TIOHTIÀ:KE OTSIRA KÉHNE - Hochelaga

TIOHTIÀ:KE OTSIRA’KÉHNE - Hochelaga

When Jacques Cartier first came into contact with Indigenous peoples at the island of what is now known as Montreal, he saw fires lit throughout the island. The river his boat rode upon was filled with salmon and other fish which hampered his journey; this river is known as the Saint Lawrence.

Cartier was pirate, pioneer and explorer for the French Crown who was searching for riches in other regions of the world. Cartier’s culture was patriarchal and so when he met with the Indigenous peoples of Tiohtià:ke (Montreal) who were the Rotinonhseshá:ka (Haudenosaunee or People of the Longhouse) his notion of culture and custom clashed with the Indigenous peoples of the island.

Cartier’s writings consist of a one day meeting with the Rotinonhseshá:ka in which he attempted to write down their language. What most historians fail to consider is the fact that Cartier’s first language was French and the unfamiliar sounds of Kanien’kéha did not match up with the sounds and pronunciation of the languages of the Kanien’kehá:ka and other Onkwehón:we peoples of Iroquoian origin living on the island.

And yet Cartier’s writings of the language of the people on the island are considered a single most authority of the peoples of that time. Cartier’s writings have been interpreted by anthropologists, historians, linguists and archeologists as a language that has disappeared – the St. Lawrence Iroquois, or was a language that is ‘unknown’. This skewed interpretation of the language Cartier heard from a “disappeared” people, is convenient for the colonizers’ whose real agenda was to claim to the land and for their own economic gain, insidiously hides the historical truth about Tiohtià:ke. Contemporary so- called experts’ views which support this claim has contributed to the continued dispossession of Indigenous peoples to their lands and resources. In contemporary times, the intent to hide colonial history is more devious in their nature and perpetuates a racist and biased perspective of the history of imperialism.

Nevertheless, the Kanien’kehá:ka of this region know that Cartier met with Longhouse peoples since his writings state that as he approached Tiohtià:ke, he saw many “Longhouses” and cornfields with many people who did not look as those he was familiar with.

Fluent Kanien’kéha speakers have recognized the words written by Cartier’s conjecture as our own Kanien’kéha language. In fact, elders have revealed that Cartier’s name for the island of Montreal “Hochelaga” is actually “Otsira’kéhne” meaning “at the fire,” which were situated around key points of the island.

This was part of the custom of the Iroquoian peoples to light fires at the edge of our villages for any visitors to the territory. The visitors would wait at the fire for a delegation to greet them and find out what their intent was for being on the territory. This custom is called “at the wood’s edge” or in Kanien’kéha, TSI IOTÉHRHATEH

Mohawk Language Custodian Association – Kontinonhstats 2017