44°58′26″N 74°39′49″W / 44.973972°N 74.663590°W / 44.973972; -74.663590
134-729: St. Regis Mohawk Reservation ( French : Réserve Mohawk Saint-Régis ; Mohawk : Ahkwesáhsne ) is a Mohawk Indian reservation of the federally recognized tribe the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe , located in Franklin County , New York , United States . It is also known by its Mohawk name, Akwesasne . The population was 3,288 at the 2010 census. The reservation is adjacent to the Akwesasne reserve in Ontario ( Akwesasne 59 ) and Quebec ( Akwesasne 15 [ fr ] ) across
268-815: A sawmill at the new mission. With tensions rising prior to the Seven Years' War (also known in North America as the French and Indian War ), the French wanted to keep the Mohawk as allies, and away from English influence. The Tarbell brothers were born to English colonists in Groton, Massachusetts . They had been taken captive as children in 1707 along with their older sister Sarah, then 14, during Queen Anne's War . John and Zachariah were 12 and 8, respectively. The three children were taken by
402-720: A French official to teachers in the department of Finistère , in western Brittany, included the following: "And remember, Gents: you were given your position in order to kill the Breton language". The prefect of Basses-Pyrénées in the French Basque Country wrote in 1846: "Our schools in the Basque Country are particularly meant to replace the Basque language with French..." Students were taught that their ancestral languages were inferior and they should be ashamed of them; this process
536-431: A comprehensive academic study entitled "The World's 10 most influential languages". In the article, Weber ranked French as, after English, the second-most influential language of the world, ahead of Spanish. His criteria were the numbers of native speakers, the number of secondary speakers (especially high for French among fellow world languages), the number of countries using the language and their respective populations,
670-525: A desire to be a missionary to the Iroquois people. It was founded about 1755 by several Catholic Iroquois families, primarily Mohawk, who moved upriver from the mission village of Caughnawaga, Quebec (now known as Kahnawake). They were seeking better lives for their families, as they were concerned about negative influences of traders at Caughnawaga, who plied the Mohawk with rum. The Mohawk families were accompanied by Jesuit missionaries from Caughnawaga. After
804-543: A foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050. French is the fastest growing language on the continent (in terms of either official or foreign languages). French is increasingly being spoken as a native language in Francophone Africa, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and
938-591: A period of prosperity and prominence among European nations. Richelieu established the Académie française to protect the French language. By the early 1800s, Parisian French had become the primary language of the aristocracy in France. Near the beginning of the 19th century, the French government began to pursue policies with the end goal of eradicating the many minorities and regional languages ( patois ) spoken in France. This began in 1794 with Henri Grégoire 's "Report on
1072-654: A practical exclave claimed by Canada. To travel by land from Tsi Snaihne (Snye or Chenail, Quebec) or Kana:takon (Saint Regis, Quebec) to elsewhere in Canada, one must drive through New York State. In Canada, the territory within Ontario is called the Akwesasne 59 Indian Reserve , and the territory within Quebec is called the Akwesasne Indian Reserve. In the U.S. state of New York, the territory of Akwesasne coincides with what
1206-555: A quirk in the law, they were not eligible to receive grants from the federal Department of Homeland Security that were available to local jurisdictions to support the extra work at the border. The chief of the Akwesasne Mohawk police noted that drug smuggling was a problem that extended along the Canada–US border and was not limited to Akwesasne. In March 2006, the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation
1340-494: A relic of the old nominal case system of Latin longer than most other Romance languages (with the notable exception of Romanian which still currently maintains a case distinction), differentiating between an oblique case and a nominative case. The phonology was characterized by heavy syllabic stress, which led to the emergence of various complicated diphthongs such as -eau which would later be leveled to monophthongs. The earliest evidence of what became Old French can be seen in
1474-488: A resolution but the federally recognized tribe says that it has sovereign authority on its reservation and does not need to collect the state tax. New York citizens fail to report their applicable use taxes ; this has become a problem both here and at areas surrounding other Indian reservations across New York. Merchants near the reservations complain that the tax-free sales constitute an unfair advantage for Native American-owned businesses. The Mohawk frequently respond that this
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#17328873994821608-573: A second language. French is the second most taught foreign language in the EU. All institutions of the EU use French as a working language along with English and German ; in some institutions, French is the sole working language (e.g. at the Court of Justice of the European Union ). French is also the 16th most natively spoken language in the world, the sixth most spoken language by total number of speakers , and
1742-513: A second language. However it has also become a native language in a number of urban areas, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and the Democratic Republic of the Congo . In some North African countries, though not having official status, it is also a first language among some upper classes of the population alongside indigenous languages, but only
1876-897: A second one among the general population. In 2015, approximately 40% of the Francophone population (including L2 and partial speakers) lived in Europe, 36% in sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian Ocean, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas, and 1% in Asia and Oceania. French is the second most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union . Of Europeans who speak other languages natively, approximately one-fifth are able to speak French as
2010-548: A three-year term. The Tribal Clerk is chosen every third year. In 1960, First Nations people were enfranchised in Canada. In 1985, Status Indians who voted in a Canadian election were allowed to retain their status. Previously they would have become non-Status, as per the Indian Act . It is uncertain how many Akwesasro꞉non participate in Canadian elections. Akwesasne is currently represented in Canada's Parliament by: Akwesasne
2144-516: A total area of 21.0 square miles (54.4 km). 19.0 square miles (49.1 km) of it is land, and 2.0 square miles (5.3 km) of it (9.76%) is water. It is bordered by the New York towns of Fort Covington (east), Bombay (south), Brasher (southwest), and Massena (west), and by the Akwesasne Indian reserve to the north in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario . The nearest city
2278-470: A total of 12,000 residents, with the largest population and land area of any Kanienʼkehá:ka community. From its development in the mid-eighteenth century, Akwesasne was considered one of the Seven Nations of Canada . It is one of several Kanienʼkehá꞉ka (Mohawk), meaning "people of the flint" in Mohawk, territories within present-day Canada; others are Kahnawake , Wahta , Tyendinaga , Kanesatake , and
