The Parish anniversary is always celebrated on the Sunday closest to 22 May, which is the commemoration of the Landing of the Mohawks on the shore of the Bay of Quinte on 22 May 1784.  It has been the past custom of the community of Tyendinaga to celebrate the Landing with a commemorative ceremony near the site where the original families were thought to have landed.  The last time the customary Landing ceremony was held was in 2005, and in 2006 and 2007, the only commemoration of the Landing was the short Liturgy of Thanksgiving that the Parish celebrated at the Cairn.  In 2008, Tsi Tyonnheht Onkwawenna (the Language Circle) took the lead on coordinating a celebration of the Landing that featured a re-enactment of the original landing and a community feast on the Saturday of the same weekend that the Parish marked its commemoration on the Sunday.  For the 225th anniversary of the Landing, the Parish and members of the traditional (Longhouse) community collaborated together and participated in each other's celebrations.

The Parish celebrates its anniversary every year with a special liturgy that incorporates traditional indigenous symbols and spirituality into the Christian order of service.  This is one of the ways that the Parish of Tyendinaga strives to be faithful to our Christian faith while recognising that our cultural context is vastly different than the contexts of every other parish in our diocese.  Some of the ways we do this are through using the smoke from incense as a purifier of the space, which is a way of honouring the traditional smudging ceremony which uses tobacco or sage smoke without misappropriating a spiritual practice which is not ours and therefore dishonouring it.  We also use traditional images for God in the prayers we pray and endeavour to use as much Kanyenke'ha (Mohawk language) as we can.  The most prominent uses of the language are in the singing of a verse of the Royal Anthem ("God Save the Queen"), in the reciting the Ohen:ton Karihwatekwen, and in the pronouncing of the Blessing at the conclusion of the liturgy.

If you are interested in the orders of service used at the most recent events at the Cairn in the Liturgy of Thanksgiving and in the main celebration in the church, please click on the links below:

Liturgy of Thanksgiving

Commemoration of the Landing of the Mohawks and the Founding of the Parish