Mohawk nation
Encyclopedia
Mohawk are the most easterly tribe of the Iroquois confederation. They call themselves Kanien'gehaga, people of the place of the flint. Kanien'kehá:ka ("People of the Place of Flint") are an Iroquoian-speaking indigenous people
of North America
originally from the Mohawk Valley
in upstate New York
. Their territory ranged to present-day southern Quebec
and eastern Ontario
. Their current settlements include areas around Lake Ontario
and the St Lawrence River in Canada
. Their traditional homeland stretched southward of the Mohawk River
, eastward to the Green Mountains
of Vermont
, westward to the border with the Oneida Nation
traditional homeland territory, and northward to the St Lawrence River. As original members of the Iroquois League, or Haudenosaunee, the Mohawk were known as the "Keepers of the Eastern Door". For hundreds of years, they guarded the Iroquois Confederation against invasion from that direction by tribes from the New England and lower New York areas. Mohawk religion is predominantly Animist.
, the people call themselves the autonym, Kanien'kehá:ka, "People of the Place of Flint" or "People of the crystal" or "People of the shards of light". It has been spelled in a variety of ways as Europeans tried to put it into their phonetic systems (e.g. Canyeers.) Some sources say Europeans adopted an Algonquian
-language exonym given to the Kahnawake by traditional competitors of the tribe: in their language Mohawk meant "eaters of flesh". Other historians believe Europeans such as the Dutch, who called them Maquasen, and English, who first called them Mohowawogs, were trying to render the phonetic sounds of the name which they heard other tribes call them. The Dutch
also referred to the Mohawk as Hawks, Egils, or Maquas. The French
adapted these terms as Aigniers, Maquis, or called them by the generic Iroquois. The accepted traditional use of "People of the Flint" is associated with their origins in the Mohawk Valley, their homeland in New York. There, the Natives used flint
deposits to tip their arrow
s and for other toolmaking.
at Fort Nassau
, New Netherland
near present-day Albany, New York
. The Dutch initially traded for furs with the local Mahican
. In 1628, the Mohawk tribe defeated the Mahican, who retreated to Connecticut. The Mohawk gained a near-monopoly in the fur trade
with the Dutch by not allowing the neighboring Algonquian-speaking tribes to the north or east to trade with them. The Dutch established trading posts at present-day Schenectady and Schoharie
, further west in the Mohawk Valley.
The Mohawk and Dutch became allies. Their relations were peaceful even during the periods of Kieft's War
and the Esopus Wars
, when the Dutch fought localized battles with other tribes. The Dutch trade partners equipped the Mohawk to fight against other nations allied with the French
, including the Ojibwe, Huron-Wendat
, and Algonquin. In 1645 the Mohawk made peace with the French.
During the Pequot War
(1634–1638), the Algonquian Indians of New England sought an alliance with the Mohawk. The Mohawk refused the alliance, killing the Pequot
sachem Sassacus
, who had come to them for refuge.
In the winter of 1651, the Mohawks attacked to the southeast and overwhelmed Algonquians in the coastal areas. They took between 500-600 captives. In 1664, the Pequot of New England killed a Mohawk ambassador, starting a war which resulted in the destruction of the Pequot. The Mohawks also attacked other members of the Pequot confederacy, in a war which lasted until 1671.
In 1666, the French attacked the Mohawk in the central New York area, burning all the Mohawk villages and their stored food supply. One of the conditions of the peace was that the Mohawks accept Jesuit
missionaries. Beginning in 1669, missionaries attempted to convince many mohawks from paganism to Christianity
and relocate to two mission villages near Montreal. These Mohawks became known as Kahnawake
(also spelled Caughnawaga) and they became allies of the French. Many converted to Catholicism at Kahnawake, the village named after them.
One of the most famous Catholic Mohawks was Kateri Tekakwitha
, who was later beatified
.
After the fall of New Netherland
to England
, the Mohawks in New York became English allies. During King Philip's War
, Metacom, sachem of the warring Wampanoag Pokanoket
, decided to winter with his warriors near Albany
in 1675. Encouraged by the English, the Mohawks attacked and killed all but 40 of the 400 Pokanokets.
From the 1690s, the Mohawks in the New York colony underwent a period of Christianization by Protestant missionaries. Many were baptized
with English surnames while others were given both first and surnames in English.
During the era of the French and Indian War
(also known as the Seven Years' War
), Anglo-Mohawk partnership relations were maintained by men such as Sir William Johnson
(for the British Crown), Conrad Weiser
(on behalf of the colony of Pennsylvania
), and Hendrick Theyanoguin (for the Mohawks). The Albany Congress
of 1754 was called in part to repair the damaged diplomatic relationship
between the British and the Moohawks.
lived along the Mohawk River at Canajoharie
, a few lived at Schoharie
, while the rest lived about 30 miles downstream at the Ticonderoga Castle also called Fort Hunter
. The two settlements were traditionally called the Upper Castle and the Lower Castle. The Lower Castle was almost contiguous with Sir Peter Warren
's Warrensbush. Sir William Johnson built his first house on the north bank of the Mohawk River almost opposite Warrensbush.
Because of unsettled conflicts with settlers encroaching into the Mohawk Valley and outstanding treaty obligations to the British Crown, Mohawks fought against the United States
during the American Revolutionary War
. Some prominent Mohawks, such as the sachem Little Abraham at Fort Hunter
, remained neutral throughout the war. One man, Joseph Louis Cook
, supported the Americans and received a commission from the Continental Congress
. During this war, Johannes Tekarihoga was the leader of the Mohawks. Johannes Tekarihoga died about 1780. Catherine Crogan, wife of Mohawk war chief Joseph Brant
, named her brother Henry Crogan as the new Tekarihoga.
Nicoole WAS HERE BUTT FACE'S
Joseph Brant led a large group of Iroquois out of New York to Six Nations of the Grand River, Ontario
. Another Mohawk war chief, John Deseronto
, led a group of Mohawks to the Bay of Quinte
. Other Mohawks settled in the vicinity of Montreal, joining the communities at Kahnawake, Akwesasne
, and Kanesatake.
On November 11, 1794, representatives of the Mohawks (along with the other Iroquois nations) signed the Treaty of Canandaigua
with the United States.
The Mohawks fought against the United States in the War of 1812
.
and Kanatsiohareke
in northeast New York, Akwesasne
(St. Regis
) along the New York-Ontario-Quebec border, Kanesatake (Oka) and Kahnawake in southern Quebec, and Tyendinaga and Wahta (Gibson) in southern Ontario. Mohawks also form the majority on the mixed Iroquois reserve, Six Nations of the Grand River, in Ontario. There are also Mohawk Orange Lodges in Canada.