2412-536: A variant of Canadian French , is spoken in parts of New England . Missouri French was historically spoken in Missouri and Illinois (formerly known as Upper Louisiana ), but is nearly extinct today. French also survived in isolated pockets along the Gulf Coast of what was previously French Lower Louisiana , such as Mon Louis Island , Alabama and DeLisle, Mississippi (the latter only being discovered by linguists in
2546-465: Is Cornwall, Ontario , which lies 6 miles (10 km) to the northwest, across the Akwesasne Reserve. In August 2021, the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation acquired 41.5 acres in Franklin County, New York . The original settlement was known as Akwesasne , called Saint Régis by French Jesuit missionaries, after Jean François Régis , the priest canonized as a Catholic saint in 1737, who had expressed
2680-437: Is 95%, and in the French collectivity of Wallis and Futuna , it is 84%. In French Polynesia and to a lesser extent Wallis and Futuna, where oral and written knowledge of the French language has become almost universal (95% and 84% respectively), French increasingly tends to displace the native Polynesian languages as the language most spoken at home. In French Polynesia, the percentage of the population who reported that French
2814-745: Is a Romance language of the Indo-European family . Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire . French evolved from Gallo-Romance , the Latin spoken in Gaul , and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues d'oïl —languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French ( Francien ) largely supplanted. French
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#17328873994822948-467: Is a widespread second language among the Lebanese people , and is taught in many schools along with Arabic and English. French is used on Lebanese pound banknotes, on road signs, on Lebanese license plates , and on official buildings (alongside Arabic). Today, French and English are secondary languages of Lebanon , with about 40% of the population being Francophone and 40% Anglophone. The use of English
3082-484: Is also a working language in nonprofit organisations such as the Red Cross (alongside English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and Russian), Amnesty International (alongside 32 other languages of which English is the most used, followed by Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Italian), Médecins sans Frontières (used alongside English, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic), and Médecins du Monde (used alongside English). Given
3216-430: Is among the top five most studied languages worldwide, with about 120 million learners as of 2017. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 16th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. French has a long history as an international language of literature and scientific standards and is a primary or second language of many international organisations including
3350-456: Is an official language in 27 countries , as well as one of the most geographically widespread languages in the world, with about 50 countries and territories having it as a de jure or de facto official, administrative, or cultural language. Most of these countries are members of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), the community of 54 member states which share
3484-556: Is called the federally recognized St. Regis Mohawk Reservation . This portion of Akwesasne is bisected by New York State Route 37 . This major state highway in the North Country of New York, extends for 127.4 mi (205.0 km) on an east–west axis. Beginning about 1000 AD , nomadic indigenous people around the Great Lakes began adopting the cultivation of maize . By the 14th century, Iroquoian -speaking peoples, later called
3618-579: Is enacted only in New Brunswick, where about one third of the population is Francophone. French is also an official language of all of the territories ( Northwest Territories , Nunavut , and Yukon ). Out of the three, Yukon has the most French speakers, making up just under 4% of the population. Furthermore, while French is not an official language in Ontario , the French Language Services Act ensures that provincial services are available in
3752-495: Is growing in the business and media environment. Out of about 900,000 students, about 500,000 are enrolled in Francophone schools, public or private, in which the teaching of mathematics and scientific subjects is provided in French. Actual usage of French varies depending on the region and social status. One-third of high school students educated in French go on to pursue higher education in English-speaking institutions. English
3886-404: Is known as Old French. The period of Old French spanned between the 8th and 14th centuries. Old French shared many characteristics with Latin. For example, Old French made use of different possible word orders just as Latin did because it had a case system that retained the difference between nominative subjects and oblique non-subjects . The period is marked by a heavy superstrate influence from
4020-510: Is known as the federally recognized St. Regis Mohawk Reservation . The portion in Ontario is referred to as Akwesasne Reserve No. 59 ( Mohawk : Kawehnò:ke ), and the portions in Quebec as Akwesasne Reserve No. 15 [ fr ] ( Mohawk : Kaná:takon & Tsi Snaíhne ). The name Akwesasne in Mohawk means "Land Where the Partridge Drums", referring to the rich wildlife in
4154-462: Is often considered to be a useful skill by business owners in the United Kingdom; a 2014 study found that 50% of British managers considered French to be a valuable asset for their business, thus ranking French as the most sought-after foreign language there, ahead of German (49%) and Spanish (44%). MIT economist Albert Saiz calculated a 2.3% premium for those who have French as a foreign language in
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4288-775: Is one of the official languages of such major international and regional courts, tribunals, and dispute-settlement bodies as the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights , the Caribbean Court of Justice , the Court of Justice for the Economic Community of West African States , the Inter-American Court of Human Rights , the International Court of Justice , the International Criminal Tribunal for
4422-505: Is represented in the: In 1924, Native Americans were enfranchised in the United States if they had not been previously; by that time, two-thirds were already citizens. During the era of Indian Removal of the 1830s, Native Americans who chose to stay in historic territories became state and federal citizens; those who moved with their tribes to Indian Territory were not considered citizens. As Native American lands were purchased during
4556-562: Is taught in universities around the world, and is one of the world's most influential languages because of its wide use in the worlds of journalism, jurisprudence , education, and diplomacy. In diplomacy, French is one of the six official languages of the United Nations (and one of the UN Secretariat 's only two working languages ), one of twenty official and three procedural languages of the European Union , an official language of NATO ,
