asked them to pile their arms preparatory to a friendly talk. The innocent patriots piled their arms; they were immediately taken possession of by the Indians. (Fraser 1890: 75)

Although the Native and non-Native accounts cited above are interesting and insightful, they provide only part of the story, as there are numerous contradictions and obscurities concerning locations, actions, actors, and intentions. Moreover, despite the recent and slightly more detailed works of Boissery (1995), Greenwood (1980), Greer (1993), Parent (1984), and Senior (1985), most retellings of this specific event simply fall into the traditional account as originally provided by contemporary observers and the Report of the State Trials (Great Britain 1839). Even if this latter reference is essential in retracing events as well as the specific role played by some Kahnawake residents, secondary sources discussing this event essentially state that on 4 November 1838, sixty-four or seventy-five Patriotes marching on Kahnawake were lured into the village, caught and sent to Montréal. Over the years, this account has been repeated word for word by non-Native historians without any new data on the Iroquois' own interpretations as well as on the events which occurred immediately before and after that actual Patriote raid.

Overall, the description of events as provided below tends to show that as a result of the tense context in which the Iroquois became well aware of the Rebellions, the Patriote march on Kahnawake was immediately conceived by the Iroquois as an attack on their lands and lives. It also seems to illustrate that by the time the second insurrection got underway, the tense Kahnawake-Patriote relations of the previous year severely deteriorated. Finally, the many archival sources I have documented tend to indicate that the previous accounts of events which occurred on that day as they have been told until now by the people of Kahnawake and non-Native historians is incomplete in detail and context.

Sources seem to indicate that, in a general way, the people of Kahnawake were not aware of the Patriotes' march on their village. While some residents were getting ready for church or were tending their animals and workshops, war chief Ignace K. Delisle was conducting a meeting with other chiefs. Interestingly, the people present at this meeting agreed that they did not have any news from Montréal (Great Britain 1839: 34). At around five o'clock in the morning, about two hours before the arrival of the Patriotes in the Kahnawake woods, Pierre Tehaquonte and eleven other Iroquois young men left their village with the intention of taking down two rafts from Châteauguay. Ignorant of the ongoing events, they stopped at the house of Sançon , a Châteauguay tavern keeper, where seven of them secured the loan of a canoe. The others walked to another tavern keeper's house, Dalton , who informed them that all is now stopt, [...] this is the day the troubles are to commence (P. Tehaquonte, ANQM 1837-38, no. 2403). The Iroquois went back to Sançon's house, where the others were waiting. Subsequently, however, the twelve unarmed young men were swiftly overtaken by several Patriotes and

persuaded to go into the House, where they were told they were prisoners. The Rebels were constantly assembling there with arms, after having kept the twelve Iroquois for the space of about an hour, they released ten and kept Pierre Tehaquonte and [another], [...], and they remained at Sançon's two days during which time they were well treated and well fed. (P. Tehaquonte, ANQM 1837-38, no. 2403)

After being moved to another building and, eventually, to the Rebel guard House near the church of Chateaugay (ibid.), Tehaquonte and his companion were set free on the seventh of November. They were kept as prisoners for three days (ibid.).

At seven o'clock in the morning, Patriotes arrived at the outskirts of Kahnawake and slowly positioned themselves in the woods next to an old stone chapel which was unoccupied at the time (Marcoux to Lartigue, 4 November 1838, ADSJQL 3A-200). Pierre Reid, a member of the group, accounts that the Patriotes had left Châteauguay au nombre de 150, on s'est rendu près du village du Sault; on fit halte à une petite distance du village le long d'un bois de manière à ne pas être vus du village (ANQM 1837-38, no. 2252). However, as a result of many desertions, they now numbered between seventy-five and one hundred (depositions, ANQM 1837-38, no. 2246, 2247, 2251, 2266, 2305, 2310). Following quiet discussions, the Patriotes agreed that while the majority of the men would stay in the woods, Cardinal and Duquet, as well as Ignace Giasson, Joseph Meloche and Narcisse Bruyère, three other members of the expedition, would enter the village claiming to buy hay from war chief Ignace Delisle or to re