#Kanien'kehá:ka

[allthecanadianpolitics]

A Quebec Superior Court judge ordered a stay of proceedings on charges related to tobacco trade against two Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) men on Wednesday, citing treaty rights. Derek White and Hunter Montour, both from Kahnawà:ke, south of Montreal, were granted a permanent stay of criminal proceedings on charges related to the largest Sûreté du Québec operation targeting a cross-border contraband tobacco ring. "It's a lot of weight lifted off my chest," White told CBC Indigenous on Thursday. In 2019, a jury acquitted White on charges of defrauding Quebec of $44 million in tobacco taxes but found the two guilty on federal charges for not paying excise tax on tobacco products. The pair had asked for a stay of proceedings, arguing that the government had violated their Section 35 Constitutional rights, as well as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and inherent rights as Kanien'kehá:ka to trade tobacco tax-free.

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

[solo-una-piba]

Well, lately I've been wanting to write Ratonhnhaké:ton fanfics and include words from their language (kanien'kéha). And I was lucky enough to come across several pages to write about their culture and language.

The first one is a dictionary. It not only has the translation from English to Kanien'kéha, but also has audios to help you with the pronunciation.

The second is a page where they talk about the Kanien'kehá:ka culture (Also, there is more information about the language).

[walterdoodles]

Here's a little sticker!

Of Atenà:ti and the spirit that haunts him😨 Okawho!

[peridot-tears]

Tiio Horn, Canada Day IG

Reminder that Kaniehtiio Horn was part of the 1990 Oka Crisis/ Kanehsatà Resistance, a land dispute in which the town of Oka, Canada planned to build a golf course over the Kanien'kehá:ka land that had been guaranteed to them in the 1700s.

(If you're coming over from Assassin's Creed III, then yeah. For context, this is where Ratohnhaké:ton/Connor's people would have moved after being pushed out of the Hudson River Valley in the game.)

This dispute is "the first well-publicized violent conflict between First Nations and provincial governments in the late 20th century," according to Wiki, but it isn't the only time this has come out of a stand for Indigenous land rights.

Tiio Horn was four years old at the time of the Resistance, and her older sister -- a child herself -- was stabbed in the chest while holding her. She did put the photo of the stabbing in the IG post, but you can see it for yourself on IG.

Thankfully, her sister survived, and is more successful than I'll ever be, but land theft and a systemic disregard for Indigenous life is a reality that Indigenous folks across the Americans have to face.

My only real commentary on this is that standoffs for land rights against development are constantly occurring, and to be mindful of when they're happening, and to support them when possible.

Here's the link to the full post.

[forlibcrty]

ok we rightfully talk mostly about lee's role in the attack, but can we talk about johnson for a second? this is the guy whose whole thing is being best buddies with the kanien'kehá:ka people, and then he not only stands by while lee assaults a child, he actively takes part? he's the one who drags ratonhnhaké:ton up and throws him aside first. he's the one who beats ratonhnhaké:ton unconscious. and he speaks kanien'kéha! if they really just wanted to know the location of the village to speak to the elders, why did he not calmly ask this child in his own language for the info. why did he not protest when lee and hickey were hurling violently racist shit. what the fuck was any of that about.

[jayswing101]

Just bought fabric and ribbons to make my first ribbon skirt and I am v v excited!! I'm planning to go kinda rogue and non-traditional with it, basing the shaped off the really full skirt of one of my favourite dresses and I'm gonna put in some massive pockets. Also I'm hoping that getting the fabric in for the ribbon skirt will force me to actually finish my other sewing project 😅

[mishkakagehishka]

But i'm so serious i believe in harpsichord supremacy, literally the only reason why i think unity's soundtrack is the best of the asscreed series - it has harpsichords in almost every track.

[frankiensteinsmonster]

Hi. When I use my cane to assist me in something besides walking/standing please don't assume I will be "doing a trick" with it. I take pride and joy in how fucking boring and mundane I choose to make myself to you (abled people), I'm never going to be your entertainment. Stop assuming we exist to make you smile and clap like we're fucking animals at a zoo instead of people in pain. You want interesting? Ask me about tarantulas. The sheer number of instruments I play. Kanien'kehá:ka. My opinions on Frankenstein. My OUtFiT. There are way funner things about me than the stick I'm walking with because my body hurts all over all of the time.

