Hubbry Logo
Mohawk peopleMohawk peopleMain
Open search
Mohawk people
Community hub
Mohawk people
logo
8 pages, 0 posts
0 subscribers
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Mohawk people
Mohawk people
Mohawk people
View on Wikipedia
from Wikipedia

Key Information

kanien
"flint"
PeopleKanienʼkehá:ka
LanguageKanienʼkéha
CountryKanièn:ke
     Haudenosauneega
Map of Mohawk River

The Mohawk, also known by their own name, Kanien'kehá:ka (lit. 'People of the Flint'[2]), are an Indigenous people of North America and the easternmost nation of the Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois Confederacy (also known as the Five Nations or later the Six Nations).

Mohawk are an Iroquoian-speaking people with communities in southeastern Canada and northern New York State, primarily around Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. As one of the five original members of the Iroquois Confederacy, the Mohawk are known as the Keepers of the Eastern Door who are the guardians of the confederation against invasions from the east.

Today, Mohawk people belong to the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne, Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte First Nation, Mohawks of Kahnawà:ke, Mohawks of Kanesatake, Six Nations of the Grand River, and Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, a federally recognized tribe in the United States.[3]

At the time of European contact, Mohawk people were based in the valley of the Mohawk River in present-day upstate New York, west of the Hudson River. Their territory ranged north to the St. Lawrence River, southern Quebec and eastern Ontario; south to greater New Jersey and into Pennsylvania; eastward to the Green Mountains of Vermont; and westward to the border with the Iroquoian Oneida Nation's traditional homeland territory.

Mohawk communities

[edit]
Kanienʼkehá:ka dancer at a powwow in 2015
Contemporary Quebec Kanienʼkehá꞉ka person performing a hoop dance at Wikimania 2017

Members of the Kanienʼkehá:ka people now live in settlements in northern New York State and southeastern Canada.

class=notpageimage|
Contemporary Mohawk communities

Many Kanienʼkehá:ka communities have two sets of chiefs, who are in some sense competing governmental rivals. One group are the hereditary chiefs (royaner), nominated by Clan Mother matriarchs in the traditional Mohawk fashion. Mohawks of most of the reserves have established constitutions with elected chiefs and councilors, with whom the Canadian and U.S. governments usually prefer to deal exclusively. The self-governing communities are listed below, grouped by broad geographical cluster, with notes on the character of community governance found in each.

  • Northern New York:
  • Along the St Lawrence in Quebec:
    • Ahkwesáhsne (St. Regis, New York and Quebec/Ontario, Canada) "Where the partridge drums". Traditional governance, band/tribal elections.
    • Kahnawà:ke (south of Montréal) "On the rapids". Canada, traditional governance, band/tribal elections.
    • Kanehsatà:ke (Oka) "Where the snow crust is". Canada, traditional governance, band/tribal elections.
    • Tioweró:ton (Sainte-Lucie-des-Laurentides, Quebec). Canada, shared governance between Kahnawà꞉ke and Kanehsatà꞉ke.
  • Southern Ontario:
    • Kenhtè꞉ke (Tyendinaga) "On the bay". Traditional governance, band/tribal elections.
    • Wáhta (Gibson) "Maple tree". Traditional governance, band/tribal elections.
    • Ohswé:ken "Six Nations of the Grand River". Traditional governance, band/tribal elections. Mohawks form the majority of the population of this Iroquois Six Nations reserve. There are also Mohawk Orange Lodges in Canada.

Given increased activism for land claims, a rise in tribal revenues due to establishment of gaming on certain reserves or reservations, competing leadership, traditional government jurisdiction, issues of taxation, and the Canadian Indian Act, Mohawk communities have been dealing with considerable internal conflict since the late 20th century.

Language

[edit]

The Mohawk language, or its native name, Kanyen'kéha, is a Northern Iroquoian language. Like many Indigenous languages of the Americas, Mohawk is a polysynthetic language. Written in the Roman alphabet, its orthography was standardized in 1993 at the Mohawk Language Standardization Conference.[4]

Name

[edit]

In the Mohawk language, the Mohawk people call themselves the Kanienʼkehá꞉ka ("people of the flint"). The Mohawk became wealthy traders as other nations in their confederacy needed their flint for tool making. Their Algonquian-speaking neighbors (and competitors), the people of Muh-heck Haeek Ing ("food area place"), the Mohicans, referred to the people of Ka-nee-en Ka as Maw Unk Lin, meaning "bear people". The Dutch heard and wrote this term as Mohawk, and also referred to the Kanienʼkehá꞉ka as Egil or Maqua.

