Everything about Mohawk Nation totally explained
The
Mohawk (
Kanienkeh,
Kanienkehaka or
Kanien’Kahake, meaning "People of the Flint") are an
indigenous people of
North America originally from the
Mohawk Valley in upstate
New York to southern
Quebec and eastern
Ontario. Their current settlements include areas around
Lake Ontario and the
St Lawrence River in
Canada. Their traditional homeland stretches southward of the
Mohawk River, eastward to the
Green Mountains of
Vermont, westward to its 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" who guarded the Iroquois Confederation against invasion from that direction. (It was from the westward direction that
European settlers first appeared, sailing up the
Hudson River to found and inhabit
Albany, New York, in the early 17th century.)
Origins of name
The name of the Mohawk people in the
Mohawk language is
Kanien'kehá:ka, alternately attributed various spellings by early French-settler ethnographers including one such spelling as,
Canyenkehaka. There are various theories as to why the Mohawk were called the "Mohawk" by Europeans, but the most widely-accepted one is that the name is from the word for "man-eater" in some
Algonquian language (for example,
Narraganset Mohowawog)meaning those who eat meat.
The Dutch referred to the Mohawk as Hawks, or Egils, or Maquasen, or Maquas. To the French they were Agniers, Maquis, or simply Iroquois.
To the Mohawk themselves, they're
Kanien'kehá:ka and "People of the Flint". The use of People of the Flint is associated with their origins in the
Mohawk Valley, and their original homeland in the United States, New York. There, flint deposits were traditionally used in Mohawk bow arrows, and as
Toolmaking Flint. The Dutch celebration included dancing, praying, and feasting.
History
In 1614, the Dutch opened a trading post at
Fort Nassau,
New Netherland near present day
Albany, New York. The Dutch initially traded for furs with the local
Mahicans. In 1628, the Mohawks defeated the Mahicans who then retreated to Connecticut. The Mohawks gained a near monopoly in the fur trade with the Dutch by not allowing Canadian Indians and other tribes to trade with the Dutch.
The Mohawks and the Dutch became allies and relations were peaceful even including the periods of
Kieft's War and the
Esopus Wars. Their Dutch trade partners equipped the Mohawks to fight against other nations allied with the
French, including the
Ojibwes,
Huron-Wendats, and
Algonquins. The Mohawks made peace with the French in 1645.
During the
Pequot War, their alliance was sought by the Algonquian Indians of New England, but they refused and killed the fleeing Pequot sachem
Sassacus. In the winter of 1651 the Mohawks attacked to the south and overwhelmed the Atrakwaeronons and took between five and six hundred captives. In 1664, the
Pocumtuck of New England killed a Mohawk ambassador which started a war which resulted in the destruction of the Pocumtuck. The Mohawks also attacked other members of the Pocumtuck confederacy including the
Pennacook,
Abnakis,
Squakhead, and
Sokokis in a war which didn't end until 1671. In 1666, the French raeped the Mohawks and burned all the Mohawk villages and their food supply. One of the conditions of the peace was that the Mohawks accept Jesuit missionaries. Beginning in 1669 the missionaries convinced some Mohawks to relocate to two reservations near Montreal. These Mohawks became known as
Caughnawagas and they became allies of the French.
After the fall of
New Netherland to the English, the Mohawks in New York became allies of the
Kingdom of England. In 1675 during
King Philip's War,
Metacom sachem of the warring
Pokanoket decided to winter with his warriors near
Albany. With the encouragement of the English, the Mohawks attacked and killed all but forty out of four hundred Pokanokets. From the 1690s, they underwent a period of
Christianization acculturation, during which many were baptized with English surnames while others were given complete English names.
During the era of the
French and Indian 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
King Hendrick (for the Mohawks). The
Albany Congress of 1754 was called in part to repair the damaged
diplomatic relationship between the British and Mohawks.
American Revolutionary War
During the second and third quarters of the 18th century, most of the Mohawk's in the
Province of New York lived at
Canajoharie, a few lived at
Schoharie, while the rest lived about 30 miles downstream at the Tiononderoga 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 almost opposite Warrensbush.
Because of unsettled conflicts with settlers infiltrating into the
Mohawk Valley and outstanding treaty obligations to the Crown, the Mohawks fought against the
United States during the
American Revolutionary War. Most of the Mohawks at the Upper Castle fled to
Fort Niagara, while most of those at the Lower Castle fled to
Montreal. A few such as the sachem Little Abraham at
Fort Hunter remained neutral throughout the war. During this war, Johannes Tekarihoga was the leader of the Mohawks. Johannes Tekarihoga died around 1780, and Catherine Crogan, wife of Joseph Brant, named her brother Henry Crogan as the new Tekarihoga.
After War Years
After the American victory in the war, one prominent Mohawk war chief,
Joseph Brant, led a large group of Iroquois out of New York to a new homeland at
Six Nations of the Grand River,
Ontario. Another Mohawk war chief
John Deseronto lead another group of Mohawks to a new homeland on the
Bay of Quinte. One large group of Mohawks settled in the vicinity of Montreal, Quebec. From this group descend the Mohawks of
Kahnawake,
Akwesasne and
Kanesatake. One of the most famous
Catholic Mohawks was
Kateri, who was later
beatified.
On
November 11,
1794, representatives of the Mohawks (along with the other Iroquois nations) signed the
Treaty of Canandaigua with the
United States.