Many Mohawk communities have two sets of chiefs, who rule in unison and are in some sense competing governmental rivals. One group are the hereditary chiefs nominated by clan matriarchs in the traditional Mohawk fashion; the other is the elected chief and councilors with whom the Canadian and U.S. governments usually prefer to deal exclusively. Since the 1980s, Mohawk politics have been driven by factional disputes over gambling, land claims, traditional government jurisdiction, taxation, and the Indian Act
.
Both the elected chiefs and the controversial Warrior Society have encouraged gambling as a means of ensuring tribal self-sufficiency on the various reserves or Indian reservations. Traditional chiefs have tended to oppose gaming on moral grounds and out of fear of corruption and organized crime.
Such disputes have also been associated with religious divisions: the traditional chiefs are often associated with the Longhouse
tradition, practicing consensus-democratic values, while the Warrior Society has attacked that religion and asserted independence. Meanwhile, the elected chiefs have tended to be associated (though in a much looser and general way) with democratic
, legislative and Canadian governmental values.
In the 19th and early 20th century, the Government of Canada
imposed English schooling and separated families to place children in English boarding schools. Like other tribes, Mohawks have fluctuated in their native language fluency. Many have left the reserve to join the English Canadian culture, and to work in a greater variety of occupations.
entered into the "Tribal-State Compact Between the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe and the State of New York." The compact allowed the Tribe to conduct gambling, including games such as baccarat
, blackjack
, craps
and roulette
, on the Akwesasne Reservation in Franklin County
under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act
(IGRA).
According to the terms of the 1993 compact, the New York State Racing and Wagering Board, the New York State Police
and the St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Gaming Commission were vested with gaming oversight. Law enforcement responsibilities fell under the cognizance of the state police, with some law enforcement matters left to the tribe. As required by IGRA, the compact was approved by the United States Department of the Interior
before it took effect. There were several extensions and amendments to this compact, but not all of them were approved by the U.S. Department of the Interior.
On June 12, 2003, the New York Court of Appeals
affirmed the lower courts' rulings that Governor Cuomo exceeded his authority by entering into the compact absent legislative authorization and declared the compact void http://www.law.cornell.edu/nyctap/I03_0083.htm. On October 19, 2004, Governor George Pataki
signed a bill passed by the State Legislature that ratified the compact as being Nunc Pro Tunc
, with some additional minor changes.
The Mohawk Nation is currently in pursuit of obtaining approval to own and operate a casino
in Sullivan County, New York
at Monticello Raceway
. The U.S. Department of the Interior has until recently approved of this action and even after obtaining Governor Eliot Spitzer
's concurrence subject to the negotiation and approval of either an amendment to the current compact or a new compact has rejected their application to take the land in to trust.
There are currently two pending. The State of New York has expressed similar objections in its responses to take land into trust for other Indian nations and tribes. The other contends that the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act violates the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
as it is applied in the State of New York and is currently pending in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York
.
region, sometimes wore a hair style in which all their hair would be cut off except for a narrow strip down the middle of the scalp from the forehead to the nape, that was approximately three finger widths across. However this is not correct and the idea that Mohawks had "Mohawk hairstyles" the narrow strip of hair down the middle of the head from forehead to nape of the neck came from Hollywood and more specifically "Drums Along the Mohawk".The true hairstyle of the Mohawk including the entire Six Nations was to pluck the hair out of the head (not shaven), tuft by tuft of hair until all that was left was a square of hair on the back crown of the head. The hair that was left, was shortened so that three short braids of hair were created and those braids were highly decorated. This is the true "Mohawk" hairstyle and not the Hollywood version taken from the Pawnee. "Mohawk hairstyles" with the crest down the center should be coined "Pawnees" not Mohawk.
The women wore their hair long often with traditional bear grease or tied back into a single braid. Their heads were often not covered by a covering or hat, often wearing nothing on their heads in winter.
Traditional dress styles of the Kanien'kehá:ka Mohawk peoples consisted of women going topless in summer with a skirt of deerskin. In colder seasons, women wore a full woodland deerskin dress, leather tied underwear, long fashioned hair or a braid and bear grease. There was otherwise nothing on their head, except several ear piercings adorned by shell earrings, shell necklaces, and also puckered seam ankle wrap moccasins.
The women also used a layer of smoked and cured moss as an insulation absorbency for menses, as well as simple scraps of leather were used. Later menses use consisted of cotton linen pieces where pilgrim settlers and missionaries provided trade and introduced of such items.
The traditional dress styles of the Kanien'kehá:ka Mohawk men consisted solely of a breech cloth of deerskin in summer, deerskin leggings and a full piece deerskin shirt in winter, several shell strand earrings, shell necklaces, long fashioned hair or a three finger width forehead-to-nape hair row which stood approximately three inches from the head and puckered seamed wrap ankle moccasins.
The men would also carry a quill and flint arrow hunting bag as well as arm and knee bands.
During the summer, traditional dress styles of the Kanien'kehá:ka Mohawk children consisted of nothing up to the ages of thirteen, the time before they were ready for their warrior or woman passages or rites.
Later dress after European contact combined some cloth pieces such as the males ribbon shirt in addition to the place of the deerskin clothing, and wool trousers and skirts. For a time many Mohawk peoples incorporated a combination of the older styles of dress with newly introduced forms of clothing.
According to author Kanatiiosh in "Hodenasaunee Clothing and & Other Cultural Items" Mohawk as a part of the Hodenasaunee Confederacy:
"Traditionally used furs obtained from the woodland, which consisted of elk and deer hides, corn husks, and they also wove plant and tree fibers to produce [the] clothing".
Later Sinew or animal gut was cleaned and prepared as a thread for garments and footwear and was threaded to porcupine quills or sharp leg bones, in order to sew or pierce eyeholes for threading.
Clothing dyes were obtained of various sources such as berries, tree barks, flowers, grasses, sometimes fixed with urine.
Generally a village of Mohawk people wore the same design of clothing applicable to their gender, with individualized color and artwork designs incorporated onto the clothing and moccasins.
Durable clothing that was held by older village people and adults was handed down to others in their family sometimes as gifts, honours, or because of outgrowth.
Mohawk clothing was sometimes reminiscent of designs from trade with neighbouring First Nation tribes, and was more closely in resemblance to that of other Six Nations confederacy nations however much originality applicable to the Mohawk nation peoples style of dress was often kept as the foundation of the style they wore.
religion. These include:
has a large Mohawk Indian community, an estimate of 50,000 in the diverse city of 8 million people. The community was founded by the arrival of hired skyscraper construction workers of Mohawk and other Iroquois origin from the 1930s to the 1970s on special labor contracts to build bridges and skyscrapers, including the Empire State Building
. The construction companies found that the Mohawks did not fear heights or dangerous conditions, but the contracts offered lower than average wages and limited labor union membership.
A Mohawk community in Brooklyn
called "Little Caughnawaga" had its heyday from the 1920s through to the 60s. Brooklyn Mohawks were mostly from Kahnawake. The work and home life of Mohawk steelworkers was documented in Don Owen's 1965 National Film Board of Canada
documentary High Steel.