The French colonists adapted these latter terms as Aignier and Maqui, respectively. They also referred to the people by the generic Iroquois, a French derivation of the Algonquian term for the Five Nations, meaning "Big Snakes". The Algonquians and Iroquois were traditional competitors and enemies.

History

[edit]

First contact with European settlers

[edit]

In the upper Hudson and Mohawk Valley regions, the Mohawks long had contact with the Algonquian-speaking Mohican people who occupied territory along the Hudson, as well as other Algonquian and Iroquoian peoples to the north around the Great Lakes. The Mohawks had extended their own influence into the St. Lawrence River Valley, which they maintained for hunting grounds.

The Mohawk likely defeated the St. Lawrence Iroquoians in the 16th century, and kept control of their territory. In addition to hunting and fishing, for centuries the Mohawks cultivated productive maize fields on the fertile floodplains along the Mohawk River, west of the Pine Bush.

On June 28, 1609, a band of Hurons led Samuel De Champlain and his crew into Mohawk country, the Mohawks being completely unaware of this situation. De Champlain made it clear he wanted to strike the Mohawks down after their raids on the neighboring nations. On July 29, 1609, hundreds of Hurons and many of De Champlain's French crew fell back from the mission, daunted by what lay ahead. Sixty Huron Indians, De Champlain, and two Frenchmen saw some Mohawks in a lake near Ticonderoga; the Mohawks spotted them as well. De Champlain and his crew fell back, then advanced to the Mohawk barricade after landing on a beach. They met the Mohawks at the barricade; 200 warriors advanced behind four chiefs. They were equally astonished to see each other—De Champlain surprised at their stature, confidence, and dress; the Mohawks surprised by De Champlain's steel cuirass and helmet. One of the chiefs raised his bow at Champlain and the Indians. Champlain fired three shots that pierced the Mohawk chiefs' wooden armor, killing them instantly. The Mohawks stood in shock until they started flinging arrows at the crowd. A brawl began and the Mohawks fell back seeing the damage this new technology dealt on their chiefs and warriors. This was the first contact the Mohawks had with Europeans. This incident also sparked the Beaver Wars.

Beaver Wars

[edit]

In the seventeenth century, the Mohawk encountered both the Dutch, who went up the Hudson River and established a trading post in 1614 at the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers, and the French, who came south into their territory from New France (present-day Quebec). The Dutch were primarily merchants and the French also conducted fur trading. During this time the Mohawk fought with the Huron in the Beaver Wars for control of the fur trade with the Europeans. Their Jesuit missionaries were active among First Nations and Native Americans, seeking converts to Catholicism.

In 1614, the Dutch opened a trading post at Fort Nassau, New Netherland. The Dutch initially traded for furs with the local Mohican, who occupied the territory along the Hudson River. Following a raid in 1626 when the Mohawks resettled along the south side of the Mohawk River,[5]: pp.xix–xx  in 1628, they mounted an attack against the Mohican, pushing them back to the area of present-day Connecticut. The Mohawks gained a near-monopoly in the fur trade with the Dutch by prohibiting the nearby Algonquian-speaking peoples to the north or east to trade with them but did not entirely control this.

European contact resulted in a devastating smallpox epidemic among the Mohawk in 1635; this reduced their population by 63%, from 7,740 to 2,830, as they had no immunity to the new disease. By 1642 they had regrouped from four into three villages, recorded by Catholic missionary priest Isaac Jogues in 1642 as Ossernenon, Andagaron, and Tionontoguen, all along the south side of the Mohawk River from east to west. These were recorded by speakers of other languages with different spellings, and historians have struggled to reconcile various accounts, as well as to align them with archeological studies of the areas. For instance, Johannes Megapolensis, a Dutch minister, recorded the spelling of the same three villages as Asserué, Banagiro, and Thenondiogo.[5] Late 20th-century archeological studies have determined that Ossernenon was located about 9 miles west of the current city of Auriesville; the two were mistakenly conflated by a tradition that developed in the late 19th century in the Catholic Church.[6][7]

While the Dutch later established settlements in present-day Schenectady and Schoharie, further west in the Mohawk Valley, merchants in Fort Nassau continued to control the fur trading. Schenectady was established essentially as a farming settlement, where the Dutch took over some of the former Mohawk maize fields in the floodplain along the river. Through trading, the Mohawk and Dutch became allies of a kind.

