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Location:
The First Nation is located approximately 8 km from the town of Bala, Ontario, on the Muskoka Road #38 close to the intersection of Muskoka Rd 38 and Hwy 400 interchange. The land is made up of forest and lakes typical of the Canadian Shield.2664 MUSKOKA RD #38 P.O. BOX 260 BALA, ONTARIO, P0C 1A0 Telephone: 705-762-2354 Fax: 705-762-2376
Land Base:
The Wahta Mohawk territory consists of approximately 14,795 acres of land. Currently 8,300 approximately acres of land are held by certificate holders and 6,500 acres of land are held by Band Council.
Population:
The Wahta Mohawk territory has approximately 175 individuals living on the territory and a membership of approximately 710 members.
Local Government:
The Wahta Mohawks have elections every three (3) years in the month of March. The Council consists of one (1) Chief position and four (4) Councilor positions.
The current Council is:
Chief: Vacant
Councilor Stuart Lane
Councilor Shirley Hay
Councilor Dan Stock
Councilor Bill Hay
The next elections will be held in March of 2014.
History Summary
A Mohawk group of people relocated to Muskoka area in 1881 from the Kanesatake, Oka, Quebec. The Wahta Mohawks are mainly descended from Mohawks who were members of the Five Nations confederacy, which also included the Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca. When the Tuscarora joined in the 18th century they became the Six Nations confederacy.
The Mohawk communities were the eastern door of the Iroquois confederacy, protecting its easternmost territory and trade relationship with the Dutch and later the English trade center at what is now Albany, New York.The confederacy had a long-standing reputation among other First Nations and European colonists for its sophisticated political organization and its complex use of diplomacy and coordinated military campaigns.
The confederacy still exists and the people continue to refer to themselves as the Haudenosaunee or People of the Longhouse. Today there are eight communities that comprise the Mohawk Nation: Akwesasne, Kahnawake, Kanesatake, Six Nations, Tyendinaga and Wahta as well as Kanatsiohareke and Ganienke in the United States.
The Wampum Belt
of the Iroquois Nation
