Kahnawake

Kahnawake ( Mohawk: Kahnawá: ke, English formerly Caughnawaga ) is a Mohawk reserve in Quebec, Canada. It is located on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River across from Montreal. With 7,446 inhabitants ( as of 2007) Kahnawake is the largest reserve in the province.

The administration is headed by the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake, headed by a Big Chief ( Grand Chief ) is. With the Mohawk Kahnawake Peacekeepers has its own police.

History

Kahnawake was founded in 1719 as a settlement of the Mohawk, who live in the area since about 1680.

When building a railway bridge over the St. Lawrence River through the Territory of Kahnawake in 1886 assisting Mohawk fell on by their sure-footedness and quickly acquired a reputation as vertigo and courageous workers. As a result, many Kahnawake Mohawk from working on construction sites of bridges and skyscrapers in North America, as well as the construction of the World Trade Center. Today about one-quarter of the working population Kahnawakes in high-rise construction work.

1907 were 75 people, including 33 Mohawk, died when a bridge collapsed in Quebec by a bad design in the construction.

During the Oka crisis at the nearby Kanesatake reserve in 1990 running through Kahnawake highway bridge Honoré Mercier Mohawk was occupied.

Until the 20th century the inhabitants Kahnawakes said among themselves, in Mohawk, communication with outsiders took place in French. By working in the U.S. and the use of the English language at the Mohawk in Ontario and New York, English prevailed increasingly until around 1950 most of the children were growing up in English. In response to the promotion of French in Quebec was a return to the Mohawk language, which is also used in the classroom since 1979.

Online gambling

In 1996, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission was established, which grants licenses for online gambling. A tribunal established for online casinos colocation data center has created 200 jobs in the reserve. Kahnawake here refers to the sovereignty of the Mohawk nation and constitutionally recognized rights of indigenous people. The authorities of Québec as described by the Canadian federal authorities held in Kahnawake gambling shall be classified as illegal.