Letter to the editor

Letter to the Editor,

I recently attended a presentation by Kanentiio on the War of 1812 at the Kanatakon Recreation Center, which I found to be enlightening and timely. Niawen to the speaker for his sharing of his knowledge.

The Kanatakon site of the British contingent which was overrun by Bostonian Rebels (later calling themselves “Americans”) is alleged to be in the vicinity of the present-day Saint Regis Church.

The Bostonians occupied a garrison at Fort Covington, but literally starved as the regional farmers in Malone, Chateauguay and Massena “illegally” sold their produce and livestock to the British garrison at Cornwall, favoring gold over Bostonian script. These farmers were declared to be smugglers by the fledgling Bostonian rebel government. These Bostonians soon changed their names to “Americans,” usurping the name by which Onkwehonwe had been called since European settlements began.

Notable among these Bostonians were the so-called patriots by the name of Samuel Adams and John Hancock, who were among the most prolific of Boston harbor smugglers, profiting on the highly-taxed British trade goods.

The present-day Federal government of these “Bostonians” which calls Akwesasne a “center of smuggling” needs only to look into the mirror to see their own past, instead of encroaching upon the Kanienkehaka in Kanienke and on Kanienke waterways today.

Chaz Kader