Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte First Nation

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.[6] 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 (between 100 and 125 people) 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 37,500 ha (92,700 acres) was legally accepted by the British Crown, and subsequently by the Upper Canada government.[6]

A wave of Loyalists also settled in the Bay of Quinte area, and the government granted many of them land in the Tyendinaga Tract.[7] During the period from 1820 to 1843, the Mohawk lost two-thirds of the treaty lands of the Simcoe Deed.[7] Additional land loss has left the Mohawk with only 7,100 ha (18,000 acres) 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 (where prominent Mohawk leader Joseph Brant struggled with the colonial government for control of the land). In addition, Mohawk and others joined the existing communities of Kahnawake, Kanesatake, Wahta and Akwesasne (the latter four were mostly Mohawk settlements established along the St. Lawrence River during the colonial era prior to the war).[6]

In 1869, the Gradual Enfranchisement Act was passed by the Canadian federal government, establishing elected band councils on First Nations reserves. The first election for the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte elected council took place in October 1870, where seven chiefs were elected to sit on the council.[8]

The Tyendinaga Mohawk Council consists of one Chief and four Councillors, chosen during elections every two years, as per the Indian Act.[9][10] On December 4, 2017, Council adopted a motion 'to approve to adopt the First Nations Election Act [FNEA] 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.[11]

Since the late 20th century, the Mohawks 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.[14] 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.[14][15] Research and documentation has shown that these terms and conditions may not have been followed at Tyendinaga.[16][17] 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.[18]

• Rustige, Rona (1998). Tyendinaga Tales. McGill-Queen's Press. ISBN 978-0-7735-1771-4.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory.

• Official Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory webpage
• KWE - Mohawk Nation Radio - Tyendinaga - 105.9 FM
• Tsi Tyonnheht Onkawenna Language and Cultural Centre
• First Nations Technical Institute
• Kahniote Tyendinaga Territory Public Library