 The Huron Gift to Kahnawà:ke 1677
This wampum belt was given to the Mohawks of Kahnawà:ke by the Hurons of Lorette (Wendake), circa 1677. This was the year Káteri Tekahkwí:tha arrived after leaving the original Kahnawà:ke in the Mohawk Valley. For years it was kept at the Mission of St. François Xavier in Kahnawà:ke until it was stolen in the 1970’s. The belt is mentioned in Volume 63 of the Jesuit Relations: This
year will be remarkable for a celebrated present which was sent from
lorette to the Sault. It was a hortatory collar which conveyed the
voice of the Lorette
people to those of the Sault, encouraging them to accept the faith in
good earnest, and to build a
chapel as soon as possible;
and it also exhorted them to combat the various demons who
conspired for the ruin of both missions. This collar was at once
attached to one of the beams of the chapel,
which is above the top of the altar, so that the people might always
behold it and hear that voice.
It has been suggested that this was a “Seven Nations of
Canada” belt, but it originated long before this alliance came to be
formally known by that name. Displayed so prominently in the
community that became the “central fire” of that alliance, it may have
been the inspiration for Tsiata
Nihononhwentsiá:ke all along. Below is a reproduction I made of the wampum belt in
2003. The pictures beneath it are actual photos of the belt,
taken from a postcard
available at the Catholic church in Kahnawà:ke, the 1922 book “Historic Caughnawaga,” a newspaper
article, and a website, respectively.
Replica
of the Huron wampum belt given to Kahnawà:ke Mohawks in 1677.
Reproduction and photograph by the author.
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