Situated between the Montréal and Lachine British-Army headquarters and the Patriote-friendly Châteauguay River Valley, the Kahnawake Iroquois rapidly found a place in this context of civil war and revolutionary crisis.
Existing works have discussed to some extent the involvement of the Iroquois on three different occasions during which they intervened by cooperating with the British:
On 13 December 1837, about 150 Kahnawake men quickly responded to a government request to mobilize in Lachine for the purpose of repelling a feared attack by Patriotes;
On 4 November 1838, the Iroquois apprehended seventy-five armed Patriotes, led by many including François-Maurice Lepailleur, who had come to Kahnawake in a failed attempt to borrow arms and obtain Native support; the Iroquois had feared for their lives and, under the leadership of Antoine-George de Lorimier (the son of Claude-Nicolas-Guillaume de Lorimier) and others, they refused to give in to Patriote threats. After the Patriotes had quietly arrived near the old St-Jean Baptiste Chapel, they were met by ten Kahnawake men. Despite coming close to a shootout, the two sides settled on the use of diplomacy. The Iroquois invited the Patriotes into the center of the village with the false promise of arms and support for the Patriote cause. The trap worked, and the Kahnawake men proceeded to easily arrest and disarm the Châteauguay Patriotes, many of whom claimed had been forced to march on the Iroquois village.
From 11 to 16 November 1838, 200 Kahnawake men joined volunteers and soldiers to wage battle on Patriotes thought to be hidden in Châteauguay. Finding the place deserted, government soldiers and Iroquois warriors proceeded to pillage it.
November 1838 raid on Kahnawakeedit
Kahnawake oral history accounts that a local unnamed woman searching the bushes for her lost cow saw the Patriotes and alerted the community. Although this account is often dismissed by non-Native historians, there are some sources that indicate that Kahnawake resident Marie Kawananoron did indeed see the Patriotes at the outskirts of the village. Although the subsequent events are more complex, including a trap set up by the Mohawks to lure the Patriotes into the village, the oral account does seem to have some documentary evidence to support it.
Investigators have traditionally failed to take on an insider's perspective of the Rebellions as they were lived and assessed by the Iroquois. Further, when attempts have been made to explore the underlying causes of Kahnawake's involvement, interpretive research has been quite limited. There has been a generalized tendency to view the Kahnawake Iroquois as a group of loyal Indians acting in defense of the British Crown.
On the contrary, the actions of the Kahnawake people were not necessarily grounded in an outright allegiance to the British Crown. Indeed, it is possible that a wide and complex mixture of socio-economic, political, and cultural factors shaped the behavior of the community, in general, and of specific Kahnawake people. Some of these factors are heavily detailed in the letters of, Joseph Marcoux, the secular priest residing in Kahnawake during the time of the Rebellions.
For instance, at the time, the Indian Department was seeking ways to reduce its expenses by curtailing annuities it had been providing to Native people. By collaborating with the Crown, the people of Kahnawake may have been hoping to maintain the flow of annual presents, and thus protect interests which they felt belonged to them as "Indians". Also, in, perhaps the relations between Kahnawake and its French-Canadian neighbours as well as between the former and the Patriotes were marked by mutual mistrust and suspicion. These relationships did indeed shape Kahnawake's intervention. Given the relative importance of factionalism in Iroquois political culture, the village of Kahnawake experienced internal disputes at the time of the Rebellions. Studies have suggested that despite the common presence of divisive tendencies within Native American communities, whose sense of collective identity can prevail in the face of an external threat to resources, land, and identity. In the case of the Rebellions, a perceived external threat to Native land, life, and identity effectively united the entire Kahnawake community. Finally, the oral historical tradition of Kahnawake maintains that the Iroquois intervened in the Rebellions in order to protect their land and express their identity. Drawing on this tradition, David Blanchard writes that it
"was not necessary to reward the Kanienkehaka for defending their own lands. By defending their land, the Kanienkehaka had not joined with the British against the French. They had simply been protecting the interests of the people of Kahnawake. Such a defense did not make the Kanienkehaka pro-British or anti-French. It simply showed that they were Kanienkehaka."" [1]
The documentary record does show that in the end, the will to defend land and identity, united the Kahnawake Iroquois and ultimately shaped their intervention. Factional disputes which enhanced individual interests among Kahnawake residents during the 1830s were temporarily dissolved. Based on recent research, it can therefore be concluded that the decision of the Kahnawake Iroquois to intervene in the Rebellions may have been prompted by a powerful desire to protect common interests as well as a strong community will to defend and express a collective identity.
