To mark Truth and Reconciliation Day, the County Museums presented “Aftermath: The American Revolution and the Origin of the Mohawk Village on the Bay of Quinte,” research that draws from archival materials and oral histories to give an account of the lives of the Indigenous peoples of the Mohawk Valley upended by the American Revolution. Some of them founded Tyendinaga, on the banks of the Bay of Quinte.

The talk, by Karen Lewis and Trish Rae, was part of The Loyalist Era, an ongoing exhibit at the Wellington Heritage Museum. “We wanted to broaden people’s knowledge of the Loyalist experience,” said Jessica Chase, curator for The County Museums. “We asked, who has been displaced? Who else was coming here? What was the cultural climate at the time? What were the experiences Loyalists were having at the time?” 

Ms. Chase was eager to include stories from the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte in their own words. Ms. Lewis and Ms. Rae combed through archival materials and oral histories to reconstruct what life was like for the Mohawks before and after the American Revolution. 

Before the war, the Mohawks who eventually settled on the Bay of Quinte lived in Fort Hunter, in the Mohawk Valley – the land that surrounds the Mohawk River between the Adirondacks and the Catskills. By 1776 they had long-established trade relationships with their white neighbours, and in many cases were wealthier than them.

“Their homes were comfortably furnished, some with glass windows, which their white neighbours tended not to have, as glass was very expensive,” recounted Ms. Lewis. “They had rich farmland, abundant livestock and food supplies, sleighs and carriages, plows, silverware, porcelain, guns and hunting traps. Some even had luxury items like silk gowns, silver brooches and wine glasses.”

When the British lost the war, their Mohawk allies were forced to cede their lands in the Mohawk Valley. 

A report from 1784 itemizes the economic losses suffered by the Fort Hunter Mohawks. “The land they left behind was valued at over £3,000, and added to that were buildings, cattle, grain, barns and barracks, as well as homes and personal effects.” These itemized losses were crucial – they later helped establish a fund which helped the Mohawks from Fort Hunter settle in Tyendinaga.

At the end of the Revolution, the British and the Americans came to a peace treaty but did not consider their allies. Restoration of ceded territory was not part of the negotiations. 

The Mohawks were furious that the British signed away lands which were not theirs. The Fort Hunter Mohawks couldn’t go back home. But they did not want to stay in Lachine, either. That was where women, children and the elderly had sheltered from the war, but they suffered hardships there. 

The Mohawks also didn’t agree they had lost the war. In a letter from January 1784, Captain John Brant wrote to Daniel Claus: “We do not think they have beaten us. Our minds are still strong and determined to carry on the war. The disgrace is almost killing us.”

As Ms. Lewis put it, “We are lucky that the testimonies of Mohawks have been preserved as archival documents. We don’t have to rely solely on documents written by government officials, which would tell the story through different eyes.”

Sir Frederick Haldimand, governor-general and commander of the British forces, now had to act on a promise that he made in 1779: a place of security for the Mohawks. 

In June of 1783 he sent a surveyor to seek out potential settlement areas for their Six Nations allies. A year later, he oversaw the resettlement of 114 Mohawks and 11 Delawares and others, who established the village of Tyendinaga on the Bay of Quinte.

Ms. Lewis was a librarian at Kanhiote Tyendinaga Public Library for 26 years. She sits on several community boards, including the Tsi Tyónnheht Onkwawén:na Language and Cultural Centre and the Al Purdy A-Frame Association. Ms. Rae has been a researcher for the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte since 1987, focusing on land claims and genealogy. 

The presentation can be viewed at the County Museums’ YouTube Channel.