[natlacentral]

2 Indigenous designers collaborate on Kiawentiio's Hollywood red carpet look

It was a Cinderella moment for two Indigenous designers who hustled to make the perfect dress for Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) actress Kiawentiio's red carpet moment.

The Netflix series Avatar: The Last Airbender, in which she plays Katara, had its red carpet premiere Feb. 15 in Los Angeles.

Tasha Thompson was commissioned for the hand-beaded corset and Evan Ducharme for the tiered skirt. The two collaborated to make the dress without ever meeting each other in person.

"When it was a go, everything went quick," said Thompson.

"I tore my fingers up a little bit but I have no regrets." 

Thompson said beading the bodice took her a week and a half. 

The teen actress turned to her friend Thompson to help her represent herself and her character through the garment. Thompson and Kiawentiio are both from Akwesasne, on the Quebec, Ontario and New York state borders.

"First we figured out the shape of the corset and then we had the idea for it to be a little avant-garde, you know, with the wave coming up," Thompson said.

"Then we just kind of kept adding from there."

Although Thompson said she's been beading for as long as she could remember, this is the first time she's seeing her work on a Hollywood red carpet. 

With three daughters, Thompson had her own cheer squad at home. 

"They pushed me more than I pushed myself because they see my talents and potential like even more than I do myself," said Thompson.

Big fan of show

Ducharme, who is a Métis designer based in Winnipeg, said he first connected with the actress on Instagram when she was cast in the role.

"I did what every PR agency would tell you not to: I just lost my cool factor, as they would say in the industry. I sent them a DM," said Ducharme.

As a long-time fan of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Ducharme said his heart stopped when he got the email asking if he was interested in this opportunity. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by EVAN DUCHARME (@evanducharmestudio)

"The character of Katara is very important to Indigenous people, Indigenous kids, Indigenous fems in particular," said Ducharme.

With the plan, the colour palette and the OK to go, within two weeks Ducharme had sent off the bottom part of the dress in the mail.

"To have the opportunity to build something for them for this premiere was a moment that the nerdly little Michif kid inside of me wouldn't have believed in a million years," he said.

[teecupangel]

The Rio movies and songs got me in a chokehold. This gives me inspiration. In a cultural and historical aspect as assassins. They likely would create like mannerisms or superstitions or they would do dances to songs they made like https://open.spotify.com/track/4jq2VvGRwwtTDdvhnsXNAp?si=T5HZ1RzKSpWG5T9dHfIYpQ or

https://open.spotify.com/episode/26qhTJflucIqLgV4LGvWrx?si=pt54_9JIRX-RyHQY8uc6gQ

For some made up holiday they did. Just a thought

For anyone curious how the music was played in the movie, here’s Youtube clips of the two music linked in the ask:

It’s not such a big stretch for them to develop their own dance that is heavily influenced by their life as an Assassin.

It would be quite similar to Capoeira and we can even make this something that developed way before when they were called the Hidden Ones.

It would heavily be influenced by traditional Egyptian and Greek dances and no one can be sure why, at first, until they rediscovered Amunet as one of the founders of the Hidden Ones (probably Shaun would be the one to connect the dots).

Also…

A dance between two people interested in one another can take inspiration from the sky dancing courting ritual of eagles.

Maybe they would dance while holding each other’s left hand, a show of trust and vulnerability by having their Hidden Blade arm grasping each other. There’s a lot of turning and twirling for this kind of dance, paying homage to the sky dance courtship of eagles.

And, and, and!

This traditional dance is a bit different depending on which Brotherhood an Assassin came from. There are a few different steps or even the musical instruments being used changes.

The dance is influenced by the people of the Brotherhood with the Assassins in Alamut having the one closest to the dance of the Hidden Ones.

Levantine Brotherhood mixes in both Levantine and crusader elements to it, a show of the variety of people living in Levant.

