Courtesy Kahnawake Cultural Center, Kahnawake, Québec, Canada

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Church Bell

This church bell once hung in the St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in the village of Kahnawake near Montréal. The traditional Kanienkehaka story associated with the bell has been told for generations in Kahnawake. According oral tradition, the bell was sent by ship from the King of France to the people of Kahnawake. The ship was captured, and the bell was stolen by the English and later purchased by the people of Deerfield, Massachusetts. According to this tradition, the Kanienkehaka of Kahnawake took part in the 1704 raid on Deerfield in hopes of retrieving the bell. The story continues with the eventual transport of the bell from Deerfield to Kahnawake and its installation in the mission church there. There is no record of this bell's existence in Deerfield, yet its story holds special meaning for the Kanienkehaka of Kahnawake. A new bell was installed in the Kahnawake church in 1969 so that this bell could be preserved and viewed within the church.

Date: circa 1700 
Topic: Structures 
Materials: Bell metal
Dimensions: currently unavailable 
Accession #:


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