The traditional marriage ceremony included a day of celebration for the man and woman, a formal oration by the chief of the woman's nation and clan, community dancing and feast, and gifts of respect and honour by community members. Traditionally these gifts were practical which the couple would use in their everyday religious and working lives.
For clothing the man and woman wore white rabbit leathers and furs with personal adornments, usually made by their families, to stand apart from the rest of the community's traditional style of dress during the ceremony. The "Rabbit Dance Song" and other social dance songs were sung by the men, where they used gourd rattles and later cow-horn rattles. In the "Water Drum", other well-wishing couples participated in the dance with the couple. The meal would commence after the ceremony and everyone who participated would eat.
Today the marriage ceremony may follow that of the old tradition or incorporate newer elements, but it is still used by many Mohawk Nation marrying couples. In addition, there are couples who have chosen to marry in the European manner, as well as in the Longhouse manner, with the Longhouse ceremony usually being held first.
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
originally from the Mohawk Valley
Mohawk Valley
The Mohawk Valley region of the U.S. state of New York is the area surrounding the Mohawk River, sandwiched between the Adirondack Mountains and Catskill Mountains....
in upstate New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Their territory ranged to present-day southern Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
and eastern Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. Their current settlements include areas around Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...
and the St Lawrence River in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Their traditional homeland stretched southward of the Mohawk River
Mohawk River
The Mohawk River is a river in the U.S. state of New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson River. The Mohawk flows into the Hudson in the Capital District, a few miles north of the city of Albany. The river is named for the Mohawk Nation of the Iroquois Confederacy...
, eastward to the Green Mountains
Green Mountains
The Green Mountains are a mountain range in the U.S. state of Vermont. The range extends approximately .-Peaks:The most notable mountains in the range include:*Mount Mansfield, , the highest point in Vermont*Killington Peak, *Mount Ellen,...
of Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
, westward to the border with the Oneida Nation
Oneida tribe
The Oneida are a Native American/First Nations people and are one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois Confederacy in the area of upstate New York...
traditional homeland territory, and northward to the St Lawrence River. As original members of the Iroquois League, or Haudenosaunee, the Mohawk were known as the "Keepers of the Eastern Door". For hundreds of years, they guarded the Iroquois Confederation against invasion from that direction by tribes from the New England and lower New York areas. Mohawk religion is predominantly Animist.
Origins of name
In the Mohawk languageMohawk language
Mohawk is an Iroquoian language spoken by around 2,000 people of the Mohawk nation in the United States and Canada . Mohawk has the largest number of speakers of the Northern Iroquoian languages; today it is the only one with greater than a thousand remaining...
, the people call themselves the autonym, Kanien'kehá:ka, "People of the Place of Flint" or "People of the crystal" or "People of the shards of light". It has been spelled in a variety of ways as Europeans tried to put it into their phonetic systems (e.g. Canyeers.) Some sources say Europeans adopted an Algonquian
Algonquian languages
The Algonquian languages also Algonkian) are a subfamily of Native American languages which includes most of the languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically similar Algonquin dialect of the Ojibwe language, which is a...
-language exonym given to the Kahnawake by traditional competitors of the tribe: in their language Mohawk meant "eaters of flesh". Other historians believe Europeans such as the Dutch, who called them Maquasen, and English, who first called them Mohowawogs, were trying to render the phonetic sounds of the name which they heard other tribes call them. The Dutch
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
also referred to the Mohawk as Hawks, Egils, or Maquas. The French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
adapted these terms as Aigniers, Maquis, or called them by the generic Iroquois. The accepted traditional use of "People of the Flint" is associated with their origins in the Mohawk Valley, their homeland in New York. There, the Natives used flint
Flint
Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and...
deposits to tip their arrow
Arrow
An arrow is a shafted projectile that is shot with a bow. It predates recorded history and is common to most cultures.An arrow usually consists of a shaft with an arrowhead attached to the front end, with fletchings and a nock at the other.- History:...
s and for other toolmaking.
First contact with European settlers
In 1614, the Dutch opened a trading postTrading post
A trading post was a place or establishment in historic Northern America where the trading of goods took place. The preferred travel route to a trading post or between trading posts, was known as a trade route....
at Fort Nassau
Fort Nassau (North)
Fort Nassau was the first Dutch settlement in North America, and was located along the Hudson River in present-day Albany, New York, United States. The factorij was a small fortification which served as a trading post and warehouse...
, New Netherland
New Netherland
New Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the 17th-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the East Coast of North America. The claimed territories were the lands from the Delmarva Peninsula to extreme southwestern Cape Cod...
near present-day Albany, New York
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
. The Dutch initially traded for furs with the local Mahican
Mahican
The Mahican are an Eastern Algonquian Native American tribe, originally settling in the Hudson River Valley . After 1680, many moved to Stockbridge, Massachusetts. During the early 1820s and 1830s, most of the Mahican descendants migrated westward to northeastern Wisconsin...
. In 1628, the Mohawk tribe defeated the Mahican, who retreated to Connecticut. The Mohawk gained a near-monopoly in the fur trade
Fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...
with the Dutch by not allowing the neighboring Algonquian-speaking tribes to the north or east to trade with them. The Dutch established trading posts at present-day Schenectady and Schoharie
Schoharie
Schoharie may refer to:*Schoharie County, New York, USA**Schoharie , New York, in the above county***Schoharie , New York, in the above town*Schoharie Creek, a stream in upstate New York, USA**Schoharie Valley, surrounding the above creek...
, further west in the Mohawk Valley.
The Mohawk and Dutch became allies. Their relations were peaceful even during the periods of Kieft's War
Kieft's War
Kieft's War, also known as the Wappinger War, was a conflict between settlers of the nascent colony of New Netherland and the native Lenape population in what would later become the New York metropolitan area of the United States...
and the Esopus Wars
Esopus Wars
The Esopus Wars were two localized conflicts between Dutch settlers and the Esopus tribe of Lenape Indians during the latter half of the 17th century in what is now Ulster County, New York. Like many other wars during the colonial period, at bottom they were the result of competition between...
, when the Dutch fought localized battles with other tribes. The Dutch trade partners equipped the Mohawk to fight against other nations allied with the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, including the Ojibwe, Huron-Wendat
Huron-Wendat Nation
The Huron-Wendat Nation is a Huron-Wendat First Nation whose community and reserve is at Wendake, Quebec, a municipality now enclosed within Quebec City in Canada. In the French language, used by most members of the First Nation, they are known as the Nation Huronne-Wendat.In 2006, historical...
, and Algonquin. In 1645 the Mohawk made peace with the French.