Greer, Allan; 1993 : The Patriots and the People: The Rebellion of 1837 in Rural Lower Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Lovell, John; A Student at Law, 1839 : Trial of Joseph N. Cardinal and Others To Which are Added the Argumentative Petition in Favour of the Prisoners, And Several Other Precious Documents. Montreal
Sossoyan, Matthieu; 1999 : The Kahnawake Iroquois and the Lower-Canadian Rebellions, McGill University, Department of Anthropology, Master's Thesis.
Sossoyan, Matthieu; 1999 : The Kahnawake Mohawks and the Patriotes of The Eastern Door (Kahnawake), (8) 39, 20 octobre 1999 : 17–20.
Sossoyan, Matthieu; 2003: "Les Iroquois de Kahnawake et de Kanesatake et les Rébellions de" Bulletin d’Histoire Politique, 12 (1)(Les Patriotes de): 107–115.
Trudel, Pierre (ed.); 1991 : Les Mohawks et les Patriotes de Recherches amérindiennes au Québec 21 (1–2): 79–86.
French Wikipedia article: fr:Attitude des Amérindiens du Bas-Canada lors des rébellions de 1837-1838
May 03, 2024
kahnawake, iroquois, rebellions, 1837, 1838, this, article, multiple, issues, please, help, improve, discuss, these, issues, talk, page, learn, when, remove, these, template, messages, this, article, written, like, personal, reflection, personal, essay, argume. This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This article is written like a personal reflection personal essay or argumentative essay that states a Wikipedia editor s personal feelings or presents an original argument about a topic Please help improve it by rewriting it in an encyclopedic style September 2008 Learn how and when to remove this message This article includes a list of general references but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations September 2008 Learn how and when to remove this message Learn how and when to remove this message The Iroquois community of Kahnawake played a unique role in the Lower Canada Rebellions part of the greater Rebellions of 1837 Situated between the Montreal and Lachine British Army headquarters and the Patriote friendly Chateauguay River Valley the Kahnawake Iroquois rapidly found a place in this context of civil war and revolutionary crisis Contents 1 Aiding British armed forces 2 November 1838 raid on Kahnawake 3 Notes 4 References 5 See alsoAiding British armed forces editExisting works have discussed to some extent the involvement of the Iroquois on three different occasions during which they intervened by cooperating with the British On 13 December 1837 about 150 Kahnawake men quickly responded to a government request to mobilize in Lachine for the purpose of repelling a feared attack by Patriotes On 4 November 1838 the Iroquois apprehended seventy five armed Patriotes led by many including Francois Maurice Lepailleur who had come to Kahnawake in a failed attempt to borrow arms and obtain Native support the Iroquois had feared for their lives and under the leadership of Antoine George de Lorimier the son of Claude Nicolas Guillaume de Lorimier and others they refused to give in to Patriote threats After the Patriotes had quietly arrived near the old St Jean Baptiste Chapel they were met by ten Kahnawake men Despite coming close to a shootout the two sides settled on the use of diplomacy The Iroquois invited the Patriotes into the center of the village with the false promise of arms and support for the Patriote cause The trap worked and the Kahnawake men proceeded to easily arrest and disarm the Chateauguay Patriotes many of whom claimed had been forced to march on the Iroquois village From 11 to 16 November 1838 200 Kahnawake men joined volunteers and soldiers to wage battle on Patriotes thought to be hidden in Chateauguay Finding the place deserted government soldiers and Iroquois warriors proceeded to pillage it November 1838 raid on Kahnawake editKahnawake oral history accounts that a local unnamed woman searching the bushes for her lost cow saw the Patriotes and alerted the community Although this account is often dismissed by non Native historians there are some sources that indicate that Kahnawake resident Marie Kawananoron did indeed see the Patriotes at the outskirts of the village Although the subsequent events are more complex including a trap set up by the Mohawks to lure the Patriotes into the village the oral account does seem to have some documentary evidence to support it Investigators have traditionally