During their alliance, the Mohawks allowed Dutch Protestant missionary Johannes Megapolensis to come into their communities and teach the Christian message. He operated from the Fort Nassau area for about six years, writing a record in 1644 of his observations of the Mohawk, their language (which he learned), and their culture. While he noted their ritual of torture of captives, he recognized that their society had few other killings, especially compared to the Netherlands of that period.[8][9]

The trading relations between the Mohawk and Dutch helped them maintain peace even during the periods of Kieft's War and the Esopus Wars, when the Dutch fought localized battles with other native peoples. In addition, Dutch trade partners equipped the Mohawk with guns to fight against other First Nations who were allied with the French, including the Ojibwe, Huron-Wendat, and Algonquin. In 1645, the Mohawk made peace for a time with the French, who were trying to keep a piece of the fur trade.[10]

During the Pequot War (1634–1638), the Pequot and other Algonquian Indians of coastal New England sought an alliance with the Mohawks against English colonists of that region. Disrupted by their losses to smallpox, the Mohawks refused the alliance. They killed the Pequot sachem Sassacus who had come to them for refuge, and returned part of his remains to the English governor of Connecticut, John Winthrop, as proof of his death.[11]

In the winter of 1651, the Mohawk attacked on the southeast and overwhelmed the Algonquian in the coastal areas. They took between 500 and 600 captives. In 1664, the Pequot of New England killed a Mohawk ambassador, starting a war that resulted in the destruction of the Pequot, as the English and their allies in New England entered the conflict, trying to suppress the Native Americans in the region. The Mohawk also attacked other members of the Pequot confederacy, in a war that lasted until 1671.[citation needed]

In 1666, the French attacked the Mohawk in the central New York area, burning the three Mohawk villages south of the river and their stored food supply. One of the conditions of the peace was that the Mohawk accept Jesuit missionaries. Beginning in 1669, missionaries attempted to convert Mohawks to Christianity, operating a mission in Ossernenon 9 miles west[6][7] of present-day Auriesville, New York until 1684, when the Mohawks destroyed it, killing several priests.

Over time, some converted Mohawk relocated to Jesuit mission villages established south of Montreal on the St. Lawrence River in the early 1700s: Kahnawake (used to be spelled as Caughnawaga, named for the village of that name in the Mohawk Valley) and Kanesatake. These Mohawk were joined by members of other Indigenous peoples but dominated the settlements by number. Many converted to Roman Catholicism. In the 1740s, Mohawk and French set up another village upriver, which is known as Akwesasne. Today a Mohawk reserve, it spans the St. Lawrence River and present-day international boundaries to New York, United States, where it is known as the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation.

Kateri Tekakwitha, born at Ossernenon in the late 1650s, has become noted as a Mohawk convert to Catholicism. She moved with relatives to Caughnawaga on the north side of the Mohawk river after her parents' deaths.[5] She was known for her faith and a shrine was built to her in New York. In the late 20th century, she was beatified and was canonized in October 2012 as the first Native American Catholic saint. She is also recognized by the Episcopal and Lutheran churches.

After the fall of New Netherland to England in 1664, the Mohawk in New York traded with the English and sometimes acted as their 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 Mohawk attacked and killed all but 40 of the 400 Pokanoket.[citation needed]

From the 1690s, Protestant missionaries sought to convert the Mohawk in the New York colony. Many were baptized with English surnames, while others were given both first and surnames in English.

During the late 17th and early 18th centuries, the Mohawk and Abenaki First Nations in New England were involved in raids conducted by the French and English against each other's settlements during Queen Anne's War and other conflicts. They conducted a growing trade in captives, holding them for ransom. Neither of the colonial governments generally negotiated for common captives, and it was up to local European communities to raise funds to ransom their residents. In some cases, French and Abenaki raiders transported captives from New England to Montreal and the Mohawk mission villages. The Mohawk at Kahnawake forcibly adopted numerous young women and children to add to their own members, having suffered losses to disease and warfare. For instance, among them were numerous survivors of the more than 100 captives taken in the Deerfield raid in western Massachusetts. The minister of Deerfield was ransomed and returned to Massachusetts, but his daughter was forcibly adopted by a Mohawk family and ultimately assimilated and married a Mohawk man.[12]

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 in New York (for the British Crown), Conrad Weiser (on behalf of the colony of Pennsylvania), and Hendrick Theyanoguin (for the Mohawk). Johnson called the Albany Congress in June 1754, to discuss with the Iroquois chiefs repair of the damaged diplomatic relationship between the British and the Mohawk, along with securing their cooperation and support in fighting the French,[13] in engagements in North America.

American Revolutionary War

[edit]

During the second and third quarters of the 18th century, most of the Mohawks in the Province of New York lived along the Mohawk River at Canajoharie. A few lived at Schoharie, and the rest lived about 30 miles downstream at the Tionondorage Castle, also called Fort Hunter. These two major 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, the British Superintendent of Indian Affairs, built his first house on the north bank of the Mohawk River almost opposite Warrensbush and established the settlement of Johnstown.