During the Pequot War
Pequot War
The Pequot War was an armed conflict between 1634–1638 between the Pequot tribe against an alliance of the Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Saybrook colonies who were aided by their Native American allies . Hundreds were killed; hundreds more were captured and sold into slavery to the West Indies. ...
(1634–1638), the Algonquian Indians of New England sought an alliance with the Mohawk. The Mohawk refused the alliance, killing the Pequot
Pequot
Pequot people are a tribe of Native Americans who, in the 17th century, inhabited much of what is now Connecticut. They were of the Algonquian language family. The Pequot War and Mystic massacre reduced the Pequot's sociopolitical influence in southern New England...
sachem Sassacus
Sassacus
Sassacus was a Pequot sachem....
, who had come to them for refuge.
In the winter of 1651, the Mohawks attacked to the southeast and overwhelmed Algonquians in the coastal areas. They took between 500-600 captives. In 1664, the Pequot of New England killed a Mohawk ambassador, starting a war which resulted in the destruction of the Pequot. The Mohawks also attacked other members of the Pequot confederacy, in a war which lasted until 1671.
In 1666, the French attacked the Mohawk in the central New York area, burning all the Mohawk villages and their stored food supply. One of the conditions of the peace was that the Mohawks accept Jesuit
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
missionaries. Beginning in 1669, missionaries attempted to convince many mohawks from paganism to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
and relocate to two mission villages near Montreal. These Mohawks became known as Kahnawake
Kahnawake 14, Quebec
The Kahnawake Mohawk Territory is a reserve of the traditionally Iroquoian-speaking Mohawk nation on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada, across from Montreal. Recorded by French Canadians in 1719 as a Jesuit mission, it has also been known as Seigneury Sault du St...
(also spelled Caughnawaga) and they became allies of the French. Many converted to Catholicism at Kahnawake, the village named after them.
One of the most famous Catholic Mohawks was Kateri Tekakwitha
Kateri Tekakwitha
Kateri Tekakwitha or Catherine Tekakwitha was a Mohawk-Algonquian woman from New York and an early convert to Catholicism, who has been beatified in the Roman Catholic Church.-Her life:...
, who was later beatified
Beatification
Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a dead person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in his or her name . Beatification is the third of the four steps in the canonization process...
.
After the fall of New Netherland
New Netherland
New Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the 17th-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the East Coast of North America. The claimed territories were the lands from the Delmarva Peninsula to extreme southwestern Cape Cod...
to England
Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...
, the Mohawks in New York became English allies. During King Philip's War
King Philip's War
King Philip's War, sometimes called Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, or Metacom's Rebellion, was an armed conflict between Native American inhabitants of present-day southern New England and English colonists and their Native American allies in 1675–76. The war is named after the main leader of the...
, Metacom, sachem of the warring Wampanoag Pokanoket
Pokanoket
The Pokanoket tribe is the headship tribe of the many tribes that make up the Wampanoag Nation, which was at times referred to as the Pokanoket Nation or the Pokanoket Confederacy or known as the Pokanoket Country...
, decided to winter with his warriors near Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
in 1675. Encouraged by the English, the Mohawks attacked and killed all but 40 of the 400 Pokanokets.
From the 1690s, the Mohawks in the New York colony underwent a period of Christianization by Protestant missionaries. Many were baptized
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
with English surnames while others were given both first and surnames in English.
During the era of the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
(also known as the Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
), Anglo-Mohawk partnership relations were maintained by men such as Sir William Johnson
Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet
Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet was an Anglo-Irish official of the British Empire. As a young man, Johnson came to the Province of New York to manage an estate purchased by his uncle, Admiral Peter Warren, which was located amidst the Mohawk, one of the Six Nations of the Iroquois League...
(for the British Crown), Conrad Weiser
Conrad Weiser
Weiser's colonial service began in 1731. The Iroquois sent Shikellamy, an Oneida chief, as an emissary to other tribes and the British. Shikellamy lived on the Susquehanna River at Shamokin village, near present-day Sunbury, Pennsylvania. An oral tradition holds that Weiser met Shikellamy while...
(on behalf of the colony of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
), and Hendrick Theyanoguin (for the Mohawks). The Albany Congress
Albany Congress
The Albany Congress, also known as the Albany Conference and "The Conference of Albany" or "The Conference in Albany", was a meeting of representatives from seven of the thirteen British North American colonies in 1754...
of 1754 was called in part to repair the damaged diplomatic relationship
Covenant Chain
The Covenant Chain was a series of alliances and treaties involving the Iroquois Confederacy , the British colonies of North America, and a number of other Indian tribes...
between the British and the Moohawks.
American Revolutionary War
During the second and third quarters of the 18th century, most of the Mohawks in the Province of New YorkProvince of New York
The Province of New York was an English and later British crown territory that originally included all of the present U.S. states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Vermont, along with inland portions of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maine, as well as eastern Pennsylvania...
lived along the Mohawk River at Canajoharie
Canajoharie, New York
Canajoharie, New York may refer to:* Canajoharie , New York* Canajoharie , New York...
, a few lived at Schoharie
Schoharie, New York
Schoharie, New York may refer to:*Schoharie County, New York*Schoharie , New York, located in Schoharie County*Schoharie , New York, located within the Town of Schoharie...
, while the rest lived about 30 miles downstream at the Ticonderoga Castle also called Fort Hunter
Fort Hunter, New York
Fort Hunter is a hamlet in the town of Florida in Montgomery County, New York, on the Mohawk River at Schoharie Creek.In the 18th century, Fort Hunter was built as a fort near the location of one of the two primary Mohawk settlements. The Mohawk name for the village was rendered variously in...
. The two settlements were traditionally called the Upper Castle and the Lower Castle. The Lower Castle was almost contiguous with Sir Peter Warren
Peter Warren (admiral)
Sir Peter Warren, KB was a British naval officer from Ireland who commanded the naval forces in the attack on the French fortress of Louisbourg, Nova Scotia in 1745...
's Warrensbush. Sir William Johnson built his first house on the north bank of the Mohawk River almost opposite Warrensbush.
Because of unsettled conflicts with settlers encroaching into the Mohawk Valley and outstanding treaty obligations to the British Crown, Mohawks fought against the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
during the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
. Some prominent Mohawks, such as the sachem Little Abraham at Fort Hunter
Fort Hunter, New York
Fort Hunter is a hamlet in the town of Florida in Montgomery County, New York, on the Mohawk River at Schoharie Creek.In the 18th century, Fort Hunter was built as a fort near the location of one of the two primary Mohawk settlements. The Mohawk name for the village was rendered variously in...
, remained neutral throughout the war. One man, Joseph Louis Cook
Joseph Louis Cook
Joseph Louis Cook or Akiatonharónkwen was an Iroquois leader and American soldier. Born to a black father and an Abenaki mother in what is now Quebec, he was adopted as a Mohawk. He became an influential leader in the Iroquois Confederacy and distinguished himself during the French and Indian War...