4690-529: Is the "traditional" governing and religious body of the Mohawk (Kahniakehaka) people. The MNCC operates as a member nation of the Iroquois Confederacy or Haudenosaunee . The Mohawk Council of Akwesasne (MCA) is a government whose representatives are elected within the northern districts of the territory on the Canadian side of the border. The MCA was developed from the Indian Bands system introduced by
4824-538: Is the language of business and communication, with French being an element of social distinction, chosen for its emotional value. French is an official language of the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu , where 31% of the population was estimated to speak it in 2023. In the French special collectivity of New Caledonia , 97% of the population can speak, read and write French while in French Polynesia this figure
4958-479: Is the native language of about 23% of the Swiss population, and is spoken by 50% of the population. Along with Luxembourgish and German, French is one of the three official languages of Luxembourg , where it is generally the preferred language of business as well as of the different public administrations. It is also the official language of Monaco . At a regional level, French is acknowledged as an official language in
5092-492: Is the second-most spoken language (after English) in the states of Maine and New Hampshire . In Louisiana , it is tied with Spanish for second-most spoken if Louisiana French and all creoles such as Haitian are included. French is the third most spoken language (after English and Spanish) in the states of Connecticut , Rhode Island , and New Hampshire . Louisiana is home to many distinct French dialects, collectively known as Louisiana French . New England French , essentially
5226-424: Is the sole official language in the province of Quebec , where some 80% of the population speak it as a native language and 95% are capable of conducting a conversation in it. Quebec is also home to the city of Montreal , which is the world's fourth-largest French-speaking city, by number of first language speakers. New Brunswick and Manitoba are the only officially bilingual provinces, though full bilingualism
5360-480: Is their only advantage, as they have suffered from centuries of discrimination and being dispossessed of their land. While the government officials argue, a Zogby poll commissioned in 2006 by the Seneca Nation of New York , also Iroquois and allies of the Mohawk, showed that 79% of New York residents did not think sales taxes should be collected from reservation sales. Salmon River Central School District covers
5494-738: The Aosta Valley region of Italy where it is the first language of approximately 50% of the population, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands . It is also spoken in Andorra and is the main language after Catalan in El Pas de la Casa . The language is taught as the primary second language in the German state of Saarland , with French being taught from pre-school and over 43% of citizens being able to speak French. The majority of
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5628-459: The Aosta Valley region of Italy; and various communities elsewhere. French is estimated to have about 310 million speakers, of which about 80 million are native speakers. According to the OIF, approximately 321 million people worldwide are "able to speak the language" as of 2022, without specifying the criteria for this estimation or whom it encompasses. In Francophone Africa, it is spoken mainly as
5762-539: The Democratic Republic of Congo . There is not a single African French , but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages . Sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth. It is also where the language has evolved the most in recent years. Some vernacular forms of French in Africa can be difficult to understand for French speakers from other countries, but written forms of
5896-604: The Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall and the Diocese of Valleyfield in Canada, and the Diocese of Ogdensburg in New York. Following passage of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, the United States federal government encouraged the tribe to adopt a constitution and elected government. The Mohawk chose to retain their traditional system of hereditary chiefs. In the 1940s, Ernest Benedict founded Akwesasne's first newspaper, Kawehras! ("It Thunders!"). Benedict covered
6030-485: The European Union , French was the dominant language within all institutions until the 1990s. After several enlargements of the EU (1995, 2004), French significantly lost ground in favour of English, which is more widely spoken and taught in most EU countries. French currently remains one of the three working languages, or "procedural languages", of the EU, along with English and German. It is the second-most widely used language within EU institutions after English, but remains
6164-547: The Francien dialect is one that not only continued but also thrived during the Middle French period (14th–17th centuries). Modern French grew out of this Francien dialect. Grammatically, during the period of Middle French, noun declensions were lost and there began to be standardized rules. Robert Estienne published the first Latin-French dictionary, which included information about phonetics, etymology, and grammar. Politically,
6298-464: The Indian Act of Canada and the Act's historical and legal predecessors. They are known to Canada as Mohawks of Akwesasne Bands 59 and 15 . The MCA operates as a non-partisan , representative democracy , divided into three geographic and administrative districts. The districts are Kana:takon (Saint Regis, Quebec), Kawehno:ke (Cornwall Island, Ontario) and Tsi Snaihne (Snye, Quebec). The several islands of
6432-820: The International Olympic Committee , the Council of Europe , the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development , Organization of American States (alongside Spanish, Portuguese and English), the Eurovision Song Contest , one of eighteen official languages of the European Space Agency , World Trade Organization and the least used of the three official languages in the North American Free Trade Agreement countries. It
6566-609: The Oaths of Strasbourg and the Sequence of Saint Eulalia , while Old French literature began to be produced in the eleventh century, with major early works often focusing on the lives of saints (such as the Vie de Saint Alexis ), or wars and royal courts, notably including the Chanson de Roland , epic cycles focused on King Arthur and his court , as well as a cycle focused on William of Orange . It
6700-441: The Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation (which includes several subdivisions of Mohawk, the other five nations of the Iroquois League , and some other Native American tribes), founded after the American Revolutionary War . With settlement of the border between Canada and the United States in the early 19th century, a larger portion of the territory was defined as being within the United States. The portion in New York state
6834-417: The St. Lawrence Iroquoians , had created fortified villages along the fertile valley of what is now called the St. Lawrence River. Among their villages were Stadacona and Hochelaga , visited in 1535–1536 by French explorer Jacques Cartier . While they shared certain culture with other Iroquoian groups, they were a distinctly separate people and spoke a branch of Iroquoian called Laurentian . But by