The Mohawk were among the four Iroquois people that allied with the British during the American Revolutionary War. They had a long trading relationship with the British and hoped to gain support to prohibit colonists from encroaching into their territory in the Mohawk Valley. Joseph Brant acted as a war chief and successfully led raids against British and ethnic German colonists in the Mohawk Valley, who had been given land by the British administration near the rapids at present-day Little Falls, New York.

A few prominent Mohawk, such as the sachem Little Abraham (Tyorhansera) at Fort Hunter, remained neutral throughout the war.[14] Joseph Louis Cook (Akiatonharónkwen), a veteran of the French and Indian War and ally of the rebels, offered his services to the Americans, receiving an officer's commission from the Continental Congress. He led Oneida warriors against the British. During this war, Johannes Tekarihoga was the civil leader of the Mohawk. He died around 1780. Catherine Crogan, a clan mother and wife of Mohawk war chief Joseph Brant, named her brother Henry Crogan as the new Tekarihoga.

In retaliation for Brant's raids in the valley, the rebel colonists organized Sullivan's Expedition. It conducted extensive raids against other Iroquois settlements in central and western New York, destroying 40 villages, crops, and winter stores. Many Mohawk and other Iroquois migrated to Canada for refuge near Fort Niagara, struggling to survive the winter.

After the Revolution

[edit]
Teyoninhokovrawen (John Norton) played a prominent role in the War of 1812, leading Iroquois warriors from Grand River into battle against Americans. Norton was part Cherokee and part Scottish.

After the American victory, the British ceded their claim to land in the colonies, and the Americans forced their allies, the Mohawks and others, to give up their territories in New York. Most of the Mohawks migrated to Canada, where the Crown gave them some land in compensation. The Mohawks at the Upper Castle fled to Fort Niagara, while most of those at the Lower Castle went to villages near Montreal.

Joseph Brant led a large group of Iroquois out of New York to what became the reserve of the Six Nations of the Grand River, Ontario. Brant continued as a political leader of the Mohawks for the rest of his life. This land extended 100 miles from the head of the Grand River to the head of Lake Erie where it discharges.[15] Another Mohawk war chief, John Deseronto, led a group of Mohawk to the Bay of Quinte. Other Mohawks settled in the vicinity of Montreal and upriver, joining the established communities (now reserves) at Kahnawake, Kanesatake, and Akwesasne.

On November 11, 1794, representatives of the Mohawk (along with the other Iroquois nations) signed the Treaty of Canandaigua with the United States, which allowed them to own land there.

The Mohawks fought as allies of the British against the United States in the War of 1812.

20th century to present

[edit]

In 1971, the Mohawk Warrior Society, also Rotisken’rakéhte in the Mohawk language, was founded in Kahnawake. The duties of the Warrior Society are to use roadblocks, evictions, and occupations to gain rights for their people, and these tactics are also used among the warriors to protect the environment from pollution. The notable movements started by the Mohawk Warrior Society have been the Oka Crisis blockades in 1990 and the Caledonia Ontario, Douglas Creek occupation of a construction site in summer of 2006.

On May 13, 1974, at 4:00 a.m, Mohawks from the Kahnawake and Akwesasne reservations repossessed traditional Mohawk land near Old Forge, New York, occupying Moss Lake, an abandoned girls camp. The New York state government attempted to shut the operation down, but after negotiation, the state offered the Mohawk some land in Miner Lake, where they have since settled.

The Mohawks have organized for more sovereignty at their reserves in Canada, pressing for authority over their people and lands. Tensions with the Quebec provincial and national governments have been strained during certain protests, such as the Oka Crisis in 1990.

In 1993, a group of Akwesasne Mohawks purchased 322 acres of land in the Town of Palatine in Montgomery County, New York which they named Kanatsiohareke. It marked a return to their ancestral land.