, supported the Americans and received a commission from the Continental Congress
Continental Congress
The Continental Congress was a convention of delegates called together from the Thirteen Colonies that became the governing body of the United States during the American Revolution....
. During this war, Johannes Tekarihoga was the leader of the Mohawks. Johannes Tekarihoga died about 1780. Catherine Crogan, wife of Mohawk war chief Joseph Brant
Joseph Brant
Thayendanegea or Joseph Brant was a Mohawk military and political leader, based in present-day New York, who was closely associated with Great Britain during and after the American Revolution. He was perhaps the most well-known American Indian of his generation...
, named her brother Henry Crogan as the new Tekarihoga.
After the Revolution
Joseph Brant led a large group of Iroquois out of New York to Six Nations of the Grand River, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. Another Mohawk war chief, John Deseronto
John Deseronto
Captain John Deseronto Captain John Deseronto Captain John Deseronto (alt. Deserontyon, (Odeserundiye) UE (c1740's - 1811) was a prominent Mohawk war chief during the American Revolutionary War. He was born in the 1740s, most likely in the Mohawk valley. Educated in a white school, he had become...
, led a group of Mohawks to the Bay of Quinte
Bay of Quinte
The Bay of Quinte is a long, narrow bay shaped like the letter "Z" on the northern shore of Lake Ontario in the province of Ontario, Canada. It is just west of the head of the Saint Lawrence River that drains the Great Lakes into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence...
. Other Mohawks settled in the vicinity of Montreal, joining the communities at Kahnawake, Akwesasne
Akwesasne
The Mohawk Nation of Akwesasne is a Mohawk Nation territory that straddles the intersection of international and provincial borders on both banks of the Saint Lawrence River. Most of the land is in what is otherwise the United States...
, and Kanesatake.
On November 11, 1794, representatives of the Mohawks (along with the other Iroquois nations) signed the Treaty of Canandaigua
Treaty of Canandaigua
The Treaty of Canandaigua is a treaty signed after the American Revolutionary War between the Grand Council of the Six Nations and President George Washington representing the United States of America....
with the United States.
The Mohawks fought against the United States in the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
.
Organization
Members of the Mohawk tribe now live in settlements spread throughout New York State and southeastern Canada. Among these are GanienkehGanienkeh
Ganienkeh, which translates from Mohawk into Land of the Flint, is a Mohawk community located on about near Altona, New York in the far northeast corner of Upper New York State. It is a rare case of an indigenous people reclaiming land from the United States.-History:In May 1974 Traditionalist...
and Kanatsiohareke
Kanatsiohareke
Kanatsiohareke is a small Mohawk/Kanienkahaka community on the north bank of the Mohawk River, west of Fonda, New York. Located at the ancient homeland of the Kanienkehaka , it was re-established in September 1993 under the leadership of Thomas Porter, traditional Mohawk/Bear Clan and spiritual...
in northeast New York, Akwesasne
Akwesasne
The Mohawk Nation of Akwesasne is a Mohawk Nation territory that straddles the intersection of international and provincial borders on both banks of the Saint Lawrence River. Most of the land is in what is otherwise the United States...
(St. Regis
St. Regis Mohawk Reservation, New York
St. Regis Mohawk Reservation is a Mohawk Indian reservation in Franklin County, New York, United States. It is also known by its Mohawk name, Akwesasne. The population was 2,699 at the 2000 census. The reservation is adjacent to the Akwesasne reserve in Ontario and Quebec. The Mohawk consider the...
) along the New York-Ontario-Quebec border, Kanesatake (Oka) and Kahnawake in southern Quebec, and Tyendinaga and Wahta (Gibson) in southern Ontario. Mohawks also form the majority on the mixed Iroquois reserve, Six Nations of the Grand River, in Ontario. There are also Mohawk Orange Lodges in Canada.
Many Mohawk communities have two sets of chiefs, who rule in unison and are in some sense competing governmental rivals. One group are the hereditary chiefs nominated by clan matriarchs in the traditional Mohawk fashion; the other is the elected chief and councilors with whom the Canadian and U.S. governments usually prefer to deal exclusively. Since the 1980s, Mohawk politics have been driven by factional disputes over gambling, land claims, traditional government jurisdiction, taxation, and the Indian Act
Indian Act
The Indian Act , R.S., 1951, c. I-5, is a Canadian statute that concerns registered Indians, their bands, and the system of Indian reserves...
.
Both the elected chiefs and the controversial Warrior Society have encouraged gambling as a means of ensuring tribal self-sufficiency on the various reserves or Indian reservations. Traditional chiefs have tended to oppose gaming on moral grounds and out of fear of corruption and organized crime.
Such disputes have also been associated with religious divisions: the traditional chiefs are often associated with the Longhouse
Longhouse Religion
thumb|right|A traditional longhouse.The Longhouse Religion, refers to the religious movement, founded in 1799, among peoples who formerly lived in longhouses. Prior to the adoption of the single family dwelling, various groups of peoples lived in large, extended-family homes also known as...
tradition, practicing consensus-democratic values, while the Warrior Society has attacked that religion and asserted independence. Meanwhile, the elected chiefs have tended to be associated (though in a much looser and general way) with democratic
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
, legislative and Canadian governmental values.
In the 19th and early 20th century, the Government of Canada
Government of Canada
The Government of Canada, formally Her Majesty's Government, is the system whereby the federation of Canada is administered by a common authority; in Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of institutions or specifically the Queen-in-Council...
imposed English schooling and separated families to place children in English boarding schools. Like other tribes, Mohawks have fluctuated in their native language fluency. Many have left the reserve to join the English Canadian culture, and to work in a greater variety of occupations.
Casinos
On October 15, 1993, Governor Mario CuomoMario Cuomo
Mario Matthew Cuomo served as the 52nd Governor of New York from 1983 to 1994, and is the father of Andrew Cuomo, the current governor of New York.-Early life:...
entered into the "Tribal-State Compact Between the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe and the State of New York." The compact allowed the Tribe to conduct gambling, including games such as baccarat
Baccarat
Baccarat is a card game, played at casinos and by gamblers. It is believed to have been introduced into France from Italy during the reign of King Charles VIII , and it is similar to Faro and Basset...
, blackjack
Blackjack
Blackjack, also known as Twenty-one or Vingt-et-un , is the most widely played casino banking game in the world...
, craps
Craps
Craps is a dice game in which players place wagers on the outcome of the roll, or a series of rolls, of a pair of dice. Players may wager money against each other or a bank...
and roulette
Roulette
Roulette is a casino game named after a French diminutive for little wheel. In the game, players may choose to place bets on either a single number or a range of numbers, the colors red or black, or whether the number is odd or even....
