Joseph Kanawatiron Gabriel

Gabriel arrived in London, seeking an audience with the King for help with Mohawk land rights. Mohawk land at Kanehsatà:ke (also known as Oka) was being claimed by the Sulpician Order, who founded the settlement there as a Catholic mission. After being refused entry to Buckingham Palace, Gabriel sought assistance from the Colonial Office and the Houses of Parliament, both of whom told him that this was a case for the Canadian government. After telling his story to a Daily Express reporter, Gabriel apparently asked “where he could find some books on the history of the Indians” and was taken to the British Museum, where “he and his wife were kindly received by the officials, and he was left deep in study of a book on the Six Nations.” Shortly afterwards, Gabriel returned home to Kanehsatà:ke. In 1910, the Canadian Supreme Court upheld the Sulpician Order’s claim.

“From the Wild West,” Leeds Mercury, 17 April 1902, 5; “Indian Tribe’s Grievance,” Nottingham Evening Post, 19 April 1902, 2; “Chief Joseph’s Claim,” St James Gazette, 19 April 1902, 15.