Onkweonwe
Encyclopedia
Onkweonwe was a Mohawk language
newspaper conceived, compiled, edited, and published by Charles Angus Cooke (Thawennensere) (1870–1958). Cooke was an Iroquois
civil servant in the Government of Canada
whose career coincided with that of Deputy Superintendent of Indian Affairs (and acclaimed poet/author), Duncan Campbell Scott
. He was also closely associated with the Canadian anthropologist, Marius Barbeau
.
Onkweonwe (Mohawk for "Aboriginal people") was first published in 1900. According to an article published in May, 1901 in the Sudbury Journal, Onkweonwe began “some time ago…[as] a semi-monthly magazine.” So successful was the endeavour, Cooke “decided to turn it into a newspaper, the first of its kind in Canada and the second in America.”
The newspaper solicited contributions from Mohawk people from throughout the provinces of Québec and Ontario, and New York state. The only known surviving copy of Onkweonwe is volume 1, number 1 (October 25, 1900), housed at Library and Archives Canada
. However, the Sudbury Journal republished at least two stories from the newspaper in May, 1901 (not included in volume 1, number 1), proof that further issues were indeed published, although their extent is not known. Although short-lived, the paper was the first Aboriginal language newspaper written, compiled, and published solely by an Aboriginal person in Canada (and just the second in North America). All previous publications in Aboriginal languages in Canada were written and published by European, Canadian, or American missionaries.
Mohawk language
Mohawk is an Iroquoian language spoken by around 2,000 people of the Mohawk nation in the United States and Canada . Mohawk has the largest number of speakers of the Northern Iroquoian languages; today it is the only one with greater than a thousand remaining...
newspaper conceived, compiled, edited, and published by Charles Angus Cooke (Thawennensere) (1870–1958). Cooke was an Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
civil servant in the Government of Canada
Government of Canada
The Government of Canada, formally Her Majesty's Government, is the system whereby the federation of Canada is administered by a common authority; in Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of institutions or specifically the Queen-in-Council...
whose career coincided with that of Deputy Superintendent of Indian Affairs (and acclaimed poet/author), Duncan Campbell Scott
Duncan Campbell Scott
Duncan Campbell Scott was a Canadian poet and prose writer. With Charles G.D. Roberts, Bliss Carman, and Archibald Lampman, he is classed as one of Canada's Confederation Poets....
. He was also closely associated with the Canadian anthropologist, Marius Barbeau
Marius Barbeau
Charles Marius Barbeau, , also known as C. Marius Barbeau, or more commonly simply Marius Barbeau, was a Canadian ethnographer and folklorist who is today considered a founder of Canadian anthropology...
.
Onkweonwe (Mohawk for "Aboriginal people") was first published in 1900. According to an article published in May, 1901 in the Sudbury Journal, Onkweonwe began “some time ago…[as] a semi-monthly magazine.” So successful was the endeavour, Cooke “decided to turn it into a newspaper, the first of its kind in Canada and the second in America.”
The newspaper solicited contributions from Mohawk people from throughout the provinces of Québec and Ontario, and New York state. The only known surviving copy of Onkweonwe is volume 1, number 1 (October 25, 1900), housed at Library and Archives Canada
Library and Archives Canada
Library and Archives Canada is a national memory institution dedicated to providing the best possible account of Canadian life through acquiring, preserving and making Canada's documentary heritage accessible for use in the 21st century and beyond...
. However, the Sudbury Journal republished at least two stories from the newspaper in May, 1901 (not included in volume 1, number 1), proof that further issues were indeed published, although their extent is not known. Although short-lived, the paper was the first Aboriginal language newspaper written, compiled, and published solely by an Aboriginal person in Canada (and just the second in North America). All previous publications in Aboriginal languages in Canada were written and published by European, Canadian, or American missionaries.