The Mohawk Nation of Akwesasne (alternate spelling Ahkwesáhsne) is a Mohawk Nation (Kanien'kehá:ka) territory that straddles the intersection of international (United States and Canada) and provincial (Ontario and Quebec) borders on both banks of the Saint Lawrence River. Most of the land is in what is otherwise the present-day United States. Although divided by an international border, the residents consider themselves to be one community.

It was founded in the mid-18th century by people from Kahnawake, a Catholic Mohawk village south of Montreal. Today Akwesasne has 12,000 residents, with the largest population and land area of any Kanien'kehá:ka community. Beginning in the eighteenth century, Akwesasne was one of the Seven Nations of Canada. It is one of several Kanien'kehá:ka territories within present-day Canada; others are Kahnawake, Kanesatake, and the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, founded after the American Revolutionary War.

The name Akwesasne in Kanien'kéha (Mohawk language) means "Land Where the Ruffed Grouse Drums", referring to the rich wildlife in the area.

The Two Row Wampum treaty, also known as Guswhenta or Kaswhenta, is an agreement made between representatives of the Five Nations of the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) and representatives of the Dutch government in 1613 in what is now upstate New York. The treaty is considered by the Haudenosaunee to be the basis of all of their subsequent treaties with European and North American governments, including the Covenant Chain treaty with the British in 1677 and the Treaty of Canandaigua with the United States in 1794.

The 1613 treaty was recorded by the Haudenosaunee in a wampum belt known as the Two Row Wampum. The pattern of the belt consists of two rows of purple wampum beads against a background of white beads. The purple beads signify the courses of two vessels -- a Haudenosaunee canoe and a European ship -- traveling down the river of life together, parallel but never touching. The three white stripes denote peace and friendship. This wampum records the meaning of the agreement, which declared peaceful coexistence between the Haudenosaunee and Dutch settlers in the area.