Mohawks of The Bay of Quinte :: Mohawks of The Bay of Quinte (News)

April 25, 2008

For Immediate Release:

Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory – The Tyendinaga Mohawk Council do not support and are dismayed by the recent events near the Culbertson Tract Land Claim leading to the arrests of some members of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte and their supporters. The Tyendinaga Mohawk Council did not sanction, nor support Monday’s blockage of Highway 2 through the Deseronto area, nor do they condone violence.

Our people have a long history of being peaceful and diplomatic and the recent events at Deseronto are not representative of our community. It is unfortunate that some people have taken matters into their own hands. People must take responsibility for their actions. We are sitting at a negotiation table to peacefully resolve a 170 year old injustice done to the Mohawk people. Blockades and violence will not resolve the Culbertson Tract Land Claim. “The Tyendinaga Mohawk Council asks that people remain calm to allow the claim negotiations to proceed in a peaceful, responsible and diplomatic manner,” says Chief R. Donald Maracle.

For more information contact Chief R. Donald Maracle at 613-391-9249, the Communications Department at 613-396-3424, ext. 137.

The Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte

The ancestral homeland of the Mohawk Nation is the Mohawk River Valley of present day New York State. The Mohawks are considered the easternmost tribe within the Iroquois/Six Nations Confederacy consisting of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca and Tuscarora Nations. Several Mohawks and others of the Confederacy were respected allies of the British during the American Revolution, and in consequence of their alliance were forced from their homeland by their Rebel counterpart. In compensation for losses suffered, the British Crown promised land to the Mohawks and others of the Confederacy displaced by the war. Captain John Deserontyon, a Mohawk serving in the British army, selected land here on the shores of the Bay of Quinte. On the 22nd of May 1784, Captain John Deserontyon and about 20 families arrived here on the shores of the Bay of Quinte. We, the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte, have been here ever since.

Location of the 5 Nations People ~1600?

History of the Iroquois from www.tolatsga.org/iro.html