The Mohawk people were in the Montreal area starting from the 1700s. In 1717, some land in the Montreal region was given to the Roman Catholic Church to use as a seminary. Part of this land included a Mohawk burial site. In 1868, Joseph Onasakenrat, a leader of the Mohawk, wrote a letter to the seminary that said that part of the land was meant for the Mohawk people to use. A year later, he and some other Mohawk attacked the seminary but were unable to get the land in the end.