failed to take on an insider s perspective of the Rebellions as they were lived and assessed by the Iroquois Further when attempts have been made to explore the underlying causes of Kahnawake s involvement interpretive research has been quite limited There has been a generalized tendency to view the Kahnawake Iroquois as a group of loyal Indians acting in defense of the British Crown On the contrary the actions of the Kahnawake people were not necessarily grounded in an outright allegiance to the British Crown Indeed it is possible that a wide and complex mixture of socio economic political and cultural factors shaped the behavior of the community in general and of specific Kahnawake people Some of these factors are heavily detailed in the letters of Joseph Marcoux the secular priest residing in Kahnawake during the time of the Rebellions For instance at the time the Indian Department was seeking ways to reduce its expenses by curtailing annuities it had been providing to Native people By collaborating with the Crown the people of Kahnawake may have been hoping to maintain the flow of annual presents and thus protect interests which they felt belonged to them as Indians Also in perhaps the relations between Kahnawake and its French Canadian neighbours as well as between the former and the Patriotes were marked by mutual mistrust and suspicion These relationships did indeed shape Kahnawake s intervention Given the relative importance of factionalism in Iroquois political culture the village of Kahnawake experienced internal disputes at the time of the Rebellions Studies have suggested that despite the common presence of divisive tendencies within Native American communities whose sense of collective identity can prevail in the face of an external threat to resources land and identity In the case of the Rebellions a perceived external threat to Native land life and identity effectively united the entire Kahnawake community Finally the oral historical tradition of Kahnawake maintains that the Iroquois intervened in the Rebellions in order to protect their land and express their identity Drawing on this tradition David Blanchard writes that it was not necessary to reward the Kanienkehaka for defending their own lands By defending their land the Kanienkehaka had not joined with the British against the French They had simply been protecting the interests of the people of Kahnawake Such a defense did not make the Kanienkehaka pro British or anti French It simply showed that they were Kanienkehaka 1 The documentary record does show that in the end the will to defend land and identity united the Kahnawake Iroquois and ultimately shaped their intervention Factional disputes which enhanced individual interests among Kahnawake residents during the 1830s were temporarily dissolved Based on recent research it can therefore be concluded that the decision of the Kahnawake Iroquois to intervene in the Rebellions may have been prompted by a powerful desire to protect common interests as well as a strong community will to defend and express a collective identity nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp Notes edit Blanchard Seven GenerationsReferences editGreer Allan 1993 The Patriots and the People The Rebellion of 1837 in Rural Lower Canada Toronto University of Toronto Press Lovell John A Student at Law 1839 Trial of Joseph N Cardinal and Others To Which are Added the Argumentative Petition in Favour of the Prisoners And Several Other Precious Documents Montreal Sossoyan Matthieu 1999 The Kahnawake Iroquois and the Lower Canadian Rebellions McGill University Department of Anthropology Master s Thesis Sossoyan Matthieu 1999 The Kahnawake Mohawks and the Patriotes of The Eastern Door Kahnawake 8 39 20 octobre 1999 17 20 Sossoyan Matthieu 2003 Les Iroquois de Kahnawake et de Kanesatake et les Rebellions de Bulletin d Histoire Politique 12 1 Les Patriotes de 107 115 Trudel Pierre ed 1991 Les Mohawks et les Patriotes de Recherches amerindiennes au Quebec 21 1 2 79 86 See also editRebellions of 1837 Lower Canada Rebellion Claude Nicolas Guillaume de Lorimier French Wikipedia article fr Attitude des Amerindiens du Bas Canada lors des rebellions de 1837 1838 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Kahnawake Iroquois and the Rebellions of 1837 1838 amp oldid 1127195838, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