The Italian Brotherhood adds in what was quite popular during Renaissance Italy as a show of how the heights of its power was during the Renaissance.

The American Brotherhood’s dance is a mix of a lot of other dances and tunes with a heavy influence of the traditions of the Kanien'kehá:ka.

But even with such changes…

An Assassin can still dance with an Assassin from a different branch.

Because, even if there is little or a lot of changes, the underlying tune of the dance remains the same.

Just like the Creed.

[workingclasshistory]

New! Now available in our online store is a brand-new book, The Mohawk Warrior Society: A Handbook On Sovereignty And Survival. The first collection of its kind, this anthology by members of the Mohawk Warrior Society uncovers a hidden history and paints a bold portrait of the spectacular experience of Kanien'kehá:ka survival and self-defense. Providing extensive documentation, context, and analysis, the book features foundational writings by prolific visual artist and polemicist Louis Karoniaktajeh Hall (1918–1993) — such as his landmark 1979 pamphlet The Warrior’s Handbook, as well as selections of his pioneering artwork. This book contains new oral history by key figures of the Rotisken'rhakéhte's revival in the 1970s and tells the story of the Warriors’ famous flag, their armed occupation of Ganienkeh in 1974, and the role of their constitution, the Great Peace, in guiding their commitment to freedom and independence. We hear directly the story of how the Kanien'kehá:ka Longhouse became one the most militant resistance groups in North America, gaining international attention with the Oka Crisis of 1990. Order now with global shipping at https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/products/the-mohawk-warrior-society-a-handbook-on-sovereignty-and-survival-louis-karoniaktajeh-hall https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=617352747104611&set=a.602588028581083&type=3

[allthecanadianpolitics]

The Kanien'kehá:ka Nation at Kahnawà:ke, the traditional seat of government for the community south of Montreal, is calling for compensation from the provincial and federal governments after an oil spill traced to the neighbouring city of Châteauguay seeped onto its territory.

The nation says Kahnawà:ke community members only became aware of the presence of fuel seepage more than a week after an industrial spill took place in early February.

Several dozen Kahnawà:ke residents and members of the nation, also known as the Longhouse, presented themselves at Châteauguay's city hall Friday morning to meet Mayor Éric Allard.

Full article

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

[solo-una-piba]

It's even funnier because not even Haytham is American. He's British. Born in London

Exactly! Even Haytham had his nationality changed lol

[peridot-tears]

What are your Connor headcanons? Also if you answer this can you make a spoiler warning for anything past ac3 ?

Ooohhhh, sure! Most of my headcanons are post-AC3, though, so be warned, they're all under the cut.

I think Ratohnhaké:ton did date Dobby for a brief period after AC3, and while it didn't pan out, they parted amicably and continued to work well together over the years.

He was a total mischief-maker in his youth, which is canon, but I think Oía:ner and the others didn't have the heart to punish him very severely after Ziio's death. Luckily, only a couple of his antics were actually heart attack-inducing. Like that time he tried to get a clean shot at the eye of a bear while hanging from a tree and almost fell out in the process.

Despite the debacle when Achilles first gave it to him, he took to Shao Jun's shengbiao faster than most people would, because he understands how to use weapons that aren't just some kind of pointy stick. Despite his preferred method of running headfirst into doors and using brute force, he does have a good sense of bodily control, and knows when he needs to use more gentle force instead. A battering ram isn't necessary where only an arrow will do.

He totally delivered Norris and Miriam's baby. Didn't want to, would've preferred giving Miriam a sense of "decency," since westerners are so strict about separating men and women and covering up (I don't know what Kanien'kehá:ka norms are, but from my limited reading, it wasn't as strict?), but the doctor was picking up medicine in town, and Prudence couldn't do it alone. Norris didn't freak out as much as he could have! He and Ratohnhaké:ton hugged it out after the baby was born.

If I understand correctly, wampum jewel-making is a specialized skillset, but because at the Davenport Homestead, he was separated from his people for a long period of time, he tried it himself with the hard clams he fished out of the bay.

