It was an exciting day in the Tyendinaga Mohawk Township for those honouring the Indigenous community’s history.
22/05/2022 – The ancestral homeland of Kanyen’kehá:ka (Mohawk people) was along the banks of the strategic Teyonontataye river (Mohawk River) of present day New York State. (Photo: Andrew Clarke / Quinte News)
Sunday morning marked the 238th year celebration of the Mohawk Landing, and the first in-person celebration since May of 2019. The annual landing celebration involves a reenactment of May 22, 1784, where about 20 families, approximately 100-125 people, displaced amid American and British conflict, canoed ashore and started a new life in what is now the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte community.
22/05/2022 – Members of Tyendinaga Mohawk Council carry the canoe to the presentation and prayer site. (Photo: Andrew Clarke / Quinte News)
The event began with the arrival of canoes to 353 Bayshore Rd. in Deseronto. The traditional opening to the landfall celebration started with the burning of Oyeenkwa’on:we (sacred tobacco). The tobacco-burning ceremony is the way in which the Rotinonhsyon:ni (People of the Longhouse) open all of their ceremonies that follow the calendar year.
22/05/2022 – It is said that rising smoke from a fire into which sacred tobacco is burning will carry the message of the people to Shonkwaya’ti:son (the Creator). (Photo: Andrew Clarke / Quinte News)
Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory Chief R. Donald Maracle says the landing played a significant role in the ultimate development of Canada as it is today.
“These were important events, they were pivotal in shaping the history of the land that would one day become Canada. If there weren’t Indian allies, there would be no Canada. The Truth and Reconciliation commission call on Canadians and even our own people to be better informed about their history and sometimes when people are better informed about history, better decisions are made.”
22/05/2022 – Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory Chief R. Donald Maracle speaks at the 238th annual Mohawk landing celebration. (Photo: Andrew Clarke / Quinte News)
Following welcomes, Chief Maracle and others from the Tyendinaga Mohawk Council performed the laying of a wreath over a canoe as a Veterans Act of Remembrance and prayers were led by Pastor David Bowbeer.
The Annual Landing celebration concluded with closing remarks from Reverend Rod BrantFrancis.
Callie Hill, executive director at the Tsi Tyónnheht Onkwawén:na Language and Cultural Centre says more people have taken up learning the language and culture since the recent national discoveries regarding unmarked graves found at residential schools.
“Especially since the findings in Kamloops last June, we have seen an uptick in people, in our own community also, that are interested in learning more about culture and language and it’s really uplifting for us.”
Various services were also held today at churches in the community to further celebrate the landing of Mohawks in the Bay of Quinte region.
22/05/2022 – Members of the Tyendinaga Mohawk Council. (Photo: Andrew Clarke / Quinte News)
A community luncheon at the Lacrosse Box at 1935 York Rd., with guest speaker Bonnie Jane Maracle of Tyendinaga Native Women’s Association concluded celebrations.
