Kahnawake
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Kahnawake (Quebec) Kahk'nuh'wa'guh Gah'nah'wah'gay |
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| — (Indian Reserve) — | |
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| Coordinates: | |
|---|---|
| Country |  Canada |
| Province |  Quebec |
| Region | Montérégie |
| RCM | Roussillon |
| Government | |
| - Grand Chief | Mike Delisle |
| - Federal MP Châteauguay—Saint-Constant |
Carole Freeman (Bloc Québécois) |
| - Quebec MNA Châteauguay |
Jean-Marc Fournier (Parti Libéral du Québec) |
| Area | |
| - Land | 50.41 km² (19.5 sq mi) |
| Population (2006) | |
| - Total | 7,100 |
| - Density | 140.9/km² (364.9/sq mi) |
| - Change ~2001 | ? |
| - Dwellings | ? |
| Time zone | EST (UTC-5) |
| Area code(s) | 450 |
| Access Routes |  Route 132 Route 138 Route 207 |
| Website: www.kahnawake.com | |
The Kahnawake Mohawk Territory (Kahk'nuh'wa'guh/Gah'nah'wah'gay in Mohawk, Kahnawáˀkye[1] in Tuscarora) is an Indian reserve on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada, across from Montreal. It has also been known as Fort St. Louis, Caughnawaga and 17 other European variations of Kahnawake. The only clue to the location of Indian Reserve # 14 on 1960s government maps of southern Quebec is its blank cartography. Kahnawake is natural territory totalling an area of 48.05 square kilometres. Its resident population numbers about 7,100 with a significant number off the territory. Its land base today is unevenly distributed due to archaic federal Indian Act law that oversees individual land possession unlike the Canadian norms that apply to the land around it. Kahnawake has used the English language keeping its Mohawk language intact while maintaining a life surrounded by 2 million French-speaking Quebecers. Culture and language have long memories and deep roots for both Mohawk and French-speaking Quebecers.
Although most individuals refer to residents of Kahnawake as "Mohawks," they call themselves Kanien:keha'ka (the "People of the Flint"). Mohawk, which means "eaters of flesh" or "man-eaters," is a name given to them by the Dutch.
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[edit] Major construction projects
The federal and Quebec governments have historically located large civil engineering projects benefiting the southern Quebec economy through Kahnawake lands. Criss-crossed by power lines from hydroelectric plants, rail and vehicle highways and bridges, the decision to pass the Saint Lawrence Seaway canal cut through its village permanently separated it from its natural river shore.
One of the first of these projects was the fledgling Canadian Pacific Railway's Saint Lawrence Bridge. The masonry work was done by Reid & Fleming, and the steel superstructure was built by the Dominion Bridge Company. In 1886 and 1887, the new bridge was built across the broad river from Kahnawake to Montreal Island, and gave Kahnawake working men an opportunity to perform as fearless bridgemen and ironworkers. This was the result of a perception by construction companies that the Mohawk men had no fear of heights when given the chance to climb hundreds of feet above the water and ground. Here started the legendary stereotype that has now labelled all Native Americans as having no fear of heights.
[edit] Location
Kahnawake is ideally located at the narrowing southwest shore of the St. Lawrence River. The territory is described in its native language as "on, or by the rapids" (of the Saint Lawrence River), giving points of reference to its original depth and claim along the original natural rapids of the old and different river. The modern day location of Kahnawake did serve for a while the interests of the French colony in North America by forming a western defence for Ville-Marie (later Montreal), making the military garrison and its Jesuit mission both its early warning sentinel and religious launch site for canoes taking priests in a western direction. Jesuit records write a settlement date of 1719, while Mohawk oral tradition extends much further into the past claiming a Mohawk settlement date some 10,000 years earlier.
[edit] Gambling/gaming
The Kahnawake Gaming Commission offers gambling licenses to Internet-based poker, casino, and sportsbook sites and has established Kahnawake as a substantial player in that business. Many sites are hosted and managed by Mohawk Internet Technologies (MIT), a local data center located within the territory. MIT is the closest and fastest source for "legally hosted" gambling websites for their North American players.
[edit] Politics
It has not known the political turmoil that has affected the nearby Kanesatake Mohawk reserve; however, people from Kahnawake blocked the Honoré Mercier Bridge to Montreal during the Oka Crisis in 1990, because they were denied access to Kanesatake through Montreal by the Sûreté du Québec. Both the Canadian and Quebec governments dispute the legality of Kahnawake's gambling operations, but have not risked taking further action due to the harsh international repercussions that followed the Oka Crisis. The websites hosted within Kahnawake are the only privately owned gambling sites that have operated in continental North America without legal action being taken against them.[citation needed]
Fifty men from Kahnawake volunteered to fight with the United States armed forces in Vietnam. [2]
[edit] International use of flag
In 2007, two vessels operated by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society flew the Kahnawake Mohawk flag [3], which made the Kahnawake Mohawk nation the only indigenous American sovereign nation to have deep-sea foreign-going vessels flying their flag. However, since December 2007 the Sea Shepherd vessels have been registered in the Netherlands.[4]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Rudes, B. Tuscarora English Dictionary Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1999
- ^ Morrison, Wilbur H. (2001). The Elephant and the Tiger. Hellgate Press, p. 597. ISBN 1-55571-612-1.
- ^ Sea Shepherd - Sea Shepherd Receives the Flag of the Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy
- ^ Neptune's Navy. The New Yorker. Retrieved on 2008-01-18.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Statistics Canada
- Elections Canada Results - 39th General Election (2006)
- Director General of Quebec Elections
- Official Transport Quebec Road Map
[edit] External links
- Mohawk Council of Kahnawake
- Mohawk Internet Technologies
- The Revival of the Mohawk Language in Kahnawake
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