Mr. Two Rivers’ wrestling career began in Detroit in 1953. He then moved to Charlotte, North Carolina where he practiced his art for the National Wrestling Alliance before settling in England where he lived for six years. During this period he had the opportunity to fight in Europe and North Africa, then in Japan.
With his mohawk, leather jacket, beaded waistcoat and badges, Billy Two Rivers doesn’t go unnoticed. His appearance was not typically Mohawk and some do not fail to point this out to him.
“I’m an ambassador and I carry a little bit of every nation. »
— A quote from Billy Two Rivers
He retired from wrestling in 1976 before entering politics in Kahnawake. I fought for 24 years, then I fought for 20 years in the Bandrat. It’s been a tougher fight than anywhere else, he told CBC in a career profile last year.
Billy Two Rivers with Prime Minister Paul Martin, July 2005
Photo: The Canadian Press/Tom Hanson
The Kahnawake Band Council commemorated the death of this highly influential member of the community, who served ten consecutive terms from 1978 to 1998. He was Grand Chief Joseph Tokwiro Norton’s right-hand man during the Oka Crisis, the most difficult period in Kahnawake’s recent history, the council said in a press release.
Wrestlers, politicians… and actors
The community also wanted to pay tribute to the defender of the Mohawk language (the Kanien’kéha). In 2019, he was one of 38 elders honored for their contributions to the development of the Kahnawà:ke language law, the band council said.
For her part, First Nations Assembly Chairwoman RoseAnne Archibald highlighted the eloquent and powerful speeches given by Billy Two Rivers during the organization’s meetings.
Mr. Two Rivers has made several appearances in film, Black Dress (1991), and on television, in Far North (1994) and Mohawks Girls (2015). During the filming of Black Robe, he arranged for Australian director Bruce Beresford to correct inaccuracies in Brian Moore’s book, including claims by Jesuits that 16th-century Aborigines were cannibals or killed children.
Billy Two Rivers (left) is on the cover of Van Morrison’s album Roll with the Punches.
Photo: Universal/Van Morrison
He had also made headlines for suing Northern Irish singer Van Morrisson for using his image on the cover of one of his albums without his consent.