Mohawk

The Mohawk called themselves Kanien ‘kehá:ka, or “People of the Place of Flint.” They are one of the five original nations forming the Iroquois Confederacy. They are also known as the “Keepers of the Eastern Door” because they provided protection for the Confederacy from invasion in that direction. The Mohawk are an Iroquoian-speaking people, originally from the Mohawk Valley in upstate New York.

Today, members of the Mohawk tribe live throughout upstate New York and southeastern Ontario and Quebec, Canada. The St. Regis Mohawk reservation, also known as Akwesasne, is located in Franklin County, New York, and is adjacent to the Akwesasne reserve in Ontario and Quebec. Although they straddle the United States and Canada, the St. Regis and Akwesasne Mohawk view themselves as one community. Ganienkeh is a Mohawk community founded in 1973 near Altona, New York, and Kanatsiohareke is a Mohawk community re-established in 1993 on ancient homeland west of Fonda, New York. There are five Mohawk reserves in Canada (Akwesasne, Kanesatake/Oka, Kahnawake, Tyen-dinaga, and Wahta/Gibson) and another Iroquois reserve (Six Nations of the Grand River), which has a considerable Mohawk population. According to the 2010 census report, there are 81,002 people of Iroquois descent in the United States. This doesn't accurately convey the population of Mohawk people in the United States. However, there are approximately 25,000 Mohawk people registered with the St. Regis, Akwesasne, and Six Nations communities.

First contact between the Mohawk and the Dutch occurred when the latter established a trading post at Fort Nassau, New Netherland, in 1614 (near present-day Albany, New York). The Mohawks established a monopoly in the fur trade with the Dutch, ultimately becoming their allies in fighting the French. In the aftermath of the 1666 to 1667 French attack (to avenge the killing of Jesuit priests), Jesuit missionaries converted many Mohawk to Christianity and established two Catholic missions near Montreal (later known as Kahnawake). During this time, a young Mohawk woman, Kateri Tekakwitha, converted. She is the first Native American to be declared blessed (beatified in Rome by Pope John Paul II in 1980). Throughout the 1690s, the Mohawk continued to convert to Christianity under Protestant missionaries.

During the American Revolutionary War, a majority of Mohawk fought against the United States because of treaty obligations with the British and conflicts with settlers; some Mohawk sided with the Americans, while others remained neutral. After the war, American retaliatory raids upon the Mohawk forced them west to Fort Niagara or into Canada. The well-known Mohawk Joseph Brandt established the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario at this time. In November 1794, the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) signed the Treaty of Canadaigua with the United States, calling for peace, non-interference between the United States and tribal nations, and annuity payments.

The Iroquois League, governing the ceremonial and cultural institutions of the Haudenosaunee, consisted of 50 sachems, or chiefs, from each of the original five tribes or nations. The Haudenosaunee [Page 1481]were matrilineal societies; hereditary leadership was passed down through female family lines. Consequently, although usually men, sachem were appointed by women. Mohawk society comprises three clans (Wolf, Bear, and Turtle), composed of matrilineal lineages. Three Mohawk sachem from each clan participated in the Iroquois Great Council, the meetings of the 50 sachem of the league. Today, many Mohawk communities have hereditary and elected chiefs; the latter are recognized by Canadian and U.S. governments.

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