municipality was created by a ...
. His wife's family owned Captain John's Island in the Bay of Quinte, which Oronhyatekha renamed as Forester's Island (after the
Independent Order of Foresters
The Independent Order of Foresters, operating as Foresters Financial, is a fraternal benefit society headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada that provides life insurance and other financial solutions in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United ...
, a fraternal organization). He had been instrumental in expanding this fraternal order in the 1890s.
On the island, Oronhyatekha built two homes, several cottages, a hotel, a dining hall, a bandstand, and a wharf. He began the construction of an orphanage on the island in 1903, which was opened in 1906 before being sold in 1908. Oronhyatekha died in
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...
in March 1907, a few months before his son Dr. Acland Oronhyatekha (also known as William Acland Heywood), Chief of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte, also died.
The first council election for the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte band government, as established under the ''
Gradual Enfranchisement Act
The ''Gradual Enfranchisement Act'' (long name ''An Act for the gradual enfranchisement of Indians, the better management of Indian affairs, and to extend the provisions of the Act 31st Victoria, Chapter 42'') was an 1869 act of the 1st Cana ...
'' of 1869, took place in October 1870. The first meeting of the first elected council took place December 10, 1870. The men listed as "chiefs" of that council were Sampson Green (''Annosothkah'', an alternate spelling of Isaac Hill's Mohawk name-- Green was Hill's great-grandson), Archibald Culbertson, William J. W. Hill (a descendant of John Desorontyon and Joseph Brant ''Thayendanegea''), John Loft (another descendant of Isaac Hill), Seth W. Hill (also a descendant of Isaac Hill), Cornelius Maricle, and John Claus.
(The latter may have been a descendant of William Claus, earlier Deputy Superintendent of Indian Affairs.)
In the 1880s, four Federal Indian Day Schools were constructed on the territory: Eastern (also known as No. 1), Western (No. 2), and Central (No. 3) were opened in 1882, and Mission (No. 4) was opened in 1883. They all were affiliated with the
Anglican Church of Canada
The Anglican Church of Canada (ACC or ACoC) is the Ecclesiastical province#Anglican Communion, province of the Anglican Communion in Canada. The official French-language name is ''l'Église anglicane du Canada''. In 2017, the Anglican Church co ...
, which often supplied staff and clergy. Eastern, Western, and Central were single-room schoolhouses.
Earlier schools on the territory included the Upper Mohawk School, which was the third to be built on the territory, and which was operating in 1870.
20th century
During
World War One
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, the Canadian government established Camp Mohawk as a training airfield located on the territory near Deseronto. During the war, First Nations men training at Camp Mohawk were encouraged to speak in indigenous languages during their observation duties, as a form of
code talking. The airfield eventually was transferred and adapted as
Tyendinaga (Mohawk) Airport
Tyendinaga (Mohawk) Airport is a registered aerodrome that is open to the public and caters mainly to general aviation. The aerodrome is located in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, southwest of Tyendinaga, Ontario, Canada, north of the Bay of Quint ...
.
Changes in education
The Mission Indian Day School closed in 1956. The Quinte Mohawk Indian Day School was built around this time and opened on September 1, 1960. It was a federally-run day school (as opposed to a
residential school, where students boarded during the school year) affiliated with the Anglican Church. It served students up to
Grade 8.
Through the 1960s, First Nations activists worked to gain control of their children's education by having authority devolve from the government to the Nations to set up and operate their own school systems. They believed their children had been forced to abandon their native cultures and languages, and had suffered in family separations at boarding schools.
By 1971, negotiations were complete at Tyendinaga Territory for the Mohawk to found and construct a centralized elementary school building on York Road, to replace the overcrowded Quinte Mohawk Indian Day School. It would be large enough also to replace the three single-room schoolhouses: Eastern, Western, and Central Indian day schools. The Federal Indian Day School Class Action Lawsuit, which multiple First Nations filed against the federal government, noted that these schools were so poorly insulated that they had been closed as of September 1, 1969 because of such substandard conditions.
The establishment of the new school, known as Quinte Mohawk School, proceeded after the federal government devolved authority for education of First Nations children to local First Nations control. Construction began on August 28, 1973, and the school opened in September 1974 with around 230 students.
First Nations Technical Institute (FNTI) was founded in 1985. It is an Indigenous-owned and controlled post-secondary institute on the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. Numerous First Nations have established such community colleges on their reserves to provide higher education for their members.
