Born in 1940, Kahentinetha is a Mohawk living in Kahnawake, mother of twenty children, grand-children and great-grandchildren in the Rotihskareh:wakeh (Spitting Bear) clan. She has played an important role as a speaker and a writer in the indigenous resistance movement since the 1950s, witnessing and taking part in numerous struggles, including the 1968 Akwesasne border crossing. Carrying on the legacy of her mentor Louis Karoniaktajeh Hall, she has been running the Mohawk Nation News service since the 1990 Oka crisis.