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#17328873994826968-437: The St. Lawrence River . Although divided by an international border, the residents consider themselves to be one community. They maintain separate police forces due to jurisdictional issues and national laws. The community was founded in the mid-18th century by Mohawk families from Kahnawake (also known as Caughnawaga), a Catholic Mohawk village that developed south of Montreal along the St. Lawrence River. Today Akwesasne has
7102-399: The St. Lawrence River . The Mohawk consider the entire community to be one unit and have the right to travel freely across the international border. The reservation contains the community of St. Regis and borders the community of Hogansburg in the Town of Bombay . The Mohawk people dispute the Town of Bombay's claim to jurisdiction within the "Bombay Triangle", as these lands are part of
7236-401: The St. Lawrence Seaway , what is now known as the Three Nations Crossing bridge, and dams on the rivers for hydroelectric power projects. Since 1762, mills and dams were built by private, non-Native interests on the St. Regis River at what developed as the village of Hogansburg . It is now within the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation. In 1929 Erie Boulevard Hydropower built an 11-foot-high dam at
7370-520: The United Nations , the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization , the World Trade Organization , the International Olympic Committee , the General Conference on Weights and Measures , and the International Committee of the Red Cross . French is a Romance language (meaning that it is descended primarily from Vulgar Latin ) that evolved out of the Gallo-Romance dialects spoken in northern France. The language's early forms include Old French and Middle French . Due to Roman rule, Latin
7504-416: The 1796 Treaty with the United States and have never been diminished by the US Congress. Under the terms of the Jay Treaty (1794), the Mohawk people may pass freely across the Canada–United States border . The two parts of the reservation are separated by the St. Lawrence River and the 45th parallel . The Mohawk are one of the original Five Nations of the Iroquois League , historically based south of
7638-455: The 1990s) but these varieties are severely endangered or presumed extinct. French is one of two official languages in Haiti alongside Haitian Creole . It is the principal language of education, administration, business, and public signage and is spoken by all educated Haitians. It is also used for ceremonial events such as weddings, graduations, and church masses. The vast majority of the population speaks Haitian Creole as their first language;
7772-474: The 20th century, when it was replaced by English as the United States became the dominant global power following the Second World War . Stanley Meisler of the Los Angeles Times said that the fact that the Treaty of Versailles was written in English as well as French was the "first diplomatic blow" against the language. During the Grand Siècle (17th century), France, under the rule of powerful leaders such as Cardinal Richelieu and Louis XIV , enjoyed
7906-442: The American Continental Army , from the west. When Forster agreed, Lorimier went to Akwesasne, where he recruited 100 warriors for battle. The British-allied forces took some American prisoners during the encounters, but these were later freed. In the early 1800s, non-indigenous settlers leased a part of the Akwesnasne reserve located in mainland Quebec, known as Dundee . In 1888, the superintendent of Indian Affairs requested that
8040-437: The Bible and liturgy into Mohawk. They observed Mohawk customs, for instance, refusing to marry individuals who belonged to the same clan . Through the 18th and 19th centuries, they maintained parish registers that recorded the Mohawk names of individuals for life events, even when the people had taken European names as well. At the time of the American Revolutionary War , the Mohawk, Onondaga, Seneca and Cayuga were allied with
8174-445: The British against the rebel American colonists. Forced to cede most of their remaining lands in New York to the new government after the colonists' victory, many of the Iroquois people migrated to Canada, where many settled at the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation . Some Mohawk joined the growing community at Akwesasne. Under the Jay Treaty , the Iroquois retained rights to cross the newly established borders between Canada and
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#17328873994828308-510: The Canadian capital, is also effectively bilingual, as it has a large population of federal government workers, who are required to offer services in both French and English, and is just across the river from the Quebecois city of Gatineau . According to the United States Census Bureau (2011), French is the fourth most spoken language in the United States after English, Spanish, and Chinese, when all forms of French are considered together and all dialects of Chinese are similarly combined. French
8442-614: The Caribbean that are collectively referred to as the French West Indies , namely Guadeloupe , Saint Barthélemy , Saint Martin , and Martinique . French is the official language of both French Guiana on the South American continent, and of Saint Pierre and Miquelon , an archipelago off the coast of Newfoundland in North America. French was the official language of the colony of French Indochina , comprising modern-day Vietnam , Laos , and Cambodia . It continues to be an administrative language in Laos and Cambodia, although its influence has waned in recent decades. In colonial Vietnam,
8576-408: The Empire, this local elite had been slowly abandoning Gaulish entirely, but the rural and lower class populations remained Gaulish speakers who could sometimes also speak Latin or Greek. The final language shift from Gaulish to Vulgar Latin among rural and lower class populations occurred later, when both they and the incoming Frankish ruler/military class adopted the Gallo-Roman Vulgar Latin speech of
8710-471: The English and Dutch than the French were willing to give. In addition, warriors and families became involved in raiding and the traffic in captives during Queen Anne's War in the early 1700s between France and England. French and First Nations allies, including the Abenaki , would bring captives back to Kahnawake from New England settlements, often to be ransomed. Younger English children and women were sometimes adopted by Mohawk families and assimilated into
8844-582: The French and Abenaki raiders some 300 miles to Montreal. They all became Catholic and were renamed. Sarah/Marguerite was redeemed by a French couple and entered the Congregation of Notre Dame , a teaching order founded in Montreal by French women in 1653. Adopted by Mohawk families in Kahnawake, the two boys became thoroughly assimilated : learning the language and ways, and being given Mohawk names. They later each married daughters of chiefs and reared their children as Mohawk. They each became chiefs, and some of their sons also became chiefs. They were examples of
8978-416: The Germanic Frankish language , which non-exhaustively included the use in upper-class speech and higher registers of V2 word order , a large percentage of the vocabulary (now at around 15% of modern French vocabulary ) including the impersonal singular pronoun on (a calque of Germanic man ), and the name of the language itself. Up until its later stages, Old French , alongside Old Occitan , maintained