, on the Akwesasne Reservation in Franklin County
Franklin County, New York
Franklin County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 51,599. It is named in honor of American Founding Father Benjamin Franklin...
under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act
Indian Gaming Regulatory Act
The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act is a 1988 United States federal law that establishes the jurisdictional framework that governs Indian gaming. There was no federal gaming structure before this act...
(IGRA).
According to the terms of the 1993 compact, the New York State Racing and Wagering Board, the New York State Police
New York State Police
The New York State Police is the state police force of over 4,600 sworn Troopers for the state of New York. It was established on April 11, 1917 by the New York Legislature, in response to the 1913 murder of a construction foreman named Sam Howell in Westchester County, which at that time did not...
and the St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Gaming Commission were vested with gaming oversight. Law enforcement responsibilities fell under the cognizance of the state police, with some law enforcement matters left to the tribe. As required by IGRA, the compact was approved by the United States Department of the Interior
United States Department of the Interior
The United States Department of the Interior is the United States federal executive department of the U.S. government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land and natural resources, and the administration of programs relating to Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native...
before it took effect. There were several extensions and amendments to this compact, but not all of them were approved by the U.S. Department of the Interior.
On June 12, 2003, the New York Court of Appeals
New York Court of Appeals
The New York Court of Appeals is the highest court in the U.S. state of New York. The Court of Appeals consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge and six associate judges who are appointed by the Governor to 14-year terms...
affirmed the lower courts' rulings that Governor Cuomo exceeded his authority by entering into the compact absent legislative authorization and declared the compact void http://www.law.cornell.edu/nyctap/I03_0083.htm. On October 19, 2004, Governor George Pataki
George Pataki
George Elmer Pataki is an American politician who was the 53rd Governor of New York. A member of the Republican Party, Pataki served three consecutive four-year terms from January 1, 1995 until December 31, 2006.- Early life :...
signed a bill passed by the State Legislature that ratified the compact as being Nunc Pro Tunc
Nunc pro tunc
Nunc pro tunc is a Latin expression in common legal use in the English language. It means Now for then. In general, a court ruling "nunc pro tunc" applies retroactively to correct an earlier ruling.-Definition:...
, with some additional minor changes.
The Mohawk Nation is currently in pursuit of obtaining approval to own and operate a casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
in Sullivan County, New York
Sullivan County, New York
Sullivan County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 77,547. The county seat is Monticello. The name is in honor of Major General John Sullivan, who was a hero in the American Revolutionary War...
at Monticello Raceway
Monticello Raceway
Monticello Gaming and Raceway is a harness racing track, and home to a relatively new racino, in Monticello, Sullivan County, New York. It is off Exit 104 of Route 17 , on New York State Route 17B....
. The U.S. Department of the Interior has until recently approved of this action and even after obtaining Governor Eliot Spitzer
Eliot Spitzer
Eliot Laurence Spitzer is an American lawyer, former Democratic Party politician, and political commentator. He was the co-host of In the Arena, a talk-show and punditry forum broadcast on CNN until CNN cancelled his show in July of 2011...
's concurrence subject to the negotiation and approval of either an amendment to the current compact or a new compact has rejected their application to take the land in to trust.
There are currently two pending. The State of New York has expressed similar objections in its responses to take land into trust for other Indian nations and tribes. The other contends that the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act violates the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights, was ratified on December 15, 1791...
as it is applied in the State of New York and is currently pending in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York
United States District Court for the Western District of New York
The United States District Court for the Western District of New York is the Federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises only a part of New York....
.
Traditional Mohawk dress
Most people believe that the Mohawks, like some indigenous tribes in the Great LakesGreat Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
region, sometimes wore a hair style in which all their hair would be cut off except for a narrow strip down the middle of the scalp from the forehead to the nape, that was approximately three finger widths across. However this is not correct and the idea that Mohawks had "Mohawk hairstyles" the narrow strip of hair down the middle of the head from forehead to nape of the neck came from Hollywood and more specifically "Drums Along the Mohawk".The true hairstyle of the Mohawk including the entire Six Nations was to pluck the hair out of the head (not shaven), tuft by tuft of hair until all that was left was a square of hair on the back crown of the head. The hair that was left, was shortened so that three short braids of hair were created and those braids were highly decorated. This is the true "Mohawk" hairstyle and not the Hollywood version taken from the Pawnee. "Mohawk hairstyles" with the crest down the center should be coined "Pawnees" not Mohawk.
The women wore their hair long often with traditional bear grease or tied back into a single braid. Their heads were often not covered by a covering or hat, often wearing nothing on their heads in winter.
Traditional dress styles of the Kanien'kehá:ka Mohawk peoples consisted of women going topless in summer with a skirt of deerskin. In colder seasons, women wore a full woodland deerskin dress, leather tied underwear, long fashioned hair or a braid and bear grease. There was otherwise nothing on their head, except several ear piercings adorned by shell earrings, shell necklaces, and also puckered seam ankle wrap moccasins.
The women also used a layer of smoked and cured moss as an insulation absorbency for menses, as well as simple scraps of leather were used. Later menses use consisted of cotton linen pieces where pilgrim settlers and missionaries provided trade and introduced of such items.
The traditional dress styles of the Kanien'kehá:ka Mohawk men consisted solely of a breech cloth of deerskin in summer, deerskin leggings and a full piece deerskin shirt in winter, several shell strand earrings, shell necklaces, long fashioned hair or a three finger width forehead-to-nape hair row which stood approximately three inches from the head and puckered seamed wrap ankle moccasins.
The men would also carry a quill and flint arrow hunting bag as well as arm and knee bands.
During the summer, traditional dress styles of the Kanien'kehá:ka Mohawk children consisted of nothing up to the ages of thirteen, the time before they were ready for their warrior or woman passages or rites.
Later dress after European contact combined some cloth pieces such as the males ribbon shirt in addition to the place of the deerskin clothing, and wool trousers and skirts. For a time many Mohawk peoples incorporated a combination of the older styles of dress with newly introduced forms of clothing.
According to author Kanatiiosh in "Hodenasaunee Clothing and & Other Cultural Items" Mohawk as a part of the Hodenasaunee Confederacy:
"Traditionally used furs obtained from the woodland, which consisted of elk and deer hides, corn husks, and they also wove plant and tree fibers to produce [the] clothing".
Later Sinew or animal gut was cleaned and prepared as a thread for garments and footwear and was threaded to porcupine quills or sharp leg bones, in order to sew or pierce eyeholes for threading.
Clothing dyes were obtained of various sources such as berries, tree barks, flowers, grasses, sometimes fixed with urine.
Generally a village of Mohawk people wore the same design of clothing applicable to their gender, with individualized color and artwork designs incorporated onto the clothing and moccasins.
Durable clothing that was held by older village people and adults was handed down to others in their family sometimes as gifts, honours, or because of outgrowth.
Mohawk clothing was sometimes reminiscent of designs from trade with neighbouring First Nation tribes, and was more closely in resemblance to that of other Six Nations confederacy nations however much originality applicable to the Mohawk nation peoples style of dress was often kept as the foundation of the style they wore.