Mohawk ironworkers in New York

[edit]
See also: Mohawk skywalkers

Mohawks came from Kahnawake and other reserves to work in the construction industry in New York City in the early through the mid-20th century. They had also worked in construction in Quebec. The men were ironworkers who helped build bridges and skyscrapers, and who were called skywalkers because of their seeming fearlessness.[16] They worked from the 1930s to the 1970s on special labor contracts as specialists and participated in building the Empire State Building. The construction companies found that the Mohawk ironworkers did not fear heights or dangerous conditions. Their contracts offered lower than average wages to the First Nations people and limited labor union membership.[17] About 10% of all ironworkers in the New York area are Mohawks,[when?] down from about 15% earlier in the 20th century.[18]

The work and home life of Mohawk ironworkers was documented in Don Owen's 1965 National Film Board of Canada documentary High Steel.[19] The Mohawk community that formed in a compact area of Brooklyn, which they called "Little Caughnawaga", after their homeland, is documented in Reaghan Tarbell's Little Caughnawaga: To Brooklyn and Back, shown on PBS in 2008. This community was most active from the 1920s to the 1960s. The families accompanied the men, who were mostly from Kahnawake; together they would return to Kahnawake during the summer. Tarbell is from Kahnawake and was working as a film curator at the George Gustav Heye Center of the National Museum of the American Indian, located in the former Custom House in Lower Manhattan.[20]

Since the mid-20th century, Mohawks have also formed their own construction companies. Others returned to New York projects. Mohawk skywalkers had built the World Trade Center buildings that were destroyed during the September 11 attacks, helped rescue people from the burning towers in 2001, and helped dismantle the remains of the building afterwards.[21] Approximately 200 Mohawk ironworkers (out of 2,000 total ironworkers at the site) participated in rebuilding the One World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan. They typically drive the 360 miles from the Kahnawake reserve on the St. Lawrence River in Quebec to work the week in lower Manhattan and then return on the weekend to be with their families. A selection of portraits of these Mohawk ironworkers were featured in an online photo essay for Time magazine in September 2012.[22]

Contemporary issues

[edit]

Gambling

[edit]

Both the elected chiefs and the 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.

On October 15, 1993, Governor Mario Cuomo entered into the "Tribal-State Compact Between the St. Regis Mohawk First Nation and the State of New York". The compact allowed the Indigenous people 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 state police, with some law enforcement matters left to the community. 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.[23] 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.[24]

In 2008 the Mohawk Nation was working to obtain approval to own and operate a casino in Sullivan County, New York, at Monticello Raceway. The U.S. Department of the Interior disapproved this action although the Mohawks gained Governor Eliot Spitzer's concurrence, subject to the negotiation and approval of either an amendment to the current compact or a new compact. Interior rejected the Mohawks' application to take this land into trust.[25]

In the early 21st century, two legal cases were pending that related to Native American gambling and land claims in New York. The State of New York has expressed similar objections to the Dept. of Interior taking other land into trust for federally recognized 'tribes', which would establish the land as sovereign Native American territory, on which they might establish new gaming facilities.[26] The other suit 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. In 2010 it was pending in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York.[27]

Culture

[edit]

Social organization

[edit]

The main structures of social organization are the clans (ken'tara'okòn:'a). The number of clans vary among the Haudenosaunee; the Mohawk have three: Bear (Ohkwa:ri), Turtle (A'nó:wara), and Wolf (Okwaho).[28] Clans are nominally the descendants of a single female ancestor, with women possessing the leadership role. Each member of the same clan, across all the Six Nations, is considered a relative. Traditionally, marriages between people of the same clan are forbidden.[note 1] Children belong to their mother's clan.[29]

Religion

[edit]

Traditional Mohawk religion is mostly Animist. "Much of the religion is based on a primordial conflict between good and evil."[30] Many Mohawks continue to follow the Longhouse Religion.

In 1632 a band of Jesuit missionaries now known as the Canadian Martyrs led by Isaac Jogues was captured by a party of Mohawks and brought to Ossernenon (now Auriesville, New York). Jogues and company attempted to convert the Mohawks to Catholicism, but the Mohawks took them captive, tortured, abused and killed them.[31] Following their martyrdom, new French Jesuit missionaries arrived and many Mohawks were baptized into the Catholic faith. Ten years after Jogues' death Kateri Tekakwitha, the daughter of a Mohawk chief and Tagaskouita, a Roman Catholic Algonquin woman, was born in Ossernenon and later was canonized as the first Native American saint. Religion became a tool of conflict between the French and British in Mohawk country. The Reformed clergyman Godfridius Dellius also preached among the Mohawks.[32]

Traditional attire

[edit]
Iroquois Mohawk named Sychnecta, 1764

Historically, the traditional hairstyle of Mohawk men, and many men of the other groups of the Iroquois Confederacy, was to remove most of the hair from the head by plucking (not shaving) tuft by tuft of hair until all that was left was a smaller section, that was worn in a variety of styles, which could vary by community. The women wore their hair long, often dressed with traditional bear grease, or tied back into a single braid.

