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Akwesasne Territory is the land where my ancestor Robert Colquhoun first set foot in Canada. It is the traditional territory of the Akwesasne Nation. In Mohawk this name, Akwesasne, translates to Place where the Partridge drums.
The traditional Mohawk territory at Akwesasne includes mainland territory along the north and south shore of the St. Lawrence River, the river itself, it’s tributaries, wetlands and marshes, hundreds of islands and islets, and the diverse and abundant natural life that is part of this river ecosystem.”
Oral histories say that when the Kanienʼkehá꞉ka Nation (or People of the Flint) settled near Karokwi (Long Sault Rapids) along the St Lawrence River that the sound of the rapids sounded like the partridge drumming it’s wings during courtship. This sound announced to visitors and those returning home that they were approaching Akwesasne Territory, a Mohawk Nation.
The name Akwesasne – Place Where the Partridge Drums is not just a name for the land it is a name of the land. It speaks of the animals and the Big River, the great Kaniatarowanenneh River, the water source that sustains all life in this region. Embedded in this land’s name is the respect the Akwesasne Nation has for this territory: an understanding that land sustains humans and in return humans must be caretakers for the land.
And that is exactly what the Akwesasne Nation has done generation after generation. Despite what French title papers or British Treaties say, I was told: “We have always been here.”
My great-great-great-great grandfather Robert came to this land in 1803 to a place he called The Nutfield Tract Indian Reservation. The Nutrield Tract is a tiny parcel of land 2 miles wide and 25 miles deep, that was carved out of Akwesasne Territory in 1784 by a surveyor for the Crown. This fertile slice of land was measured by British chains and set aside by British brass for the Akwesasne people. After a process of proposal and counter-proposal that went on for 2 days, everything else on the north shore was taken for the fleeing Loyalists and other Settlers soon to come. Treaties at this time were driven by the Crown’s desire to create a quote “uninterrupted line of settlement” along the Great Lakes and north shore of the St Lawrence River.
In return for treating with the Crown the Akwesasne Nation got the Nutfield Tract. They were assured they also had land on the south shore including the existing reservation called the St Regis Village, as well as all the surrounding islands. Written titles however were not given for the south tract or the islands. Apparently Sir John Johnson had been instructed: “not give grants for any of the islands as they might be required for the future disposition of Government.”
The Nutfield Tract Indian Reservation was thus “reserved” as a hunting ground for the Akwesasne people. But it was never used for hunting because settlement to the east and west of this narrow strip immediately drove away all game and wildlife. Settlers arrived and the game disappeared, and so from the late 1780s onward the Chiefs leased out lots on the Nutfield Tract to settlers as a way to generate income. Many of these lots were rented to tenants on 99-year leases. Robert held 5 of these leases. He also collected rent for the chiefs in his role as Indian Agent. The Akwesasne Nation reaped annual rent in the form of cash and wheat.
Improperly measured by surveyors, rents infrequently paid by Settlers, and payment inequitably delivered by the Indian Agents, the Nutfield Tract has been contested by the Akwesasne Nation since it’s birth in this colonial form. According to documents from the Crown, Canadian government records, and local Settler historians, the Nutfield Tract was ceded by the St Regis Mohawks in 1847. As a way to end years of disputes over boundaries, ownership, and unpaid rents the government sold the land to tenants and squatters on the Nuffield Tract. During this selloff of “Indian Lands” two of Robert Colquhoun’s sons acquired title to waterfront lots. Walter and Sutherland became some of the first landowners along this wealthy waterfront. Then as today, the Akwesasne Nation rejects the terms of the St Regis Purchase, or Treaty 57. They say they never ceded the land. The Nutfield Tract Indian Reservation is currently in research as a present day land claim.