Community Verification

The Sawyer family’s history has been verified by Ellison King, a Mohawk genealogist, and Akwesasne Kahwatsi:re Genealogy & Historical Society, a Native American-run organization that has records on over 10,000 Mohawk people dating back to the 1500s. The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe (Akwesasne) exclusively supports genealogy research through the genealogical society, which is featured on the tribal government website here. The Tribal Enrollment records for Frank Sawyer were accessed directly from the Tribal Government’s database.

Family History

Liam McDonald also known by his stage name OPLIAM is a Mohawk descendant. He is the first generation in his family to not be born and raised on Mohawk land. Growing up in the Twin Cities. Liam’s Indigenous ancestry is on his father’s side. His father was born in Watertown, NY, near where the St.Lawerence River meets Lake Ontario in Upstate, NY.His family had lived in Watertown since they left the reservation. Liam’s closest Mohawk relative is Delia Deschamp (maiden name Mary Delia Warner-pictured bottom left). When Delia was just two years old, her father died. She was taken from her mother, Susan Sawyer (seen above, back center), as was common for those times she was adopted into a white family. Later on, Susan and a man by the name of Francois Robidoux began a second family. Even today, the Robidoux family resides on Akwesasne territory. Liam shares this same ancestor, Susan Sawyer. (aka Susan Sawyer-Warner-Robidoux). Later in life, Delia reconnected with her mom and native family (Pictured above) and settled with her husband on Wolfe Island and ultimately Watertown, NY.

The Sawyer family is originally from Kahnawake, a Mohawk community located south of Montreal, Quebec, commonly called Caughnawaga. The family held membership in the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe (Akwesasne), located on both sides of the border between the United States and Canada. In the mid-1700s, the community of Akwesasne was resettled by Catholic Mohawk families from Kahnawake to relieve overcrowding. French Jesuit priests founded a mission (St. Regis) in the community. However, Mohawk families did not leave Kahnawake en masse until the middle of the 1800s, when Akwesasne once again became a primarily Mohawk community. The Sawyer family is mentioned on this 1890 list of Saint Regis (Akwesasne) reserve occupants. Louis Sawyer Sr., Susan Sawyer’s father, is also buried on Akwesasne territory.

Along with her four siblings, Mary, Louis, John H., and Jane, Susan Sawyer was tribally enrolled with the St. Regis Mohawk tribe of New York, this has been confirmed by historical tribal enrollment records held by the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne band office. Her nephew Frank Sawyer (Son of Louis and Margarett Sawyer) was the only Sawyer to remain on the reserve. His 1901 tribal enrollment document was accessed directly from the tribal government database (posted at the bottom of this page). Today there are 11 Sawyers enrolled with Akwesasne.

Frank Sawyer’s 1901 Tribal Enrollment Document

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