Vintage Postcard: Iroquois Indians, Caughnawaga, Que.
A Mohawk (Iroquois) couple from Caughnawaga on the South Shore of the St-Lawrence River near Montreal, Quebec. Caughnawaga borders the city of Chateauguay and is now called Kahnawake.
Iroquois Indians, Caughnawaga, Que.
Detail: Iroquois necklace and headdress
Comment from a descendant
OMG that photo you have here is of my Great great Grandmother and grandfather.. I have another Photo of them with their Names.. This is AN AWESOME find!!! The man is “Thomas J. Williams.” his wife,- “Wealthy ArmindaS. Williams.” My Mothers Great grand parents from her mothers side!!
Skennen ko:wa kenh.
Onen ki wahi.
William-(Billy “Snakehawk” Johnson.) Haudenosaunee -Kanien’kehaka.
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INDEXES
A Festival of Postcards(8th Ed.)–GEO
Light ~ White ~ Quadrupeds
Water ~ Signs ~ Main Street
Wheels
CANADIAN FAMILY VINTAGE POSTCARDS
Vintage Postcards of New Brunswick
Vintage Postcards: Special Topics
CANADIAN FAMILY GENEALOGY
MY SURNAMES AND FAMILY HISTORY
The Theriaults – An Acadian Family | Acadie/Quebec/Caraquet
The Mignier dit Lagaces – French Canadians | Riviere-Ouelle/Quebec/N.B.
The Luces from Jersey (Channel Islands) to Canada | Gaspe/N.B.
The Harveys – English Speaking Quebeckers from the UK
In Living Memory: The 20th Century
Here And Now: The 21st Century
SPECIAL TOPICS
Community Events (genealogy blogging)
Early French Canadian Pioneers of Quebec
Canoeing In Canada- All Things Quebec – middle school students blogging from Montreal (Canada)
- ExpressionArts St-Lawrence
-
YOUR COMMENTS
What an amazing image. His stance is powerful, strong and proud. I find myself memorizing the details.. his necklace, shoes, the wrinkles of his sun weathered face… beautiful!
Most of my postcards are of Caughnawaga/Kahnawake landscapes. I chose to publish this one first because it does in fact portray my general impression of the Mohawk as a people – and it is a photograph not just a painting.
I have noticed that the French have a strong tradition of postcards with the ethnic dress of the different areas of France.
Next year I will begin collecting those of the areas that my French-Canadian and Acadian ancestors came from.
Evelyn
I’ve rarely seen Mohawk prtrayed like this – mostly they are involved in bloody battles in movie.
You’re absolutely right, Muse.
In a sense it is fair to say that the Mohawk (and others of the Iroquois Confederacy)were well-known for their warrior tradition long before my European ancestors arrived and they are proud of it to this day.
I have a connection to this because my European ancestor Andre Mignier dit Lagace arrived in New France to protect settlers from what some European writers have called “marauding Iroquois”. I also have Native ancestors (hundreds of years back) who belonged to tribes who were vanquished by the Iroqouis.
This history is long past and I don’t seek to rewrite/justify/glorify either side or look at anything through rose-coloured glasses but the fact is that numerous Amerindian peoples were here first. We(meaning Europeans) came second.
We wanted the land.
We took it.
In 2008 we all have to to what we can to make it good for all the peoples who live in Quebec.
Evelyn in Montreal
I have a number of similar cards, featuring Navajo from the American Southwest and Seminoles from Florida. They are usually in traditional dress, either posing or doing traditional activities. I guess that portraying Native Americans as bloodthirsty savages didn’t appeal to the postcard-buying tourists.
Here’s an Acadian card you might find of interest: http://www.wildpostcards.com/2008/09/acadian-memorial-park-grand-pre-nova-scotia/
So amazing ~~ i can see clearly their costume & accessories.
I have made a few wedding regalia’s in Kahnawake. The headdress is called a Kustowa. Three feathers up indicates the person is Mohawk.
Very interesting. My Mom was born on the Caughnawaga Indian Reservation.
OMG that photo you have here is of my Great great Grandmother and grandfather.. I have another Photo of them with there Names.. This is A AWESOME find!!!
the man is “Thomas J. Williams.” his wife,- “Wealthy ArmindaS. Williams.”My Mothers Great grand parents from her mothers side!!
Skennen ko:wa kenh..
Onen ki wahi.
William-(Billy “Snakehawk” Johnson.) Haudenosaunee -Kanien’kehaka.
OMG THAT PICTURE BLEW ME AWAY I THOUGHT IT WAS MY FATHER CHIEF GREAT FIRE LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE HIM HIS FATHERS NAME WAS THOMAS AND HIS MOM WAS LOUISE CANADIAN
I have a posy card….It says…Tha-nen-ri-shon…do you know what that means
he excites the people’s minds