HONORA BAY—Larry Ross was a young Mohawk from Akwesasne, plying his trade as a ceramic tile setter when he felt the call of duty and enlisted in the US Army for a four-year term, going on to serve in the Combat Arms (artillery) division.
Akwesasne is a Mohawk Nation territory that spans the borders of the United States and Canada, including parts of Ontario and Quebec. The name Akwesasne means “Land Where the Partridge Drums” in Mohawk, a reference to the territory’s abundant wildlife.
Mr. Ross found himself helping to man artillery pieces as part of a US led coalition of 42 countries that ended the dictatorship of Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussien in a lightning-fast victory that defined modern warfare.
Following his stint in the US Army and attaining the rank of Specialist E-4, Mr. Ross enlisted in the Connecticut National Guard before going on to a more than 30-year career as a police officer, first upon returning to his home community of Akwesasne with the Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service and later for the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service before most recently coming to Manitoulin Island as an inspector with the Wikwemikong Tribal Police Service.
As an officer serving with the Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service, Mr. Ross found himself dealing with drug smuggling and later in growing numbers of cases, people smuggling, a growth industry given that Akwesasne Mohawk Territory straddles the US-Canada border.
The transition to serving as a police officer was a natural fit for Mr. Ross.
“I was in the military, so the police seemed like the next logical step,” he said. “The police are a paramilitary organization, so I already knew a lot of the ins and outs.”
As for his motivation in joining the army, and later the police service, that was also intricately connected.
“It was a ‘serving country,’ serving community kind of thing,” he said.
Over the years, Mr. Ross moved up into the senior ranks of the police service and police service has become something of a family tradition and his son has also gone on to serve with the Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service.
Mr. Ross has settled in Honora Bay with his wife Olena, whom he met while working in Nishinaabe Aski Territory. The couple are devout Catholics and regularly attend services at St. Bernard’s Roman Catholic Church in Little Current and have fallen in love with Manitoulin Island where they have quickly laid in roots and established friendships.
But the connections to both of their far-flung family, and Mr. Ross’ US service remain strong, and Olena’s widowed sister Violetta recently joined the couple from Ukraine following the loss of her husband.
Mr. Ross has maintained a keen interest in US politics and is watching the 2024 election cycle while visiting family and friends in Akwesasne Mohawk Territory.
