WRITER: GEOFF BUTLER
Location: Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory – Christ Church
Info: Consisting of more than 9,000 members (over 2,000 living on the Territory), the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte are the third largest First Nation in Ontario.
Website: https://bayofquinte.ca/tourism/mbq-tmt/
Today, we travel to the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory near Deseronto, Ontario to a fascinating historic site called Christ Church, Her Majesty’s Chapel Royal of the Mohawk.
Christ Church is owned by the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte First Nation. The Church was designated a national and provincial historic site in 1995 and is only one of three Royal Chapels in Canada, six outside of Britain and one of two in Ontario.
The ancestral homeland of the Mohawk Nation is the Mohawk Valley, located in New York State. The Mohawks were part of the Iroquois/Six Nation Confederacy, which consisted of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca Nations. The Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte are descendants of the Fort Hunter, Upper NY, Mohawks.
During the American Revolution from 1775 to 1783, the Fort Hunter Mohawks and other nations from the Confederacy allied themselves with Britain. The Crown agreed “to restore any losses sustained during the war.” At the war’s end, the Mohawks had suffered greatly from their support of England. Britain conceded Mohawk lands to the Americans, and the Mohawks were forced to relocate. In recognition of the Mohawks’ loyalty, alliance and service, Britain allowed the Mohawks to select unsettled land in Upper Canada and, as such, granted a large portion of land on the north shore of Lake Ontario to the Mohawk People. In 1784, 100-125 people (20 families) of the Mohawk Nation arrived and began to build a new settlement. However, United Empire Loyalists started moving into the area, occupying Mohawk territory over time. The Crown’s promised land to the Mohawk people became known as the Mohawk Tract (92,700 acres) and was significantly smaller than what the Fort Hunter Mohawks initially selected. Today, only 18,000 acres remain of the original treaty.
The Mohawk Nation constructed the church in 1843, a stone building built with local limestone. The church is made in a Gothic Revival style, with stained glass windows and a short spire. It was designed by John Howard, one of the first Protestant churches and one of the oldest churches in Ontario. The church was granted the title ‘His Majesty’s Chapel’ in 1906 by King Edward VII. A Royal Chapel is “part of the Queen or King’s Royal ecclesiastical house to serve the spiritual needs of her majesty.” This designation also “represents the historic alliance between the British Crown and the Mohawk People.”
The Chapel sits on a small hill overlooking the Bay of Quinte, surrounded by a cemetery. The new church of 1843 replaced a previous log building constructed near the site by the newly arrived Mohawks in 1784. The Christ Church contains many Royal gifts, including a triptych of the Apostles Creed, the Lord’s Prayer in the Mohawk language and a bell given by King George III in 1798. There is also a Royal Coat of Arms from King George V, Queen Elizabeth communion chalice, Queen Victoria Bible and Queen Anne Communion Silver gifted by Queen Elizabeth II. Beautiful stained-glass windows grace the Chapel commemorating the first landing of the Mohawks and another in tribute to Dr. Oronhyateka (Peter Martin), a Mohawk of national historical significance who was one of the earliest First Nations medical physicians. He graduated from the University of Toronto and Oxford University in England. Dr. Oronhyateka is buried in the Royal Chapel.
In 1906, a fire destroyed most of the interior and the spire. However, the church was reconstructed and restored to its original construction by the Mohawk people. In 2004, Queen Elizabeth II granted and elevated the church to the ‘Christ Church, Her Majesty’s Chapel Royal of the Mohawk,’ reaffirming the contributions and sacrifices of the Mohawk people to our nation and the deep alliance of the Mohawk Nation and the British Crown over the past 400 years.
Resources:
Christ Church Mohawk Territory-findagrave.com
Mohawk History-mbq-tmt.org
Christ church Brochure
Christ church Royal Chapel-Wikipedia
Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory-the Canadianencyclopedia.ca
Tyendinaga Mohawk-Wikipedia
Her Majesty’s Chapel Royal of the Mohawk Christ Church-ecclesiasticalgroup.com
Christ Church-Parks Canada
Christ Church-Bay of Quinte Tourism
Christ Church, National Historical Site-pc.gc.ca
