“The goal was to swim to the wave and back — that was everyone’s goal!” recalls Lebrun, now 69 and living in nearby Lancaster, Ont. “I was very chicken. [But] We used to go there for picnics, any kind of celebration. The local hockey team used to go there for a fish fry. “It’s always been there. It’s always been a part of us growing up.” The roughly 40-foot-tall cairn — more specifically, the Glengarry Cairn National Historic Site — stood guard on a small island about 120 kilometers southeast of downtown Ottawa for nearly two centuries. It was built by local soldiers, including many Scottish immigrants, who in the late 1830s fought to keep the British colony of Upper Canada out of the hands of republican rebels. It has also been closed to the public since the early 2000s, more than a decade after it came under the management of the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne (MCA), whose traditional territory the island belongs to. And while the cairn is familiar to local history buffs like Lebrun, who retired a few years ago as an employee of the Township of South Glengarry, to those far away it remains a mystery. That’s because there’s nothing to explain what the large conical structure, covered by a grove of trees, is doing out there. But now plans are underway to clear up that mystery, making the history of the natives and settlers accessible from the mainland – even if it seems that, for the foreseeable future, the island itself will remain off limits. The Glengarry Cairn National Historic Site is shown in an undated photo. Plans have been created to provide historical interpretation for the St. River site. Lawrence, which is important to both the Mohawks of Akwesasne and the Scots-Canadian community. (Borough of South Glengarry)
“Two different stories”
Earlier this summer, Parks Canada, the MCA and the municipality agreed to collaborate on a plan to share the Cairn’s story with the public. Still in its early stages, the plan will eventually include some sort of shoreline interpretation that expands on the established military heritage and tells the story of the island’s indigenous people, said Hugh Ostrom, director of cultural resources for the Eastern and Central Ontario field unit. of Parks Canada. “It’s a place of sacred significance to the Mohawk people of Akwesasne, who have cultural ties to the island. As a result, there are two different stories,” Ostrom said. The best-known story about the cart – one found on a plaque still standing there – is that it was erected by the local militia of Glengarry to commemorate Sir John Colborne, the commander of the British forces in Canada during the rebellion of Upper Canada in 1837 . But the other, mostly untold story of the island—or Tsikatsinakwhere, as it is known in Kanienʼkéha, the Mohawk language—involves this centuries-long connection to Akwesasne. According to Tim Thompson, MCA area leader, archaeologists have discovered pieces of what could be arrowhead fragments on the small island. In a statement to CBC News, the MCA said bowl fragments and stone flakes have also been discovered, although this could be because for many years the island was a popular stopover for fishermen and excursionists. What is important, the MCA said, is that the future interpretation stipulates that Tsikatsinakware “has always been part of Akwesasne”. Everything that goes up should also be written in Kanienʼkéha, the MCA said. The ditch itself, which required significant stabilization work in 2018 to keep it from collapsing, is a “sacred” site, Thompson told the CBC in an interview, and Akwesasne takes its role as its steward very seriously. “It’s on one of our islands. You know, that’s the important part for us,” Thompson said. “And to be a partner in this agreement, to protect it, is very important — knowing very well that this is a historic site. “We have agreed to protect it, and that is what we will do.”
History “deleted”
The agreement provides an opportunity to update a narrative “that was formulated in the early 20th century that prioritized only Scottish-Canadian history,” said Katie McCullough, a historian and former director of the Center for Scottish Studies at Simon Fraser University. The military importance of the hunt was used as justification for expropriating the island from the Akwesasne Mohawks and declaring it a park and national historic site in the 1920s, according to McCullough, who extensively researched the site. But that narrative has also obscured things, McCullough said — like the close relationship between the Scots Canadian regiments and their aboriginal allies, who served and fought together in the conflicts of the early 19th century. That story has been “erased” by the official replay, he said. “There was a long history of working together and just living side by side … from the late 18th century on,” said McCullough, who currently works as a researcher for the BC Indian Chiefs Association. “Here’s an opportunity to make amends for the kind of history that was presented.” Lebrun poses for a photo wearing a t-shirt depicting the cabin. He says it would be nice if one day people could return to the island, but any reopening would have to be done respectfully. (Trevor Pritchard/CBC) For Ostrom, the plan is one step in an ongoing transition from past Canadian government policies that “cut off” Indigenous peoples from their ancestral lands and waters to those that now include working together in a spirit of reconciliation. “This has resulted in intergenerational damage and loss of indigenous knowledge, culture and identity,” he said. “So this work is about connecting to the earth—and the value of those connections.” But even with the historic interpretation on the way, both Parks Canada and the MCA say there are no plans in the works to reopen the island to the public. Locally, not everyone agrees this is the best idea, Lebrun said. He would personally like to return one day, though he understands why — given his importance to Akwesasne — that may not be possible. The interpretation project, however, left her eager to learn more about the Mohawk connections to the island she loved so much as a teenager. “I think there’s a lot of history about Native people that we don’t know about,” Lebrun said. “We have so much history. I want to know what their story is, and I think they’re going to come together eventually.”
