We Share Our Matters: Two Centuries of Writing and Resistance at Six Nations of the Grand River

265 Pages·2014·1.882 MB·English

by  Rick Monture

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Two Centuries of Writing and Resistance
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WE SHARE OUR MATTERS

In Memory of
cAROlE g. MOnTURE (fROHMAn)
1940 – 1983
University of Manitoba Press
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Canada R3T 2M5
uofmpress.ca
© Rick Monture 2014
Printed in Canada
Text printed on chlorine-free, 100% post-consumer recycled paper
18 17 16 15 14 1 2 3 4 5
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, or stored in a database and retrieval system in Canada, without the prior
written permission of the University of Manitoba Press, or, in the case of photocopying or
any other reprographic copying, a licence from Access Copyright
(Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency). For an Access Copyright licence,
visit www.accesscopyright.ca, or call 1-800-893-5777.
Cover and interior design: Marvin Harder
Cover image: Shelley Niro
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Monture, Rick, 1965–, author
We share our matters = Teionkwakhashion tsi niionkwariho:ten : two
centuries of writing and resistance at Six Nations of the Grand River / Rick
Monture.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Issued in print and electronic formats.
Text in English.
ISBN 978-0-88755-767-5 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-0-88755-468-1 (pdf)
ISBN 978-0-88755-466-7 (epub)
1. Iroquois Indians–Ontario, Southern–History. 2. Iroquois Indians–
Ontario, Southern–Intellectual life. 3. Iroquois Indians–Ontario, Southern–Ethnic identity.
4. Iroquois Indians–Ontario, Southern–Politics and government.
I. Title. II. Title: Teionkwakhashion tsi niionkwariho:ten.

E99.I7M82 2014 971.3004’9755 C2014-903283-8
C2014-903284-6
This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Federation for the
Humanities and Social Sciences, through the Awards to Scholarly Publications Program,
using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

The University of Manitoba Press gratefully acknowledges the financial
support for its publication program provided by the Government of Canada
through the Canada Book Fund, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Manitoba
Department of Culture, Heritage, Tourism, the Manitoba Arts Council,
and the Manitoba Book Publishing Tax Credit.
C016245
cOnTEnTS
liST Of illUSTRATiOnS | ix
PREfAcE | xi
inTROdUcTiOn | 1
1 “Sovereigns of the Soil”
Joseph Brant and the Grand River Settlement | 29
2 The Challenge to Haudenosaunee Nationhood
Performing Politics, Translating Culture | 63
3 “An Enemy’s Foot is on our Country”
Conflict, Diplomacy, and Land Rights | 107
4 Displacement, Identity, and Resistance
Grand River in the Era of “Red Power” | 141
5 “Linking Arms Together”
Six Nations of the Grand River from Oka to the Twenty-First Century | 179
cOnclUSiOn | 211
AcknOWlEdgEMEnTS | 225
nOTES | 229
BiBliOgRAPHy | 233
indEx | 243

illUSTRATiOnS
1 Text of the Haldimand Deed of 1784 | xvi
2 Lands granted by the Haldimand Deed. Map design by Weldon Hiebert. SOURcE:
http://www.sixnations.ca/LandsResources/LCMap.pdf. | 2
3 1771 map showing traditional Haudenosaunee territories in New York State.
(New York State Library) | 26
4 The Mohawk Village at Grand River, with the Mohawk Chapel in the foreground,
c. 1805. The Chapel is the burial place of Joseph Brant, and still stands today
in the city of Brantford, Ontario. (Library and Archives Canada,
No. 1990-113-1) | 40
5 Portrait of Joseph Brant in his later years. (Courtesy of Deyohahá:ge: Indigenous
Knowledge Centre, Six Nations) | 49
6 The Six Nations Council House built by the Confederacy Chiefs in 1863, four
years before the Confederation of Canada. The Council House still stands in the
main village of Ohsweken. (Courtesy of Deyohahá:ge: Indigenous Knowledge
Centre, Six Nations) | 66
7 Seth Newhouse with Two Row Wampum belt, c. 1895. (Courtesy of Deyohahá:ge:
Indigneous Knowledge Centre, Six Nations) | 75
8 Publicity photo of Pauline Johnson during the height of her popularity in the 1890s.
(Courtesy of Chiefswood Museum, Six Nations) | 92
9 Grand River Confederacy Chiefs on the steps of the Council House in
Ohsweken, 1911. (Courtesy of Deyohahá:ge: Indigenous Knowledge Centre,
Six Nations) | 115
10 Chief Deskaheh (Levi General). (Courtesy of Deyohahá:ge: Indigenous Knowledge
Centre, Six Nations) | 129
11 Confederacy Chiefs and supporters displaying Two Row and Silver Covenant
Chain wampum belts at Six Nations, May 1955. (Courtesy of Deyohahá:ge:
Indigenous Knowledge Centre, Six Nations) | 139
12 Chief Jake Thomas interpreting wampum string during the wampum repatriation
ceremony at Onondaga Longhouse, Grand River, 1988. (Photo by Tim Johnson.
Courtesy of Deyohahá:ge: Indigenous Knowledge Centre, Six Nations) | 193