Akwesasne

Iroquois reservation; area 89 sq km/34 sq mi, covering parts of the Canadian states of Québec and Ontario, and the US state of New York. The reservation, whose name means ‘where the partridge drums’, is located on the St Lawrence River at the mouth of the St Regis River, lying to the southeast of Cornwall, Ontario. In New York it is known as the Saint Regis Mohawk Reservation; population (1998 est) 8,000; approximately 6,000 residents on the actual territory of the reserve. An estimated 3,000 people live in the Québec section of the community. The Handsome Lake religion is practised here. Agriculture, handicrafts, and commerce are central to the economy.