9112-439: The Great Lakes and in present-day New York and Pennsylvania. This nation was located primarily in the Mohawk Valley and were known as the "Keepers of the Eastern Door", prepared to defend the Iroquoian territory against other tribes located to the east of the Hudson River . The St. Regis Reservation, and the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal government, adopted gambling in the 1980s. It has generated deep controversy . Broadly speaking,
9246-403: The Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs (traditional government), the elected Mohawk Council of Akwesasne in the North, and Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe in the South. The latter are the two recognized by the governments of Canada and the United States, respectively, as well as by lower-level jurisdictions such as provinces and states. The Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs (MNCC, colloquially "the Longhouse")
9380-437: The Mohawk River), a Catholic mission village established by French Jesuits south of Montreal . Kahnawake is a Kanienʼkehá꞉ka (Mohawk) word meaning "at the rapids". Here, additional First Nations joined the community, converting to Roman Catholicism ; the Mohawk dominated in number. During the colonial years, this community participated in the fur trade . Some men regularly traveled to Albany, New York for better prices from
9514-416: The Mohawk people view the reservation as a sovereign nation. Under US treaty law, the federal government has jurisdiction over certain crimes on the reservation, but the Mohawk have their own police force for other cases. The reservation is at the international border of Canada and the United States along the St. Lawrence River. According to the United States Census Bureau , the Indian reservation has
9648-496: The St. Lawrence River within the jurisdiction of the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne are generally counted as being a part of the nearest mainland. General elections are held triennially, with 12 representatives (Chiefs) chosen from the districts and one Grand Chief. Each district elects four Chiefs, and all districts vote at-large to elect a Grand Chief. Thus the council is 12 plus 1. A by-election may also be held if one or more of
9782-403: The St. Lawrence River. In the 1990s, the people of Akwesasne raised money in a variety of ways to fund a renovation of their St. Regis Church. They wrote a history of the church and its priests. The three main areas: Others: Akwesasne borders the towns of Brasher, New York, Fort Covington , New York and Bombay , New York. Sections of the southeastern portion of Akwesasne are considered by
9916-654: The St. Regis Reservation. In 1969, Benedict founded the North American Indian Travelling College (now known as the Native North American Travelling College), which serves as a cultural centre, publishing house, and resource for classes and lectures at Akwesasne and beyond. It operates an art gallery and theatre at Akwesasne. In the late 1960s, a period of heightened Native American activism, Benedict also started Akwesasne Notes . The newspaper became highly influential and
10050-529: The Town of Bombay to be within the town's jurisdiction but the tribe disputes this. To the west is the Town of Massena, New York . Many islands in the St. Lawrence River are part of Akwesasne. Generally the Akwesasro꞉non are majority English-speaking in daily use. On the Canadian parts of the territory, Akwesasne borders the towns of Cornwall, Ontario , and Dundee, Quebec . Akwesasne is governed by three bodies:
10184-516: The US boundary. The population density was 142.2/mi (54.9/km). There were 977 housing units at an average density of 51.5/mi (19.9/km). The racial makeup of the Indian reservation was 97.41% Native American , 2.07% White , 0.07% from other races , and 0.44% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.74% of the population. There were 904 households, out of which 44.8% had children under
10318-521: The United States acquired this territory in settlement of its northern border, relations among the people and the varying jurisdictions became more complex. But according to the 1795 Jay Treaty settling the border, the Mohawk retained the right to travel freely over the border. Since the reservation was established, the Mohawk on both sides of the St. Lawrence River have lost land and been adversely affected by major infrastructure projects conducted by state and federal authorities. These include construction of
10452-593: The United States in order to maintain their trade and tribal ties. In 1806, Catholic Cayuga, Oneida and Onondaga from Ogdensburg, New York , joined the St. Regis band. The Battle of the Cedars ( French : Les Cèdres ) was a series of military confrontations, early in the American Revolutionary War , which involved limited combat. The actions took place between May 19–27, 1776, at and around Les Cèdres, Quebec (located 28 mi (45 km) west of Montreal), in
10586-496: The accused and plaintiff. The members of the legal team are not required to have a law degree but are required to complete training and are approved by a review commission. Akwesasne has five elementary schools on the territory. Generally, Akwesasnro:non travel off the reservation for secondary education. Post-secondary education is offered on the reservation through Iohahi:io Akwesasne Education & Training Institute and State University of New York (SUNY) extension programs with
10720-402: The age of 18 living with them, 40.9% were married couples living together, 23.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.0% were non-families. 22.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.97 and the average family size was 3.44. In the Indian reservation, the population
10854-544: The area. Akwesasne territory incorporates part of the St. Lawrence River, the mouths of the Raquette and St. Regis rivers, and a number of islands in these three rivers. The eastern border of the southern portion is formed by the St. Regis River. The territory is divided between north–south by the Canada–United States border . The northern portion is further divided by the Canadian provincial boundary between Ontario to
10988-598: The band surrender this land. A surrender was given, but the first nation always contested its validity, as it was not their intention to surrender the land. In December 2018, the First Nation of Akwesnasne accepted a specific claim settlement of $ 240M for the Dundee parcel, 37 years after the claim was first filed with the government of Canada . Kana:takon School, originally called the Saint Regis Village School,
11122-605: The country near French-speaking Quebec, however, it is the foreign language more commonly taught. Vowel phonemes in French Akwesasne The Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne ( / ˌ æ k w ə ˈ s æ s n eɪ / AK -wə- SAS -neh ; French : Nation Mohawk à Akwesasne ; Mohawk : Ahkwesáhsne ) is a Mohawk Nation ( Kanienʼkehá:ka ) territory that straddles the intersection of international ( United States and Canada ) borders and provincial ( Ontario and Quebec ) boundaries on both banks of
11256-508: The demographic prospects of the French-speaking nations of Africa, researcher Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry wrote in 2014 that French "could be the language of the future". However, some African countries such as Algeria intermittently attempted to eradicate the use of French, and as of 2024 it was removed as an official language in Mali and Burkina Faso . Significant as a judicial language, French