Longhouses
Replicas of seventeenth-century longhouses have been built at landmarks and tourist villages, such as Kanata Village Brantford, Ontario and Awkwasasne's "Tsiionhiakwatha" interpretation village. Other Mohawk Nation Longhouses are found on the Mohawk territory reserves that hold the Mohawk law recitations, ceremonial rites, and the Mohawk and Handsome LakeHandsome Lake
Handsome Lake was a Seneca religious leader of the Iroquois people. He was also half-brother to Cornplanter....
religion. These include:
- Six Nations First Nation Territory, Ontario holds one Ceremonial Mohawk Community Longhouse.
- Wahta First Nation Territory, Ontario holds one Ceremonial Mohawk Community Longhouse.
- Tyendinaga First Nation Territory, Ontario holds one Ceremonial Mohawk Community Longhouse.
- Awkwasasne First Nation Territory, Quebec holds two Mohawk Ceremonial Community Longhouses.
- Kanesatake First Nation Territory, Quebec holds two Ceremonial Mohawk Community Longhouses.
- Kahnawahke First Nation Territory, Quebec holds one Ceremonial Mohawk Community Longhouse.
- Kanienkeh First Nation Territory, New York State holds one Ceremonial Mohawk Community Longhouse.
- Kanatsioharake First Nation Territory, New York State holds one Ceremonial Mohawk Community Longhouse.
Mohawk communities today
These are grouped by broad geographical cluster, with notes on the character of community governance found in each.- inland New York:
- GanienkehGanienkehGanienkeh, which translates from Mohawk into Land of the Flint, is a Mohawk community located on about near Altona, New York in the far northeast corner of Upper New York State. It is a rare case of an indigenous people reclaiming land from the United States.-History:In May 1974 Traditionalist...
. Warrior Society. - KanatsioharekeKanatsioharekeKanatsiohareke is a small Mohawk/Kanienkahaka community on the north bank of the Mohawk River, west of Fonda, New York. Located at the ancient homeland of the Kanienkehaka , it was re-established in September 1993 under the leadership of Thomas Porter, traditional Mohawk/Bear Clan and spiritual...
. Traditional chiefs.
- Ganienkeh
- along the St Lawrence:
- AkwesasneAkwesasneThe Mohawk Nation of Akwesasne is a Mohawk Nation territory that straddles the intersection of international and provincial borders on both banks of the Saint Lawrence River. Most of the land is in what is otherwise the United States...
/St.RegisSt. Regis Mohawk Reservation, New YorkSt. Regis Mohawk Reservation is a Mohawk Indian reservation in Franklin County, New York, United States. It is also known by its Mohawk name, Akwesasne. The population was 2,699 at the 2000 census. The reservation is adjacent to the Akwesasne reserve in Ontario and Quebec. The Mohawk consider the...
. Traditional chiefs, elected chiefs on US side, elected chiefs on Canadian side. The Warrior society is also active. - Kanesatake/Oka
- Kahnawake. Elected chiefs, traditional chiefs, Warrior Society.
- Akwesasne
- southern Ontario:
- Tyendinaga. Elected chiefs.
- Wahta/Gibson in southern OntarioOntarioOntario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. Elected chiefs, (traditional chiefs?). - Six Nations of the Grand River. Elected chiefs, traditional chiefs.
- Bay of Quinte Mohawk
- Upper Mohawk
- Lower Mohawk
- Walker Mohawk
Mohawk skyscraper builders
New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
has a large Mohawk Indian community, an estimate of 50,000 in the diverse city of 8 million people. The community was founded by the arrival of hired skyscraper construction workers of Mohawk and other Iroquois origin from the 1930s to the 1970s on special labor contracts to build bridges and skyscrapers, including the Empire State Building
Empire State Building
The Empire State Building is a 102-story landmark skyscraper and American cultural icon in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. It has a roof height of 1,250 feet , and with its antenna spire included, it stands a total of 1,454 ft high. Its name is derived...
. The construction companies found that the Mohawks did not fear heights or dangerous conditions, but the contracts offered lower than average wages and limited labor union membership.
A Mohawk community in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
called "Little Caughnawaga" had its heyday from the 1920s through to the 60s. Brooklyn Mohawks were mostly from Kahnawake. The work and home life of Mohawk steelworkers was documented in Don Owen's 1965 National Film Board of Canada
National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions...
documentary High Steel.
Marriage
Mohawk Nation wedding ceremonies are conducted by a chief, since the chief holds the sanction to perform the greatest rituals before the Creator. In a marriage, the couple vow their commitment before the Creator. The marrying man and woman then unite in a lifelong relationship, and there is not any custom for divorce. This is not held as a punishment, however; the Mohawk Nation people are a matrilineal society and hold marriage as a great commitment which should be nurtured and respected. Much respect is given to the woman by her husband because the woman is the head of the household.The traditional marriage ceremony included a day of celebration for the man and woman, a formal oration by the chief of the woman's nation and clan, community dancing and feast, and gifts of respect and honour by community members. Traditionally these gifts were practical which the couple would use in their everyday religious and working lives.
For clothing the man and woman wore white rabbit leathers and furs with personal adornments, usually made by their families, to stand apart from the rest of the community's traditional style of dress during the ceremony. The "Rabbit Dance Song" and other social dance songs were sung by the men, where they used gourd rattles and later cow-horn rattles. In the "Water Drum", other well-wishing couples participated in the dance with the couple. The meal would commence after the ceremony and everyone who participated would eat.
Today the marriage ceremony may follow that of the old tradition or incorporate newer elements, but it is still used by many Mohawk Nation marrying couples. In addition, there are couples who have chosen to marry in the European manner, as well as in the Longhouse manner, with the Longhouse ceremony usually being held first.
Notable Mohawks
- Taiaiake AlfredTaiaiake AlfredGerald Taiaiake Alfred is an author, educator and activist, born in Tiohtiá:ke in 1964. Alfred is an internationally recognized Kanien’kehaka intellectual, political advisor and he is currently a professor at the University of Victoria ....
, professor of Indigenous Governance, activist - Joseph BrantJoseph BrantThayendanegea or Joseph Brant was a Mohawk military and political leader, based in present-day New York, who was closely associated with Great Britain during and after the American Revolution. He was perhaps the most well-known American Indian of his generation...
, Mohawk leader, British officer - Molly Brant, Mohawk leader, sister of Joseph Brant
- Joseph Tehawehron DavidJoseph Tehawehron DavidJoseph Tehwehron David , was a Mohawk artist who became known for his role as a warrior during the Oka Crisis in 1990.-Life before Oka:David grew up in Kanehsatake, a small Mohawk community about 70 km west of Montreal, Quebec...
