#tyendinaga

“Indians Count Moons To Set History Dates Long Before Columbus,” Toronto Globe. January 27, 1932. Page 11. ---- Perhaps the ‘dark ages’ were not always quite dark. At least, the Indians on this continent had their own manner of counting time.

We have long been told by the histories that the centuries of Indian occupation of this continent were uncounted, vague, and indefinite. For example, the date of the formation of the Iroquois Confederacy, in what is now New York State, was uncertain. This confederacy has sometimes been described as the first League of Nations. Additional interest attaches for Canadians because the Six Nations, as they later became known, moved over into Canada with the Loyalists after the American Revolution and have ever since been loyal citizens.

One of the tribes was the Mohawks, and a visitor to Toronto this week was one of the prominent women of this tribe, Mrs. H. A. Brant, of the Deseronto Reserve, herself a direct descendant of Joseph Brant, Chief of the Mohawks, for years before his death in 1807. Mrs. Brant, whose maiden name was Teresa Brant, and whose father, a great-grandson of Joseph Brant, still lives on the Deseronto Reserve, married R. A. Brant, who is not related to the original chieftain.

During her visit to this part of Ontario, for the first time in her life, Mrs. Brant was the guest of Mr. and Mrs. W. Nelson Campbell, 214 Glennir Avenue, Forest Hill. To a party of friends, she read  a paper which traced the history of the Mohawks, in some detail, with information derived from tribal tradition rather than printed books. One of her most interesting statements was that the Iroquois Confederacy was formed in 1390. As that year was more than a century before the discovery of America by Columbus, and long before clocks, almanacs, and other means of computing time were available on this continent, Mrs. Brant was asked to explain.

‘Oh, this came down to us through tradition. Our tribe counted time by the number of moons, and the year 1390 was reached through counting back the number of moons.’

A group of local historians heard the news with surprise and delight. Selwyn P. Griffin, author of ‘Open Secrets,’ in which Iroquois lore is presented, said:

‘I should say the date of the formation of the Confederacy was about 1450, but if Mrs. Brant says 1390, I would not contradict her. She should know more about it than we should, especially in view of the traditions in her tribe. It is unlikely that any one can settle this date, and she is as likely to be correct as any one.’

As RCMP drop charges on Wet’suwet’en, OPP advance colonial agenda by charging over 20 Mohawks for standing up against genocide

Kanenhariyo was arrested and “tricked” by Napanee OPP who imposed “no protest” conditions; 9-10 more arrests of Mohawk Warriors are anticipated in coming days; the first court date for all the Warriors is in Napanee on August 11, 2020.

TYENDINAGA MOHAWK TERRITORY – On Thursday July 9th, the OPP arrested Kanenhariyo, a vocal supporter of the Wet’suwet’en and the main Mohawk liaison with the police during the Tyendinaga rail shutdown in February of 2020. Kanenhariyo, like 20 other Mohawk Warriors who have already been charged, is facing three charges: “Mischief 430(3) CCC,”  “Disobey Court Order 127 CCC,” and “Enter Land Where Line Work Situation 26.1” under the Railway Safety Act. 

OPP Detective Karin Richer, who arrested Kanenhariyo, informed him that the OPP was looking to charge another “9 or 10” people that they hadn’t yet reached because of Covid-19. All of those charged are to attend court together at the Ontario Superior Court at 41 Dundas St. West, in Napanee, at 9:30am.

An indigenous-led anti-pipeline protest has shut down a vital cross-continent rail line in Canada, disrupting freight and passenger service and costing millions of dollars in lost revenue, officials say.

The Mohawks of Tyendinaga are protesting the 416-mile, $4.68 billion (6.2 billion Canadian dollar) Coastal GasLink pipeline running from northern British Columbia to a natural gas facility near Kitimat, B.C. They've used snow plows, barrels and wooden barricades to block the tracks, forcing Canadian National Railways to temporarily close the line.

The future is green, not automated. Looking at ineffective automation in Belleville Transit

Ashton Deroy writes: Please read until the end of the post. I wanted to let people know some updates on my blog.

If you live in Belleville Ontario. You might not be too impressed with the effort to automate the monthly pass sales for Belleville Transit. In fact, the whole process has been quite underwhelming. You might even say it has been a complete failure that has impacted rider experience.

Wet’suwet’en solidarity protests disrupt infrastructure across Canada

Protestors have taken Gidmit’en spokesperson Molly Wickham’s call to “shut down Canada” literally, as actions have disrupted bridges, streets and legislature. Travel was halted on a major rail corridor in Ontario and protesters blocked access to an export terminal in B.C.