In traditional dress women often went topless in summer and wore a skirt of deerskin. In colder seasons, women wore a deerskin dress. Men wore a breech cloth of deerskin in summer. In cooler weather, they added deerskin leggings, a deerskin shirt, arm and knee bands, and carried a quill and flint arrow hunting bag. Women and men wore puckered-seam, ankle-wrap moccasins with earrings and necklaces made of shells. Jewelry was also created using porcupine quills such as Wampum belts. For headwear, the men would use a piece of animal fur with attached porcupine quills and features. The women would occasionally wear tiaras of beaded cloth. Later, dress after European contact combined some cloth pieces such as wool trousers and skirts.[33][34]

Marriage

[edit]

The Mohawk Nation people have a matrilineal kinship system, with descent and inheritance passed through the female line. Today, the marriage ceremony may follow that of the old tradition or incorporate newer elements, but is still used by many Mohawk Nation marrying couples. Some couples choose to marry in the European manner and the Longhouse manner, with the Longhouse ceremony usually held first.[35]

Longhouses

[edit]

Replicas of 17th-century longhouses have been built at landmarks and tourist villages, such as Kanata Village, Brantford, Ontario, and Akwesasne's "Tsiionhiakwatha" interpretation village. Other Mohawk Nation Longhouses are found on the Mohawk territory reserves that hold the Mohawk law recitations, ceremonial rites, and Longhouse Religion (or "Code of Handsome Lake"). These include:

  • Ohswé꞉ken (Six Nations)[36] First Nation Territory, Ontario holds six Ceremonial Mohawk Community Longhouses.
  • Wáhta[37] First Nation Territory, Ontario holds one Ceremonial Mohawk Community Longhouse.
  • Kenhtè꞉ke (Tyendinaga)[38] First Nation Territory, Ontario holds one Ceremonial Mohawk Community Longhouse.
  • Ahkwesásne[39] First Nation Territory, which straddles the borders of Quebec, Ontario and New York, holds two Mohawk Ceremonial Community Longhouses.
  • Kaʼnehsatà꞉ke First Nation Territory, Quebec holds one Ceremonial Mohawk Community Longhouse.
  • Kahnawà꞉ke[40] First Nation Territory, Quebec holds three Ceremonial Mohawk Community Longhouses.
  • Kanièn꞉ke[41] First Nation Territory, New York State holds one Ceremonial Mohawk Community Longhouse.
  • Kanaʼtsioharà꞉ke[42] First Nation Territory, New York State holds one Ceremonial Mohawk Community Longhouse.

Notable historical Mohawk

[edit]

These are notable historical Mohawk people. Contemporary people can be found under their First Nation or tribe.

E. Pauline Johnson, Tekahionwake (1861–1913), poet, author, and public speaker from the Six Nations Reserve of the Grand River

Late 20th and 21st-century Mohawk people are listed under their specific First Nation or tribe at:

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]

References

[edit]

Bibliography

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Mohawk people

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
The Mohawk people, self-identified as Kanien'kehá:ka ("People of the Flint"), are an Indigenous nation of Northern Iroquoian linguistic and cultural stock whose aboriginal homeland centered on the Mohawk River Valley in present-day upstate New York, with territories extending northward into southern Quebec and Ontario, and eastward into Vermont. As the easternmost of the five original nations forming the Haudenosaunee Confederacy—joined later by the Tuscarora—the Mohawk serve as the "Keepers of the Eastern Door," tasked with vigilance against external threats to the alliance's collective security and territorial integrity. This confederacy, codified in the Great Law of Peace (Kaianere'kó:wa), established a matrilineal clan-based governance model prioritizing consensus decision-making among sachems selected by clan mothers, which enabled the Mohawk and their allies to wield significant diplomatic and military influence in the colonial era, including strategic alliances with European powers during conflicts like the Beaver Wars and the American Revolution. Renowned for adaptability, the Mohawk transitioned from agrarian longhouse villages reliant on the Three Sisters agriculture—corn, beans, and squash—to specialized roles in the fur trade and, later, high-steel construction, while preserving core institutions amid displacement following loyalty to British forces in the Revolution, which resulted in land cessions and migrations to reserves like Akwesasne and Kahnawà:ke straddling the U.S.-Canada border.

Identity and Terminology

Etymology and external names

The exonym "Mohawk" originated from a Narragansett-Algonquian term mohowawog, meaning "they eat animate things" or "man-eaters," applied by enemy tribes to the easternmost Iroquoian nation due to perceptions of their warfare practices. , including the Dutch who first encountered them in the early along the , adopted and anglicized this term, recording it as "Mohawk" by the 1630s in colonial documents. Dutch variants included "Maqua," derived from the same Algonquian root, used in trade records and treaties as early as 1614. In contrast, the Mohawk people's autonym is Kanien'kehá:ka, translating to "People of the Flint" or "People of the Chert" in their Iroquoian language, referencing abundant flint deposits in their ancestral lands near the and , which were vital for tool-making. This self-designation underscores their identity tied to specific territorial resources, distinct from the pejorative external labels imposed by Algonquian rivals and later Europeans. Within the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, they are positioned as the "Keepers of the Eastern Door," a functional title emphasizing their role in and defense rather than etymology.