, Mohawk artist - John DeserontoJohn DeserontoCaptain John Deseronto Captain John Deseronto Captain John Deseronto (alt. Deserontyon, (Odeserundiye) UE (c1740's - 1811) was a prominent Mohawk war chief during the American Revolutionary War. He was born in the 1740s, most likely in the Mohawk valley. Educated in a white school, he had become...
, Mohawk chief - Flemish BastardFlemish BastardThe Flemish Bastard was a Canadian Mohawk chief. He has been described as an astute diplomat and he has been considered the primary spokesman for the pro-French faction of Canada.-Biography:...
, Mohawk chief - Kahn-Tineta HornKahn-Tineta HornKahn-Tineta Horn is a Mohawk political activist and fashion model. In the 1960s and early 1970s she became widely known for her criticisms of anti-native racism and government policy regarding First Nations peoples and for her advocacy of native separatism...
, activist - Sid JamiesonSid JamiesonSid Jamieson was Bucknell University's initial head coach for the men's college lacrosse team, serving from the inception of the program in 1968 until his retirement in 2005. He compiled a record of 248 wins and 240 losses to rank 15th among all Division I collegiate lacrosse coaches in victories...
, lacrosse player, coach - Louis Jackson, River pilot, author of Our Caughnawagas in Egypt"http://books.google.ca/books?id=gGUoAAAAYAAJ&dq=Louis+Jackson+egypt&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=RS92VaINFr&sig=t1GvcFa_uISnN3rOWCMC3PxsTvk&hl=en&ei=CtkCS8K8FtOvlAfJkpHXAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=&f=false
- Pauline JohnsonPauline JohnsonEmily Pauline Johnson , commonly known as E. Pauline Johnson or just Pauline Johnson, was a Canadian writer and performer popular in the late 19th century...
, writer - Stan JonathanStan JonathanStanley Carl "Bulldog" Jonathan is a retired native ice hockey left winger.Jonathan started his National Hockey League career with the Boston Bruins with one game in the 1975-76 season. He continued to play for the Bruins from 1976-1983...
, former NHL hockey player - Derek MillerDerek Miller-External links:* - Official Website* Derek Miller's MySpace...
, singer-songwriter - Shelley NiroShelley NiroShelley Niro is a Mohawk filmmaker and visual artist from New York and Ontario.-Background:Shelley Niro was born in Niagara Falls, New York in 1954 and grew up on the Six Nations Reserve, near Brantford, Ontario, Canada. She is a member of the Turtle Clan. Niro graduated from the Ontario College...
(b. 1954), filmmaker, photographer, and installation artist - Ots-TochOts-TochOts-Toch is the traditional name given to a 17th century Mohawk woman from Canajoharie who married Dutch trader Cornelius Anthonisse Van Slyck and founded the Van Slyck family in New Netherland....
, wife of Dutch colonist Cornelius A. Van Slyck - Alex RiceAlex RiceAlexandrea Kawisenhawe Rice born in 1972 in Kahnawake, Quebec, Canada, is a First Nation actress.-Early life:Alex Rice is a Kanien'kehaka born in 1972 in Kahnawake, Quebec, and is proud of her Mohawk heritage. She is also a member of the Rice family of Kahnawake, having descended from Edmund...
, actress - Robbie RobertsonRobbie RobertsonRobbie Robertson, OC; is a Canadian singer-songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known for his membership as the guitarist and primary songwriter within The Band. He was ranked 59th in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time...
, singer-songwriter, The BandThe BandThe Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm... - August SchellenbergAugust SchellenbergAugust Schellenberg is a Canadian actor. His ethnicity is Mohawk and Swiss-German. He was trained at the National Theatre School of Canada.His first film was Rip-Off in 1971. In 1981, he did voices for the animated film Heavy Metal...
, actor - Jay SilverheelsJay SilverheelsJay Silverheels was a Canadian Mohawk First Nations actor. He was well known for his role as Tonto, the faithful American Indian companion of the Lone Ranger in a long-running American television series. -Early life:...
, actor - Jake Swamp, Mohawk leader
- Blessed Kateri TekakwithaKateri TekakwithaKateri Tekakwitha or Catherine Tekakwitha was a Mohawk-Algonquian woman from New York and an early convert to Catholicism, who has been beatified in the Roman Catholic Church.-Her life:...
- Billy Two RiversBilly Two RiversBilly Two Rivers , born May 5, 1935, is a retired Canadian professional wrestler. He began wrestling professionally in 1953 and competed until 1977. During his career, he wrestled in the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, and Canada. After retiring from wrestling, he became a leader of the...
, professional wrestler - Mike Martelle, professional MMA champion
- Kaniehtiio HornKaniehtiio HornKaniehtiio Horn is a Mohawk actress. She was nominated for a Gemini Award for her role in the television film Moccasin Flats: Redemption...
, film and television actress
See also
- African Americans with Native HeritageBlack IndiansBlack Native Americans is a term that refers to people of African-American descent, usually with significant Native American ancestry, who also have strong ties to Native American culture, social, and historical traditions....
- Iroquois Confederacy
- Mohawk languageMohawk languageMohawk is an Iroquoian language spoken by around 2,000 people of the Mohawk nation in the United States and Canada . Mohawk has the largest number of speakers of the Northern Iroquoian languages; today it is the only one with greater than a thousand remaining...
- Native American tribe
- Native Americans in the United StatesNative Americans in the United StatesNative Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
- Oka CrisisOka CrisisThe Oka Crisis was a land dispute between a group of Mohawk people and the town of Oka, Quebec, Canada which began on July 11, 1990 and lasted until September 26, 1990. At least one person died as a result...
- One-Drop RuleOne-drop ruleThe one-drop rule is a historical colloquial term in the United States for the social classification as black of individuals with any African ancestry; meaning any person with "one drop of black blood" was considered black...
- The Kahnawake Iroquois and the Rebellions of 1837-38
- The Flying HeadThe Flying HeadThe Flying Head, or Ko nea rau neh neh, is a spiritual being within the traditional belief systems of the Iroquois people."The Great God hath sent us signs in the sky we have heard uncommon noise in the heavens and have seen HEADS fall down upon the earth" Speech of Tahayadoris a Mohawk sachem at...
- Kahnawake surnamesKahnawake surnamesThe Mohawk Nation reserve of Kahnawake, near Montreal, Quebec, Canada, includes residents with surnames of Mohawk, French, Scots and English ancestry, reflecting the adoption of European children into the community, as well as intermarriage with local colonial settlers over the life of the early...
External links
- Mohawk Creation Story
- "Tsiionhiakwatha archaeological site and interpretation centre".
- "Mohawk Institute", Geronimo Henry
- Hodenasaunee Clothing and other Cultural Items
- The Wampum Chronicles: Mohawk Territory on the Internet, a website dedicated to Mohawk history, culture, and current events
- Iroquois Book of Rites