11390-448: The economic power of the countries using the language, the number of major areas in which the language is used, and the linguistic prestige associated with the mastery of the language (Weber highlighted that French in particular enjoys considerable linguistic prestige). In a 2008 reassessment of his article, Weber concluded that his findings were still correct since "the situation among the top ten remains unchanged." Knowledge of French
11524-679: The elected chiefs and the Mohawk Warrior Society have supported gambling, while some traditional leaders have opposed it. Today, the reservation is home to the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino , which has generated revenues for tribal welfare. The elected tribal governments on the New York and Canadian sides and the traditional chiefs of Akwesasne often work together as a "Tri-Council" concerning areas of shared interest, for example to negotiate land claims settlements with their respective national governments. The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe and
11658-585: The elites primarily spoke French, while many servants who worked in French households spoke a French pidgin known as " Tây Bồi " (now extinct). After French rule ended, South Vietnam continued to use French in administration, education, and trade. However, since the Fall of Saigon and the opening of a unified Vietnam's economy, French has gradually been effectively displaced as the first foreign language of choice by English in Vietnam. Nevertheless, it continues to be taught as
11792-404: The federal government continued to require the tribe to hold elections. Both the federal government and New York State encouraged the tribe to adopt representative elected government, but they resisted. They were put on the congressional list for termination in the 1950s, as part of a policy assuming that assimilation was best for Native Americans, but Congress did not approve the termination of
11926-506: The first government authority to adopt Modern French as official was the Aosta Valley in 1536, while the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts (1539) named French the language of law in the Kingdom of France . During the 17th century, French replaced Latin as the most important language of diplomacy and international relations ( lingua franca ). It retained this role until approximately the middle of
12060-858: The former Yugoslavia , International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda , the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea the International Criminal Court and the World Trade Organization Appellate Body . It is the sole internal working language of the Court of Justice of the European Union , and makes with English the European Court of Human Rights 's two working languages. In 1997, George Weber published, in Language Today ,
12194-410: The former dam site as "the focus of a cultural restoration program that will pair tribal elders with younger members of the tribe to restore the Mohawk language and pass on traditional practices such as fishing, hunting, basket weaving, horticulture and medicine, to name a few." As of the census of 2000, there were 2,699 people, 904 households, and 668 families residing in the Indian reservation within
12328-818: The gender of the corresponding word in Gaulish. The estimated number of French words that can be attributed to Gaulish is placed at 154 by the Petit Robert , which is often viewed as representing standardized French, while if non-standard dialects are included, the number increases to 240. Known Gaulish loans are skewed toward certain semantic fields, such as plant life ( chêne , bille , etc.), animals ( mouton , cheval , etc.), nature ( boue , etc.), domestic activities (ex. berceau ), farming and rural units of measure ( arpent , lieue , borne , boisseau ), weapons, and products traded regionally rather than further afield. This semantic distribution has been attributed to peasants being
12462-628: The international border. These conditions also make the border more porous for smugglers of many items, including liquor, cigarettes, drugs, and people, including human trafficking. The New York Times covered this issue in February 2006 in an article headlined "Drug Traffickers Find Haven in Shadows of Indian Country". The Akwesasne police and government spokespersons have defended their work, saying they have had to take on an unfair federal burden of border enforcement while not receiving additional funding. Due to
12596-401: The language are very closely related to those of the rest of the French-speaking world. French is the second most commonly spoken language in Canada and one of two federal official languages alongside English. As of the 2021 Canadian census , it was the native language of 7.7 million people (21% of the population) and the second language of 2.9 million (8% of the population). French
12730-474: The language, although it has now given way to Tamil and English. A former French mandate , Lebanon designates Arabic as the sole official language, while a special law regulates cases when French can be publicly used. Article 11 of Lebanon's Constitution states that "Arabic is the official national language. A law determines the cases in which the French language is to be used". The French language in Lebanon
12864-602: The language. The Act applies to areas of the province where there are significant Francophone communities, namely Eastern Ontario and Northern Ontario . Elsewhere, sizable French-speaking minorities are found in southern Manitoba, Nova Scotia , Prince Edward Island and the Port au Port Peninsula in Newfoundland and Labrador, where the unique Newfoundland French dialect was historically spoken. Smaller pockets of French speakers exist in all other provinces. The Ontarian city of Ottawa ,
12998-556: The largest native newspaper in the world. Among its noted features were a series of posters included as centrefolds. A supporter gave the newspaper Edward Curtis photographs, which editors combined with quotes from Native American authors for the popular poster series. In 1987, the Akwesasne Task Force on the Environment was founded in response to environmental concerns, including PCB contamination from industries located along
13132-475: The last to hold onto Gaulish. The beginning of French in Gaul was greatly influenced by Germanic invasions into the country. These invasions had the greatest impact on the northern part of the country and on the language there. A language divide began to grow across the country. The population in the north spoke langue d'oïl while the population in the south spoke langue d'oc . Langue d'oïl grew into what
13266-620: The later stages of the American colonial invasion of Quebec that began in September 1775. No casualties occurred. Claude de Lorimier , a British Indian agent from Montreal, traveled west to Oswegatchie (Ogdensburg, New York), where there was a fort garrisoned by a company of the 8th Regiment of Foot under the command of British Captain George Forster. De Lorimier proposed recruiting some Indians to launch an attack on Montreal, then held by
13400-417: The mission, then a more formal log church. In 1795 the Mohawk completed construction of a stone church, which still stands. Named after the French priest St. Jean-François Regis , the mission was the source of the French name of the adjacent Saint Regis River, an island in the St. Lawrence River, and the nearby village. The church was long a landmark to ships on the river approaching the rapids. In New York,
13534-423: The multi-cultural community of the Mohawk, who absorbed numerous captives into their tribe. Starting in 1755, French-Canadian Jesuit priests founded the St. Regis Mission at Akwesasne. The Tarbell brothers were listed among the founding chiefs, representing numerous clans as of 1759, in papers of Loran Kanonsase Pyke, the patriarch of Akwesasne's Pyke family. The Jesuits first built a log and bark church at
