Jean-Baptiste Canadien and Jean-Baptiste Taiaiake Rice
Famous figures from the Kahnawake Mohawk nation
A key figure from the Mohawk community of Kahnawake, Jean-Baptiste Canadien (1840-1919), nicknamed Big John Canadian (Raientoni), was a skilled raftsman renowned for bringing cribs of tinder down the tumultuous Lachine rapids. He as also one of the most famous steamboat pilots, employed by various shipping companies on the St. Lawrence between Montréal and Ontario. Jean-Baptiste Taiaiake Rice—a role model for Big John Canadian—was a fierce river pilot in the days when only a few people in Kahnawake knew the secret to steering a boat through the Lachine rapids. (Beauvais 1985, 11)
