Mohawks on the Nile explores the absorbing history of 60 Aboriginal men who participated in a military expedition on the Nile River.

Mohawks on the Nile explores the absorbing history of sixty Aboriginal men who left their occupations in the Ottawa River timber industry to participate in a military expedition on the Nile River in 1884-1885. Chosen becuase of their outstanding skills as boatmen and river pilots, they formed part of the Canadian Voyageur Contingent, which transported British troops on a fleet of whaleboats through the Nile's treacherous cataracts in the hard campaigning of the Sudan War. Their objective was to reach Khartoum, capital of the Egyptian province of Sudan. Their mission was to save its governor general, Major-General Charles Gordon, besieged by Muslim forces inspired by the call to liberate Sudan from foreign control by Muhammad Ahmad, better known to his followers as the "the Mahdi." In addition to Carl Benn's historical exploration of this remarkable subject, this book includes the memoirs of two Mohawk veterans of the campaign, Louis Jackson and James Deer, who recorded the details of their adventures upon returning to Canada in 1885. It also presents readers with additional period documents, maps, historical images, and other materials to enhance appreciation of this unusual story, including an annotated roll of the Mohawks who won praise for the exceptional quality of their work in this legendary campaign in the chronicle of Britain's expansion into Africa.

Mohawks on the Nile explores the absorbing history of 60 Aboriginal men who participated in a military expedition on the Nile River.

Beginning in Canada's earliest days, our ancestors were required to perform some form of military service, often as militia. This title provides the archival, library, and computer resources that can be employed to explore your family's military history, using items such as documents, uniforms, medals, and other militaria to guide the search.

The inclusion of Mohawks and the Nile River in the same sentence seems a bit incongruous. American Indians in general and Mohawks in particular have remained relatively anonymous throughout contemporary American society. Joe Jacobs, whose mother was a member of the Kahnawake band of Mohawks near Montreal, Canada, gives insight into one of the most influential American Indian tribes in the histories of Great Britain, France and the United States. He brings to life the Mohawk people of his ancestry by drawing a parallel between the history of the Kahnawake Mohawk people on the banks of the St. Lawrence River and his own contemporary reflections and professional journey. That history is filled with the notion of balance between what it means to be a Mohawk in a culturally alien white Canadian and American society. Just as the Kahnawake Mohawk high steel workers balance themselves on the steel beams of the New York City skyscrapers that make it the iconic city it has become, this is a story of one Mohawk who traversed the divide between being Mohawk and White....

Our ancestors were required to perform military service, often as militia. The discovery that an ancestor served during one of the major conflicts in our history is exciting. A Call to the Colours provides the archival, library, and computer resources that can be employed to explore your family's military history.