13668-717: The name was later adopted to apply to the Saint Regis Mohawk Reservation. The villagers have since renamed their community Kana꞉takon ("the village", in Mohawk). After victory in the Seven Years' War , the British took over Canada and New France east of the Mississippi River . They allowed the Kanienʼkehá꞉ka to continue to have Catholic priests at their mission. The Jesuits helped preserve Mohawk culture, translating
13802-420: The necessity and means to annihilate the patois and to universalize the use of the French language". When public education was made compulsory , only French was taught and the use of any other ( patois ) language was punished. The goals of the public school system were made especially clear to the French-speaking teachers sent to teach students in regions such as Occitania and Brittany . Instructions given by
13936-665: The nineteenth century and Native land claims were extinguished, more were classified as US citizens as they moved to reservations. Akwesasne is represented in the United States Senate by: Akwesasne is represented in the: In 2016, Akwesasne established an independent indigenous legal system and court to deal with non-criminal offenses within the reserve. The 32 new laws cover civil matters handled by an indigenous legal team director of public prosecution, public prosecutor and two justices. The system does not rely on jail terms but uses restorative justice to bring resolution between
14070-574: The official use or teaching of French. It is spoken as a first language (in descending order of the number of speakers) in France; Canada (especially in the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick); Belgium ( Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region ); western Switzerland (specifically the cantons forming the Romandy region); parts of Luxembourg; parts of the United States (the states of Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont); Monaco;
14204-528: The other main foreign language in the Vietnamese educational system and is regarded as a cultural language. All three countries are full members of La Francophonie (OIF). French was the official language of French India , consisting of the geographically separate enclaves referred to as Puducherry . It continued to be an official language of the territory even after its cession to India in 1956 until 1965. A small number of older locals still retain knowledge of
14338-462: The preferred language of certain institutions or administrations such as the Court of Justice of the European Union , where it is the sole internal working language, or the Directorate-General for Agriculture . Since 2016, Brexit has rekindled discussions on whether or not French should again hold greater role within the institutions of the European Union. A leading world language , French
14472-474: The region. Thus 275 miles of the St. Regis River has been reopened to migratory fish that spend part of their lives in the Atlantic Ocean. In 2013 the tribe received a $ 19 million settlement from " GM , Alcoa , and Reynolds for pollution of tribal fishing and hunting grounds along the St. Lawrence River". The companies have undertaken cleanup of the pollution. The tribe intends to use this money to redevelop
14606-452: The resistance of many Mohawk to the system of elections imposed by the federal government on the "American" side of Akwesasne; it insisted on representative elections. On May 24, 1948, a vote was held in which "The Six Nations Chiefs", based on historic clans and hereditary office, received 83 votes. "The Elected Chiefs" received only one vote, and "The Seven Nations Chiefs" did not receive any votes. The elected chiefs resigned from office, but
14740-464: The rest largely speak French as a first language. As a French Creole language , Haitian Creole draws the large majority of its vocabulary from French, with influences from West African languages, as well as several European languages. It is closely related to Louisiana Creole and the creole from the Lesser Antilles . French is the sole official language of all the overseas territories of France in
14874-507: The seats become vacant. The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe (SRMT) is a government elected by Mohawk Tribal citizens of the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation , a southern district of the territory within the border of the United States. The SRMT operates as a Constitutional republic. The Tribal Council is composed of three Chiefs, three Sub-Chiefs, and a Tribal Clerk. Elections are held each year on the first Saturday of June to choose one Chief and one Sub-Chief for
15008-433: The site to generate hydroelectric power. It disrupted the annual salmon fish run from the St. Lawrence, depriving the citizens of the reservation of one of their staple foods, and adversely affecting the populations of salmon and other migratory fish. By 2010 the dam had become uneconomical. It would have cost too much to upgrade, which would have included current requirements to provide for fish passage in efforts to preserve
15142-483: The species. The owner gave up its federal license. The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal government applied to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to take over and dismantle the dam, which they did in 2016. Based on restoration of fisheries after such dam removals in other locations across the country, they are optimistic that salmon and other migratory fish, such as walleye , will quickly return to
15276-668: The time Samuel de Champlain explored the same area 75 years later in the early 1600s, the villages had disappeared. Historians theorize that the stronger Mohawk from the South waged war against the St. Lawrence Iroquoians to get control of the fur trade and hunting along the river valley. By 1600, the Mohawk used the valley for hunting grounds and as a path for war parties. In the early 17th century, some Christian Iroquois (primarily Mohawk, but also some Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca) migrated from present-day New York to Kahnawake (formerly known as Caughnawaga, after their village along
15410-462: The total number of French speakers will reach approximately 500 million in 2025 and 650 million by 2050, largely due to rapid population growth in sub-Saharan Africa . OIF estimates 700 million French speakers by 2050, 80% of whom will be in Africa. In a study published in March 2014 by Forbes , the investment bank Natixis said that French could become the world's most spoken language by 2050. In
15544-617: The tribe $ 13.75 million, plus $ 15 million a year in annual revenues. On February 23, 2018, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office deemed the Restasis patents invalid and rejected the St Regis Tribe's ability to use sovereign immunity to protect the Restasis patents. Following the announcement, both Allergan and the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe appealed the ruling. French language French ( français [fʁɑ̃sɛ] or langue française [lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛːz] )
15678-407: The tribe. Due to exhaustion of land at Kahnawake and problems with traders' rum at the village, in the mid-1750s about 30 families migrated upriver about 20 leagues to set up a new community. Among the leaders were brothers and chiefs John and Zachariah Tarbell. Father Pierre-Robert-Jean-Baptiste Billiard accompanied the migrants as their priest. French officials supported the move, paying for
