Kahnawake

The Kahnawà꞉ke Mohawk Territory (French: Territoire Mohawk de Kahnawake, pronounced [ɡahnaˈwâːɡe] in the Mohawk language, Kahnawáˀkye in Tuscarora) is a First Nations reserve on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada, across from Montreal. Established as Seigneury Sault du St-Louis by French Canadians in 1719 as a Jesuit mission, it was formerly known as Caughnawaga (after the ancestral Mohawk villages named Caughnawaga (Kahnàwa꞉ke) in the Mohawk Valley of New York). There are 17 European spelling variations of the Mohawk Kahnawake and the name Kahnawà꞉ke refers to at least three historical places in New York State, in addition to the latest one. Kahnawà꞉ke's territory totals an area of 48.05 km2 (18.55 sq mi). Its resident population numbers slightly above 8,000, with a significant number living off reserve. Its land base today is unevenly distributed due to the federal Indian Act, which governs individual land possession. It has rules that are different from those applying to Canadian non-reserve areas. Most Kahnawà꞉ke residents originally spoke Kanien'kéha, the Mohawk language, and some learned French when trading with and allied with French colonists. Together with most of four Haudenosaunee nations, including the Mohawk, they allied with the British government during the American Revolutionary War and the Lower Canada Rebellion. They have since become mostly English speaking. Although people of European descent traditionally refer to the residents of Kahnawake as Mohawk, their autonym is Kanien’kehá꞉ka (the "People of the Flint"). Another meaning is "those who speak [the language] Kanien'kéha"). The Kanien’kehá꞉ka were historically the most easterly nation of the Haudenosaunee (Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy) and are known as the "Keepers of the Eastern Door". They controlled territory on both sides of the Mohawk River and west of the Hudson River in present-day New York, where they protected other parts of the confederacy...