The Quinte Mohawk Indian Day School was closed on September 1, 1997. It was later named as one of the facilities (along with Eastern, Western, Central, and Mission) covered by the Federal Indian Schools Class Action Lawsuit (''McLean v Canada'' (Court File No. T-2169-16)). This was an attempt by First Nations to recover compensation for former students at Federal Indian Day Schools and Federal Day Schools, who suffered abuse of all sorts through the federally-run education system.
21st century
In February 2008,
Health Canada
Health Canada (HC; french: Santé Canada, SC)Health Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Health (). is the Structure of the Canadian federal government#Departments, with subsidiary unit ...
advised the Council to place a precautionary
boil-water advisory
A boil-water advisory, boil-water notice, boil-water warning, boil-water order, or boil order is a public-health advisory or directive issued by governmental or other health authorities to consumers when a community's drinking water is or could b ...
on all groundwater-fed wells in the Territory. As of March 12, 2019, that advisory was still active.
2020 railway protest
In February 2020, Tyendinaga Mohawk joined nationwide protests in solidarity with the hereditary chiefs of the
Wetʼsuwetʼen
The Wetʼsuwetʼen ( ) are a First Nation who live on the Bulkley River and around Burns Lake, Broman Lake, and François Lake in the northwestern Central Interior of British Columbia. The endonym Wetʼsuwetʼen means "People of the Wa Dzun ...
, who were opposing the construction of the
Coastal GasLink Pipeline
The Coastal GasLink pipeline is a TC Energy natural gas pipeline under construction in British Columbia, Canada. Starting in Dawson Creek, the pipeline's route crosses through the Canadian Rockies and other mountain ranges to Kitimat, where t ...
through their territory in central
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
. On February 6, members of the Territory created a railway blockade by parking several vehicles near (but not on) a
level crossing
A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, overpass ...
just north of the Territory on Wyman Road.
Via Rail
Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via, is a Canadian Crown corporation that is mandated to operate intercity passenger rail service in Canada. It receives an annual subsidy from Transport Canada to offset the cost of operating ...
and
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States.
CN i ...
(CNR) were forced to cancel service on vast parts of their continental network for the near month that the protest lasted.
On February 21, some
hereditary chiefs of the Wetʼsuwetʼen met and held a press conference with "Tyendinaga Mohawk people", reaffirming the solidarity between their nations in the face of human rights abuses and mistreatment at the hands of the police.
The
Ontario Provincial Police
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is the provincial police service of Ontario, Canada. Under its provincial mandate, the OPP patrols provincial highways and waterways, protects provincial government buildings and officials, patrols unincorpo ...
(OPP) decided not to act immediately on several injunctions issued by
CNR, but gave the protesters notice on February 23 to clear their encampment by midnight to avoid prosecution for disobeying the injunctions. The protesters stayed. The Ontario Police intervened, arresting several protesters on February 24. As of February 27, 2020, ten people were facing charges in connection resulting from the protest and disruption of rail traffic.
COVID-19 pandemic
The Tyendinaga Mohawk Council responded to the
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...
declaring
Coronavirus disease 2019
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...
a
pandemic
A pandemic () is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. A widespread endemic (epidemiology), endemic disease wi ...
by instituting several public health precautions starting March 13, 2020. Employees of the council were subject to travel restrictions and suspended from travelling outside of the community; all MBQ programming and March Break activities were cancelled; the community's schools and child care programs were closed as per Ontario's guidance; and sanitization measures were increased. Other government offices announced closures and cancellations of non-essential services throughout the following week, including the housing department, the Elder's Lodge, 7th Gen Technologies, the Post Secondary Education program, and the Ontario Works Department. On March 20, the TMC issued a statement to local restaurants and businesses, suggesting restaurants close their indoor dining areas and offer only take-out and delivery, and encouraging businesses that chose to stay open to increase sanitization measures and implement
social distancing
In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious disea ...
with customers.
The community's efforts helped control the pandemic. The first case of COVID-19 on the Territory was not confirmed until November 5, 2020.
The first death due to COVID-19 in the community was confirmed on February 19, 2021.
Following a positive case identified on the Mohawk Bus Line, Quinte Mohawk School shifted to remote learning on February 23, 2021, until at least March 22, "out of an abundance of caution". Additionally, all high school students were encouraged to remain home until at least February 25 so that contact tracing could be completed.
Facilities
The main facilities of the reserve are located along York Road, where the band administration building,
Quinte Mohawk School, and Kanhiote Public Library are located.
Education
Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory is home to
First Nations Technical Institute
FNTI (formerly known as First Nations Technical Institute) is an Indigenous-owned and -governed post-secondary institute located in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory in Ontario. The institute puts on programming rooted in Indigegogy and Indigenous way ...