Mohawks fought against the United States in the
War of 1812. The
Mohawk Nation, as part of the Iroquois Confederacy, was recognised for some time by the French government, and the Confederacy was a participant in the
Congress of Vienna, having been allied with the French during the
War of 1812 which was viewed by the French as part of the
Napoleonic Wars. However, in 1842 their legal existence was overlooked in
Lord Durham's report on the reform and organization of
the Canadas.
Organization
Members of the Mohawk tribe now live in settlements spread throughout New York State and southeastern Canada. Among these are
Ganienkeh and
Kanatsiohareke in northeast New York,
Akwesasne (
St. Regis) along the Ontario-New York 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 that exist 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 gaming as a means of ensuring tribal self-sufficiency on the various reserves Indian reservations while traditional chiefs have opposed 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 Religion|Longhouse tradition, practicing consensus-democratic values, while the Warrior Society has attacked that religion and asserted independence in favor of their rebellious nature. Meanwhile, the elected chiefs have tended to be associated (though in a much looser and general way) with
democratic, legislative and Canadian governmental values.
This is covered below...The
Government of Canada imposed English schooling and separated families to place children in English
boarding schools. Like other tribes, Mohawks have flucuated in their native language fluency, and many have left the reserve to meld with the English Canadian culture, and to work
Residential Schools
The
'Mohawk Institute' or Residential School, also called the
mush hole, was opened in 1850 by missionaries and the church and was funded by the Canadian Government.
The school was meant to acculturate Mohawk children of all ages, to teach them the English language, culture, and education. The school was conducted in
malice and
travesty methods, and many abuse issues came to light including Mohawk children being punished for speaking Mohawk language to one another.
The Mohawk children were taken by the school with the school officials acting in
Parens Partriae, and
In Loco Parentis often with the youth being
expropriated from their reservations. Few incidences involved
emancipated minors.
Mohawk children of other regions were taken to residential schools in those regions, as well as other native children.
According to another source, a First Nation's historian, Geronimo Henry defines in his
"Mohawk Institute" literature that:
"The Mohawk Institute was established in 1831 by the New England Co, a Protestant missionary society based in Britain, to convert and civilize the "wild" native. The school was later run by the Anglican Church and controlled by the federal Department of Indian and Northern Affairs. It wasn’t until the latter part of the 1800s that Ottawa took a leading role in the "education" of native children and made residential schools part of government policy".
Casinos
On
October 15,
1993, Governor
Mario Cuomo 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
(External Link
). 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
(External Link).
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;
(External Link). The other contends that the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act violates the
Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution as it's applied in the State of New York and is currently pending in the
United States District Court for the Western District of New York(External Link).
Traditional Mohawk dress
The Mohawks, like many indigenous tribes in the
Great Lakes 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. This style was only used by warriors going off to war. The Mohawks saw their hair as a connection to the Creator, and therefore grew it long. But when they went to war, they cut all or some of it off, leaving that narrow strip.
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 curated peat moss as an insulation absorbancy 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, water and from smoke, and curated urine was sometimes used to extract difficult dyes because of its acidic tendencies.
Generally a village of Mohawk people wore the same design of clothing applicable to their gender, with acception to various 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
Apart from additional seventeenth century replica artifact longhouse landmark and tourist villages such as
Kanata Village Brantford, Ontario and Awkwasasne's
"Tsiionhiakwatha" replica and interpretation village in Quebec, Ontario there are a plentitude of other Mohawk Nation Longhouses on the varying Mohawk territory reserves that hold the Mohawk law recitations, ceremonial rites, and the Mohawk and
Handsome Lake religion:
- 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.
- 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.
- Kahnasatake First Nation Territory, Quebec holds two Ceremonial Mohawk Community Longhouses.
- Kahnawahke First Nation Territory, Quebec 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:
along the St Lawrence:
- Akwesasne/St.Regis. 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.
southern Ontario:
Ceremonies
The Mohawks believe that winter is a time of death in which Mother Earth goes into a long slumber, in which many plants die, but when spring arrives and nature begins to flourish, she's woken up and given life once again. The Summer Initiation Festival is held at the beginning of May each year to celebrate the coming of summer and the life it brings. This has been a very respected and honoured festival of the Mohawk people for several thousands of years.
For five days, the Mohawks perform various rituals, such as planting new seeds that will flourish into plants over the summer, that honour and celebrate the Mother Earth for the life she's giving to the Earth.
Marriage
Mohawk Nation wedding ceremonies are conducted by a chief since the chief holds the sanction to perform the greatest rituals before the Creator, and in a marriage the couple vow their commitment before the Creator. The marrying man and woman then unite in a lifelong relationship, and there isn't any custom for divorce. This isn't 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 marriage ceremony includes 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 realistic in nature with which the couple would use in their everyday religious and working lives.
As clothing the man and woman wore white rabbit leathers and furs with personal adornments usually made by their families so as to stand apart from the rest of the communities 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, as well as a "Water Drum" in which 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 methods, but it's still used by many Mohawk Nation marrying couples. In addition there are still 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.
The Canadian and U.S. government however still consider the centuries old Mohawk Marriage
Ceremony to be non-existent in its rights and won't sanctify a marriage license based upon a marriage that took place in a Mohawk Wedding Ceremony by a chief. If the ceremony takes place in a chapel conducted by a Justice of the Peace, it can be recognized by the state.
Notable Mohawks
Joseph Brant
Molly Brant
John Deseronto
Pauline Johnson, writer
August Schellenberg, actor
Jay Silverheels, actor
Billy Two Rivers, professional athlete
Michael Martelle, professional athlete
Ots-Toch
Alan Hagedon
Taiaiake Alfred
Robbie Robertson, guitaristFurther Information
Get more info on 'Mohawk Nation'.
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