St. Regis Band Topics – Access Genealogy

St. Regis Colony

This passage is a historical account of the St. Regis Colony, a community of Iroquois people who converted to Catholicism in the 17th and 18th centuries. The author traces the origins of the colony to French missionary efforts and the political maneuvering of the French monarchy, which sought to expand its influence in North America at the expense of the British. The St. Regis community, composed primarily of Mohawks, was seen as a strategic asset by the French and was encouraged to separate from the main Iroquois Confederacy. This separation led to tensions and resentment between the St. Regis community and the other Iroquois tribes, who viewed them as outsiders and collaborators with the French. The author highlights the role of the St. Regis Colony in the French and Indian War and the American Revolution, emphasizing its actions as a source of conflict and suffering for frontier settlements. Finally, the passage concludes by describing the St. Regis population and its division between Canada and the United States as a result of the Treaty of Ghent.

Six Nations Names, Traditions, And Reminiscences

Indian nomenclature almost invariably has a distinct and suggestive meaning, especially in geographical locations, relations, and peculiarities. Only a few of those, which relate to the accompanying maps are supplied. The location of Bill Hill’s cabin, near the foot of the Onondaga reservation, was called Nan-ta-sa-sis, “going partly round a hill”. Tonawanda creek is named from Ta-na-wun-da, meaning “swift water”. Oil spring, on the Allegany map, was Te-car-nohs, “dropping oil”. The Allegany River was O-hee-yo, “the beautiful river”, and the Geneseo was Gen-nis-he-yo, “beautiful valley”. Buffalo was Do-sho-weh, “splitting the fork”, because near Black Rock (a rocky shore) the waters … Read more

Industry and Home Life on the Reservations

Farming is the chief employment of the Six Nations Indians, and the products are typical of the varying soils of the different reservations. While more land is under cultivation than heretofore, the barns are mainly old and in had condition. This is largely true of similar buildings upon the adjoining farms of the white people, as farming has not of late netted an amount sufficient for repairs. The Indians, with no cash capital us a rule, have been compelled to lease their lands to the white people for cash rent or work them on shares. The death of influential men … Read more

Wampum Belts

The Iroquois League had its democratic and republican elements, but the separate national governments were essentially oligarchic. The only semblance of written law was the wampum. It was the duty of the “keeper of the wampums” to store all necessary facts in his memory and associate them with the successive lines and arrangements of the beads so that they could readily be called to mind. At general councils the wampums were produced and solemnly expounded. “Reading the wampums” became therefore a means by which to perpetuate treaties, and the exchange of wampums was an impressive occasion. Both the Canadian and … Read more

St. Regis Tribe

This article, written in 1890, provides a detailed account of the St. Regis Mohawk people, a group of Indigenous people residing on a reservation that straddles the border of New York and Canada. It examines their history, traditions, and current social, economic, and political realities. The article discusses their unique governance structure, the influence of French culture and Christianity on their way of life, and the challenges posed by their proximity to both the United States and Canada. It also highlights their engagement with the education system and explores the complexities of their identity and naming practices.

The St. Regis, Successors of the Mohawks

St. Regis River, St. Regis parish, at the junction of the river with the St. Lawrence River, St. Regis Island, directly opposite, and St. Regis reservation, in New York, alike perpetuate the memory of Jean. Francois Regis, a French ecclesiastic of good family, who consecrated his life from early youth to the welfare of the laboring classes. He sought an appointment as missionary to the Iroquois Indians of Canada, but was unable to leave home, and died in 1640. The French Jesuits as early as 1675 established a mission among the Caughnawaga, 9 miles above Montreal, and gathered many of … Read more

Treaty of May 31, 1796

At a treaty held at the city of New York, with the Nations or Tribes of Indians, denominating themselves the Seven Nations of Canada; Abraham Ogden, Commissioner, appointed under the authority of the United States, to hold the Treaty; Ohnaweio, alias Goodstream, Teharagwanegen, alias Thomas Williams, two Chiefs of the Caghnawagas; Atiatoharongwan, alias Colonel Lewis Cook, a Chief of the St. Regis Indians, and William Gray, Deputies, authorized to represent these Seven Nations or Tribes of Indians at the Treaty, and Mr. Gray, serving also as Interpreter; Egbert Benson, Richard Varick and James Watson, Agents for the State of New … Read more

Treaty of January 15, 1838

Treaty with the New York Indians as amended by the Senate, and assented to by the several Tribes 1838. Articles of a treaty made and concluded at Buffalo Creek in the State of New York, the fifteenth day of January in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight, by Ransom H. Gillet, a commissioner on the part of the United States, and the chiefs, head men and warriors of the several tribes of New York Indians assembled in council witnesseth: Whereas, the six nations of New York Indians not long after the close of the war … Read more

1896 St. Regis Indians Census

Census of the St. Regis Tribe of Indians of New York Agency, New York taken by Alexander Solomon, Chief, for J. R. Jewell, United States Indian Agent June 1896.