15812-673: The two official languages—along with Dutch —of the Brussels-Capital Region , where it is spoken by the majority of the population (approx. 80%), often as their primary language. French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland, along with German, Italian, and Romansh , and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland, called Romandy , of which Geneva is the largest city. The language divisions in Switzerland do not coincide with political subdivisions, and some cantons have bilingual status: for example, cities such as Biel/Bienne and cantons such as Valais , Fribourg and Bern . French
15946-508: The urban intellectual elite. The Gaulish language likely survived into the sixth century in France despite considerable Romanization . Coexisting with Latin, Gaulish helped shape the Vulgar Latin dialects that developed into French contributing loanwords and calques (including oui , the word for "yes"), sound changes shaped by Gaulish influence, and influences in conjugation and word order. Recent computational studies suggest that early gender shifts may have been motivated by
16080-479: The use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, and legal contracts; advertisements must bear a translation of foreign words. In Belgium, French is an official language at the federal level along with Dutch and German. At the regional level, French is the sole official language of Wallonia (excluding a part of the East Cantons , which are German-speaking ) and one of
16214-500: The west and Quebec to the east. The Three Nations Crossing connects Kawehno:ke (Cornwall Island, Ontario) to the City of Cornwall in the north and Rooseveltown , New York in the south. Because of the St. Lawrence River to the north, New York State, United States, to the south, and the absence of a road link to the rest of Quebec, to the east, the Quebec portion of the Akwesasne reserve is
16348-512: The whole St. Regis Mohawk Reservation. The district has one school on the reservation: The zoned secondary schools of the Salmon River district are Salmon River Middle School and Salmon River High School. In 2017, the tribe entered into an agreement with Allergan Plc, under which Allergan transferred intellectual property rights to the drug Restasis to the tribe in an attempt to shield those patent rights from legal challenges. Allergan will pay
16482-531: The workplace. In 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese . In English-speaking Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, French is the first foreign language taught and in number of pupils is far ahead of other languages. In the United States, French is the second-most commonly taught foreign language in schools and universities, although well behind Spanish. In some areas of
16616-402: The world's French-speaking population lives in Africa. According to a 2023 estimate from the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie , an estimated 167 million African people spread across 35 countries and territories can speak French as either a first or a second language . This number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as
16750-407: Was $ 34,336. Males had a median income of $ 27,742 versus $ 21,774 for females. The per capita income for the Indian reservation was $ 12,017. About 19.4% of families and 22.4% of the population were below the poverty line , including 31.3% of those under age 18 and 14.9% of those age 65 or over. Because of the latitude of this area, rivers freeze in winter, providing shortcuts for the Mohawk crossing
16884-417: Was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the ( Germanic ) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to the French colonial empire , there are numerous French-based creole languages , most notably Haitian Creole . A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French
17018-537: Was awarded a $ 263,000 grant from the US Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Legal Services, in order to "fight drug use, violent crime, and drug and human smuggling." The FBI said that 300 people were caught illegally passing through the reservation from September 1995 to September 1996. For decades New York state has threatened to collect sales tax from sales of gasoline and cigarettes on Native American reservations but has not done so. The legislature often passes such
17152-791: Was during the period of the Crusades in which French became so dominant in the Mediterranean Sea that became a lingua franca ("Frankish language"), and because of increased contact with the Arabs during the Crusades who referred to them as Franj , numerous Arabic loanwords entered French, such as amiral (admiral), alcool (alcohol), coton (cotton) and sirop (syrop), as well as scientific terms such as algébre (algebra), alchimie (alchemy) and zéro (zero). Within Old French many dialects emerged but
17286-456: Was gradually adopted by the inhabitants of Gaul. As the language was learned by the common people, it developed a distinct local character, with grammatical differences from Latin as spoken elsewhere, some of which is attested in graffiti. This local variety evolved into the Gallo-Romance tongues, which include French and its closest relatives, such as Arpitan . The evolution of Latin in Gaul
17420-633: Was known in the Occitan-speaking region as Vergonha . Spoken by 19.71% of the European Union's population, French is the third most widely spoken language in the EU, after English and German and the second-most-widely taught language after English. Under the Constitution of France , French has been the official language of the Republic since 1992, although the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts made it mandatory for legal documents in 1539. France mandates
17554-599: Was run by the Catholic Sisters of Saint Anne until the 1970s. Today, the mission is still active and includes a rectory, the large stone church dating to 1795, and a cemetery. Parish records show that the Jesuits respected Mohawk traditions, recording their Mohawk names through the 18th and 19th centuries, even after they had also taken European names. The Roman Catholic parish at Akwesasne falls under three dioceses because of international borders and provincial boundaries:
17688-575: Was shaped by its coexistence for over half a millennium beside the native Celtic Gaulish language , which did not go extinct until the late sixth century, long after the fall of the Western Roman Empire . The population remained 90% indigenous in origin; the Romanizing class were the local native elite (not Roman settlers), whose children learned Latin in Roman schools. At the time of the collapse of
17822-402: Was spread out, with 34.1% under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 30.8% from 25 to 44, 18.1% from 45 to 64, and 7.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.2 males. The median income for a household in the Indian reservation was $ 32,664, and the median income for a family
17956-554: Was the language they use the most at home rose from 67% at the 2007 census to 74% at the 2017 census. In Wallis and Futuna, the percentage of the population who reported that French was the language they use the most at home rose from 10% at the 2008 census to 13% at the 2018 census. According to a demographic projection led by the Université Laval and the Réseau Démographie de l'Agence universitaire de la Francophonie ,
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