Why Ironworking?

The Longhouse People

The Kanien’kéhaka were often celebrated by the Europeans for their complex structures at the time, called longhouses. They were so impressed, that they referred to them as "castles." In 1634, the Kanien’kéhaka people were already incorporating a lot of ironwork in their communities. Another characteristic of the Kanien’kéhaka people was their authentic connection to friends, family, community, and the physical land. It should come with no surprise then, why the Kanien’kéhaka would end up in the ironworking industry. After the Dominion Bridge Company built the Victoria Bridge, the first bridge to carry trains across the St. Lawrence River, everything changed. There was now a connection between the Kahnawake Village and Montreal. What began as local work quickly expanded to the Quebec Bridge, and eventually New York City. By the 1920's many of the Kanien’kéhaka were commuting back and forth between their homeland and the city.