Self-designation and cultural identity

The Kanien'kehá:ka, meaning "People of the Chert" or "People of the Flint," is the autonym preferred by the Mohawk people to designate themselves, referring to the flint-like chert stone abundant in their traditional eastern territories along the valley. This self-name underscores their historical association with the material used for tools and weapons, distinguishing them from exonyms like "Mohawk," which originated from Algonquian or Dutch terms applied by early European observers. The term Kanien'kehá:ka encapsulates their identity tied to specific landscapes, with "Kanien'ke" denoting the flint place. As the easternmost nation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy—known as the "People of the Longhouse"—the Kanien'kehá:ka serve as the , a role symbolizing their responsibility to guard the confederacy's eastern frontier and maintain diplomatic relations with external groups. This position within the alliance of six nations (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora) formed under the emphasizes unity, participatory governance, and harmony with natural law, with the Mohawk acting as an Elder Brother alongside the Seneca and Onondaga. Their integrates oral traditions of the Peacemaker and , who established the confederacy's condolence ceremonies and symbol to end intertribal warfare, fostering a centered on balance between society, environment, and . Kanien'kehá:ka society is matrilineal, with descent and clan membership inherited through the mother's line, organizing communities into three primary s: (Ohkwa:ri), Turtle (A'nó:wara), and Wolf (Okwaho:). Clan mothers hold authority to select and remove chiefs (royaner), ensuring governance aligns with communal welfare and traditional protocols, a system that persists in communities despite colonial disruptions. This clan structure reinforces identity through exogamous rules, shared responsibilities for territory , and ceremonies like the midwinter festival, which renew cultural continuity and the Kaianere'kó:wa (Great Law). The Kanyen'kéha language remains a core marker of identity, with revitalization efforts addressing its decline to fewer than 3,000 speakers as of 2016.

Language

Linguistic features of Kanien'kéha

Kanien'kéha belongs to the Northern branch of the , which includes languages like Oneida, Onondaga, and Cayuga, and is distinguished by its polysynthetic morphology where verbs and nouns combine multiple morphemes to encode predicate-argument structure, tense, aspect, and modality within single words. This structure allows a single Kanien'kéha word, such as akwéyikonhroriiohkwa ("they are cleaning their houses"), to convey what requires a full in English, reflecting a head-marking grammar that prioritizes verb-internal agreement over separate pronouns or auxiliaries. Phonologically, Kanien'kéha features a modest inventory of eight consonants: voiceless stops /t/ and /k/, affricate /ts/, fricatives /s/ and /h/, nasal /n/, alveolar flap /r/, and glides /w/ and /j/ (with /r/ realized as a flap similar to English "tt" in "butter"). Vowels comprise four oral qualities /a, e, i, o/—where /e/ approximates [ɛ]—each occurring in short, long, and nasalized forms, with nasalization marked orthographically by "en" or "on" and phonetically involving vowel height adjustments before nasal consonants. Stress falls predictably on heavy syllables (long vowels or those followed by /h/), contributing to rhythmic patterns, while dialectal variations, such as in Kahnawà:ke versus Kanesatake communities, affect vowel realization and cluster simplification without altering core phonemic contrasts. Morphologically, the distinguishes three word classes: verbs (which serve as predicates and incorporate nouns), nouns (prefixed for possession or classification, e.g., raoti'kówa "her " with feminine prefix rao-), and particles (invariant elements for adverbs or connectives). Verbs exhibit templatic with up to 58 pronominal prefixes (yielding 328 allomorphs) encoding agent-patient relations, such as unified prefixes for dual subjects (tsi- for "we two inclusive") or transitivity-based alternations, alongside suffixes for aspect (e.g., habitual -Ø, punctual -ne) and noun incorporation, as in ionterihwà:ien ("she is dog-walking" from verb root for "walk" incorporating ""). Nouns lack marking on roots but use classifiers or quantifiers, and possession is obligatory via prefixes distinguishing alienable (body parts, ) from inalienable forms. Syntactically, Kanien'kéha is flexible in , often verb-subject-object (VSO) or verb-initial, with discourse-driven variations, and relies on agreement rather than case marking for arguments; particles like tsi ("that") frame clauses, while complex predicates arise from serial constructions or incorporation. This system underscores causal event encoding through morphological fusion, though revitalization efforts note challenges in documenting dialectal syntax amid fewer than 3,000 fluent speakers as of recent surveys.