Ratohnhaké:ton is totally arm-wrestling Kassandra in the afterlife.

I subscribe so hard these headcanons about Ratohnhaké:ton's wife and daughter.

He also wove a wampum belt commemorating the life of Achilles and his final days.

He didn't hunt Shay, not because Shay wasn't active in North America, but because Shay was so incredibly subtle in his later work after the events of Rogue, and by the time Ratohnhaké:ton even became an Assassin, most of the Brotherhood had been wiped out. Achilles did mention Shay in passing once, not by name, just a quick mention of, "I drove someone away once, and it made all the difference." Ratohnhaké:ton, while investigating some particularly fishy deaths, had his suspicions that this "someone" was responsible, but he never really encountered Shay. He eventually uncovered more of Shay's backstory, figuring out he's the Assassin traitor, and managed to find out his name. That's as far as he got.

Ratohnhaké:ton would go on to support some of Handsome Lake and Thayandanagea's efforts to reconcile with the colonists, though they quarreled and didn't see eye-to-eye on many things.

Ratohnhaké:ton was a staunch abolitionist, for sure, for sure. The Davenport Homestead was a huge haven for freedmen, and he had to pull teeth to get white slaveowners and bounty collectors to gtfo his land. Although he would "dissolve" the Davenport Homestead before he died, it continued its operations in secret and would become a huge stronghold in the Underground Railroad.

Speaking of. "Dissolving" the Homestead. There was this huge post-AC3 storyline one of the writers was working on where he pretended that the Homestead was dissolved and that his life ended miserably, which would feed into the Abstergo disinformation later on about how his wife left him and took the kids. He did have to set fire to a few precious buildings with the help of the Homesteaders, and make a few fake documents to throw out a false paper trail, and several residents had to scatter for safety reasons, but the Homestead lived on, and stayed a particularly secret base for the Brotherhood.

Girls aren't supposed to hunt in his wife's clan, but I headcanon that he taught all his kids to defend themselves and hunt in the same manner he did Ionhiote. His own mother, after all, did things unconventionally and probably taught him a thing or two.

He eventually reunited with Oía:ner when he found them in their new home. She felt incredibly apologetic for what she did, even though she knew it was the right decision, nearly dissolving into tears, but he was just happy to see her. She lived long enough to hold her grandchildren in her arms and see her family happy at last, even in the face of losing their ancestral home.

[bastardtrait]

we switch the scene very briefly to the small town of Copperdale, a few hours away from San My. here we find the Whiteduck family, made up of Shania Whiteduck, her son son Edison, and her girlfriend Helen Overton. they've recently moved from the traditional council territory Eddie was born in.

I wonder why I would be highlighting this random family with this kid that's the same age as my heir. hm.

if we want to get specific, the Whiteducks are a mixed First Nations family, mainly Kanien'kehá:ka (who might also be known as Mohawk). they lived in the Canadian portion of the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne.

this places Copperdale, for me, firmly in southeastern Ontario, and thus, San Myshuno/Newcrest roughly around where Toronto is. why worldbuild when world built? you get it.

[forlibcrty]

it's my boy's birthday so i get to rant about him. can we talk about how fucked it is that achilles gives him the name connor?

first of all, the dialogue when ratonhnhaké:ton actually introduces himself. achilles just says, "right... well, i'm not even going to bother trying to pronounce that." hi? hello hi??? you asked the thirteen year old child for his name, he gave it to you, and you just said you wouldn't even attempt it. gross and bad. and then, when he takes ratonhnhaké:ton to boston for the first time and the child is understandably awed and amazed by a new city, achilles tells him he should pretend to be european (fucked up for a variety of reasons, he absolutely cannot remotely pass as european in appearance or accent, and he's still dressed in his own cultural clothing) and call himself connor.

and that's just. so. achilles' deceased son was named connor. he takes in a kanien'kehá:ka child, flat-out tells him he won't try to pronounce his actual name, commands him to lie about his own ethnicity, and gives him the name of his dead son without asking if that's something ratonhnhaké:ton might be comfortable with.

in conclusion, achilles? watch OUT.