[3]:10 According to the official history of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte, Tyendinaga was the birthplace of The Great Peacemaker, who was instrumental in the founding of the Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois Confederacy, sometimes dated in the 12th century.

[7] Beginning in 1784, the territory was settled by Mohawk who had been displaced from their home in Fort Hunter, New York by the victory of the United States in the American Revolutionary War.

The chief of the Fort Hunter Mohawk was John Deserontyon, a Loyalist Captain who had fought alongside British forces during the war.

[3]:11 At first, Deserontyon faced criticism for his chosen site of relocation from fellow chief Joseph Brant (who preferred to settle in the valley of the Grand River).

It was also opposed by British colonial officials Frederick Haldimand and Sir John Johnson, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, who had been placed in charge of managing the resettlement.

They had left the Grand River settlement, as they resented the growing influence there of Joseph Brant and his policy of leasing land to white settlers among the Mohawk.

[8][11][12] Near the end of the eighteenth century, factionalism broke out on the Territory, with Isaac Hill challenging Deserontyon's leadership.

The community settled the issue in a council that took place from 2 to 10 September 1800, called by Deputy Superintendent of Indian Affairs William Claus.

[8][13] Throughout the first few decades of the 19th century, the Mohawk on the Territory objected repeatedly to the government leasing land to white settlers that had been guaranteed to them in the Simcoe Deed.

This dispute forms the basis of The Culbertson Tract Land Claim by this Mohawk First Nation, which was heard by the Federal Court in 2013.

He also studied for a few months at the University of Oxford, at the recommendation of the Prince of Wales' personal physician, Henry Acland.

[20][21][22] The first council election for the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte band government, as established under the Gradual Enfranchisement Act of 1869, took place in October 1870.

[25] During World War One, the Canadian government established Camp Mohawk as a training airfield located on the territory near Deseronto.

During the war, First Nations men training at Camp Mohawk were encouraged to speak in indigenous languages during their observation duties, as a form of code talking.

They believed their children had been forced to abandon their native cultures and languages, and had suffered in family separations at boarding schools.

It was later named as one of the facilities (along with Eastern, Western, Central, and Mission) covered by the Federal Indian Schools Class Action Lawsuit (McLean v Canada (Court File No.

[28][23] In February 2008, Health Canada advised the council to place a precautionary boil-water advisory on all groundwater-fed wells in the Territory.

[29] In February 2020, Tyendinaga Mohawk joined nationwide protests in solidarity with the hereditary chiefs of the Wetʼsuwetʼen, who were opposing the construction of the Coastal GasLink Pipeline through their territory in central British Columbia.

Via Rail and Canadian National Railway (CNR) were forced to cancel service on vast parts of their continental network for the near month that the protest lasted.

[30][31][32][33] On February 21, some hereditary chiefs of the Wetʼsuwetʼen met and held a press conference with "Tyendinaga Mohawk people"[who?

[36] As of February 27, 2020, ten people were facing charges in connection resulting from the protest and disruption of rail traffic.

[45] On March 20, the TMC issued a statement to local restaurants and businesses, suggesting restaurants close their indoor dining areas and offer only take-out and delivery, and encouraging businesses that chose to stay open to increase sanitization measures and implement social distancing with customers.

[51] The language group, Tsi Tyónnheht Onkwawén:na (TTO, Kanyen'kéha for "keeping our words alive") organizes a variety of cultural educational programs.

TTO began as a grassroots community project in the 1990s in response to the endangered state of the Mohawk language in the Territory.

Tyendinaga Mohawk Airfield general aviation airport is located just west of Highway 49, just north of the Bay of Quinte.

On May 5, 2023, Tsi Tyónnheht Onkwawén:na Language and Cultural Centre submitted an application for a broadcasting licence to operate an Indigenous (Type B Native) FM radio station in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory.