Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte First Nation


The Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte 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 southeastern Ontario, Canada, east of Belleville and immediately to the west of Deseronto. They also share Glebe Farm 40B and the Six Nations of the Grand River reserves with other First Nations.
The community takes its name from a variant spelling of Mohawk leader Joseph Brant's traditional Mohawk name, Thayendanegea, which means 'two pieces of fire wood beside each other'. Officially in the Mohawk language, the community is called Kenhtè:ke, an old word, the meaning of which is unclear. The Cayuga name is Tayęda:ne:gęˀ or Detgayę:da:negęˀ, 'land of two logs'. The nation's band number is 164.

History

Following the American Revolution, the Mohawk, who were allies of the British Crown, lost their traditional homelands in the Mohawk Valley of what became New York state, when they were forced to cede their lands following the defeat of the British. As compensation for their allegiance, the Crown offered them unsettled land in Upper Canada. A group of Mohawk led by John Deseronto selected the Bay of Quinte because it was said to be the birthplace of Tekanawita, one of the founders of the Iroquois Confederacy in the 12th century. The majority of the Mohawk followed Joseph Brant to the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation in what has become the province of Ontario.
On May 22, 1784, the group of 20 Mohawk families arrived at Tyendinaga. Nine years later, the Tyendinaga tract of land was officially set aside under Crown Treaty 3½, signed on April 1, 1793, by Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe and thereafter known as the 'Simcoe Deed'. This tract of land, measuring was legally accepted by the British Crown, and subsequently by the Upper Canada government.
A wave of Loyalists also settled in the Bay of Quinte area, and the government granted many of them land in the Tyendinaga Tract. During the period from 1820 to 1843, the Mohawk lost two-thirds of the treaty lands of the Simcoe Deed. Additional land loss has left the Mohawk with only in this area today.
The major new settlement for the Mohawk and other Iroquois in Canada was the Six Nations Reserve of the Grand River. In addition, Mohawk and others joined the existing communities of Kahnawake, Kanesatake, Wahta and Akwesasne.

Government

The Tyendinaga Mohawk Council consists of one Chief and four Councillors, chosen during elections every two years, as per the Indian Act. On December 4, 2017, Council adopted a motion 'to approve to adopt the First Nations Election Act regulations for the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory in 2019', but Council has not officially adopted a custom election code or opted into the FNEA as of December 2018.

Current Council

Chief
Councillors

2019 Band Council Election

Name of Candidate for CouncillorTotal Votes Received
Josh Hill714
Carl "Ted" Maracle665
Kelly "Brant" Maracle649
Linda Laween593
Christopher M Maracle537

2017 Band Council Election

Name of Candidate for CouncillorTotal Votes Received
Josh Hill505
Carl "Ted" Maracle396
Debra Vincent379
Stacia Loft371
Christopher M Maracle370
Kelly "Brant" Maracle333
Kathleen Brant278
Curtis Maracle248
Manson Loft201
Melissa Rose Anne Maracle136
Glen "Smoke" Maracle132

2015 Band Council Election

Name of Candidate for CouncillorTotal Votes ReceivedPercentage
Carl "Ted" Maracle50547.2
Debra "Deb" Vincent44041.1
Douglas E. Maracle43340.5
Stacia Loft42639.8
Josh Hill39236.6
Barry D. Brant36534.1
Chris Maracle29127.2
Blaine Loft26925.1
Pam "Maracle" Detlor22220.1
Barbara Francis Brant15014.0
Jim McMurter14213.3
Keith Sero14213.3
Cindy Thompson12711.9
Catherine Hill979.0
Dewayne Maracle847.9
Total Valid Ballots Cast1070100
Number of Rejected Ballots Cast17--

2013 election results

Name of Candidate for CouncillorTotal Votes Received
Carl Maracle811
Douglas E. Maracle803
Barry D. Brant658
Sandra Lewis-Den Otter488
Jennifer Brant Neepin413
Manson Loft413
Keith A. Sero341
Christine Claus330
Curtis E. Maracle287
Melissa R. Maracle263
Catherine Simmons93

Land claims dispute

Since the late 20th century, the Mohawk of the Bay of Quinte have been embroiled in a land claim struggle with the Canadian government over a stretch of land referred to as the Culbertson Tract, for which they filed a claim in 1995. The government accepted this for negotiation in 2003. The Mohawk allege the land was illegally purchased from Mohawk in the 19th century. As set out in the Royal Proclamation of 1763, the terms and conditions for purchasing land from Natives required there to be a community vote before the Mohawk could sell the common land to any outsider. Research and documentation has shown that these terms and conditions may not have been followed at Tyendinaga. Within the Simcoe Deed were provisions for the government of the reserve to remove 'intruders'.
After a stagnation of the land claims process following Mohawk protests in 2006–09, the Band Chief Don Maracle in January 2011 announced his intentions to file a suit that month related to the land claims, seeking return of the Culbertson Tract.

Demographics

Education

Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory is home to First Nations Technical Institute, an educational partner with Canadore College, First Nations University of Canada, Humber College, Loyalist College, Queen's University, Ryerson University, St. Lawrence College and Trent University. FNTI course offerings include programs in Aviation, Law, Public Relations, Indigenous Community Health and the Mohawk language.
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. Ohahase means "new road" in the Mohawk language.
The language group, Tsi Tyonnheht Onkwawenna, organizes a variety of cultural educational programs, including Mohawk language classes and language documentation. In 2012 TTO was attempting to raise money to found a Mohawk-language immersion primary school to be called Kawenna’òn:we.

Media

A First Nations community-owned radio station, known as , 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 and covers the area from Belleville to Deseronto. FM in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. The station has no known callsign and has no relation to CKWE-FM, another First Nations community radio station in Maniwaki, Quebec.
Tyendinaga also 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".
The community currently does not publish a newspaper of its own.