(FNTI), an educational partner with
Canadore College,
First Nations University of Canada
The First Nations University of Canada (abbreviated as FNUniv) is a post-secondary institution and federated college of the University of Regina, based in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. FNUniv operates three campuses within the province, i ...
,
Humber College
The Humber College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning, commonly known as Humber College, is a public College of Applied Arts and Technology in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1967, Humber has two main campuses: the Humber North c ...
,
Loyalist College
Loyalist College (formally Loyalist College of Applied Arts and Technology) is an English-language college in Belleville, Ontario, Canada.
History
Prior to the 1960s, only trade schools co-existed with universities in the province of Ontari ...
,
Queen's University,
Ryerson University
Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public university, public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Garden District, although i ...
,
St. Lawrence College, and
Trent University
Trent University is a public liberal arts university in Peterborough, Ontario, with a satellite campus in Oshawa, which serves the Regional Municipality of Durham. Trent is known for its Oxbridge college system and small class sizes. . FNTI course offerings include programs in Aviation (in partnership with the
Tyendinaga (Mohawk) Airport
Tyendinaga (Mohawk) Airport is a registered aerodrome that is open to the public and caters mainly to general aviation. The aerodrome is located in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, southwest of Tyendinaga, Ontario, Canada, north of the Bay of Quint ...
), Law, Public Relations, Indigenous Community Health, and the
Mohawk language
Mohawk (; ''Kanienʼkéha'', " anguageof the Flint Place") is an Iroquoian language currently spoken by around 3,500 people of the Mohawk nation, located primarily in current or former Haudenosaunee territories, predominately Canada (southern O ...
.
The Territory also has a primary school,
Quinte Mohawk School, which opened in 1974. For secondary school, on-reserve residents have the option of attending
East Side Secondary School in
Belleville to the west of the Territory, or attending the Ohahase Learning Centre, a private secondary school operated by the
First Nations Technical Institute
FNTI (formerly known as First Nations Technical Institute) is an Indigenous-owned and -governed post-secondary institute located in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory in Ontario. The institute puts on programming rooted in Indigegogy and Indigenous way ...
.
''Ohahase'' means "new road" in the Mohawk language.
The language group, Tsi Tyónnheht Onkwawén:na (TTO,
Kanyen'kéha for "keeping our words alive") organizes a variety of cultural educational programs. These include language documentation efforts, a language immersion primary school, and a "language nest" for pre-school age children. TTO began as a grassroots community project in the 1990s in response to the endangered state of the Mohawk language in the Territory. In 2003 it was registered as a
non-profit
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
.
Since 2018, TTO has partnered with Queen's University to offer a Mohawk language and culture certificate program. In 2020, TTO collaborated with Woodland Cultural Centre in
Brantford
Brantford (Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River (Ontario), Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by County of Brant, Brant County, but is politically separate with ...
to republish twenty children's books originally written in the 1990s by David Kanatawakhon in the Tyendinaga dialect of Kanyen'kéha, as well as ten new colouring books. In January 2021, TTO launched a website and animated series, ''Learning with Tsitha'', designed to help children learn Kanyen'kéha.
Transport
The territory is connected to
Ontario Highway 401
King's Highway 401, commonly referred to as Highway 401 and also known by its official name as the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway or colloquially referred to as the four-oh-one,
is a Controlled-access highway, controlled-access 400-series high ...
by
Ontario Highway 49
King's Highway 49, commonly referred to as Highway 49, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The highway travels across the Quinte Skyway and through the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory south of Marysville.
A pr ...
which runs north–south through the reserve, south to Prince Edward.
Tyendinaga Mohawk Airfield general aviation airport is located just west of Highway 49, just north of the Bay of Quinte.
Media
A
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 ...
community
A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...
-owned
radio station
Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...
, known a
KWE Mohawk Nation Radio, operated on a frequency of 105.9
FM until early 2011. It relaunched in June 2012 on 89.5, but subsequently relocated to 92.3; it covers the area from Belleville to Deseronto. The station has no known callsign and has no relation to
CKWE-FM, an independent First Nations community radio station in
Maniwaki, Quebec
Maniwaki is a town located north of Gatineau and north-west of Montreal, in the province of Quebec, Canada. The town is situated on the Gatineau River, at the crossroads of Route 105 and Route 107, not far south of Route 117 (Trans-Canada Highwa ...
.
Tyendinaga has a second First Nations community-owned radio station that transmits at
87.9 MHz on the FM dial, known as "Real People’s Radio 87.9 FM".
www.rpr879.com
/ref>
The community does not publish its own newspaper.
Population
References
External links
{{authority control
Mohawk reserves in Ontario
Communities in Hastings County