Historical usage and modern revitalization

Prior to European contact in the early , Kanien'kéha served as the exclusive language of the Mohawk people, essential for oral governance, storytelling, diplomacy, and coordination within the Haudenosaunee Confederacy across their traditional territories in the and surrounding regions. During the colonial era, the language remained central to Mohawk social and economic systems, including trade and warfare alliances, though French Jesuit missionaries began documenting it in the mid-1600s through catechisms, grammars, and dictionaries to facilitate religious instruction, marking early European engagement with its polysynthetic structure. Migrations in the 1660s, prompted by conflicts like the , established the eastern dialect in Canadian communities such as Kahnawà:ke, diverging from western varieties while preserving core usage in , ceremonies, and resistance to assimilation. By the 19th and 20th centuries, Kanien'kéha usage declined sharply due to colonial policies favoring English and French, residential schooling, and , reducing intergenerational transmission as parents shifted to dominant languages in households and institutions. This erosion positioned the language as endangered by the late 20th century, with fluent first-language speakers concentrated among elders in reserves, though pockets of daily use persisted in ceremonial contexts. Modern revitalization efforts, accelerating since the , emphasize immersion to rebuild fluency, with programs prioritizing adult and child acquisition over partial bilingualism. In Kahnawà:ke, the Karihwanoron School launched full Kanien'kéha immersion for pre-kindergarten through elementary students in 1988, producing graduates capable of basic conversational proficiency after sustained exposure. Similarly, Akwesasne's adult immersion program, the first full-time offering there, graduated its inaugural cohort of eight participants in July 2021 after intensive residential training with elders, aiming to create new fluent speakers for community transmission. The Ratiwennóhkwas initiative, launched in 2023, unites first-language elders from six Mohawk communities—including Tyendinaga, Six Nations, and Kahnawà:ke—for weekly sessions teaching youth, addressing dialect variations and elder scarcity. As of the , approximately 2,350 people reported knowledge of Kanien'kéha, though only 1,295 identified it as their mother tongue, with fluent speakers numbering around 1,000 in alone; U.S. figures add several hundred, but overall, fewer than 10% of Mohawk Nation members under 40 are fluent without intervention. Adult immersion models have proven effective for rapid proficiency gains, as evidenced by programs producing second-language speakers who mentor youth, countering prior suppression in church-run schools. These efforts, funded partly by federal grants, focus on digital resources and master-apprentice pairings to sustain causal chains of transmission amid demographic pressures.

Territories and Communities

Traditional homelands and migrations

The Kanien'kehá:ka, or Mohawk people, traditionally occupied Kanien'ke, a territory centered in the Mohawk Valley of present-day northeastern New York State, with extensions northward into the St. Lawrence River Valley of southern Quebec and eastern Ontario, eastward along the Hudson River and Lake Champlain to the Richelieu River, southward into northern Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and westward to the adjacent lands of the Oneida nation. This region, known for its fertile river valleys and proximity to key waterways, supported semi-sedentary longhouse villages reliant on maize agriculture, hunting, and fishing. Archaeological investigations confirm Mohawk presence in the from at least the early , with over four dozen documented village sites reflecting periodic relocations—typically every 10 to 20 years—driven by soil exhaustion from , resource depletion, and strategic considerations such as defense against neighboring groups. Key 16th-century sites, including those in the middle , yielded artifacts like Iroquoian , corn processing tools, and remnants, indicating stable but adaptive settlement patterns rather than nomadic lifestyles. These movements were localized within Kanien'ke, facilitating renewal of agricultural lands without necessitating broader territorial shifts. Pre-contact oral traditions, preserved through Haudenosaunee narratives, emphasize continuity in the northeastern woodlands without evidence of large-scale migrations; any earlier dispersals likely involved gradual expansions or contractions within the Iroquoian cultural sphere, predating the formation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy around the 12th to 15th centuries CE as dated by tree-ring analysis of timbers. Historical accounts suggest possible southernward movements into the from higher northern elevations, establishing fortified hilltop sites overlooking the river, though these remain interpretive based on site distributions rather than direct textual records.

Modern settlements and population distribution

The principal modern communities of the Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk people) are situated along the Canada–United States border, centered on the St. Lawrence River and extending into northern New York State and southern Quebec. These settlements emerged from historical relocations following colonial conflicts and treaties, with many established in the 18th and 19th centuries on lands granted or purchased near traditional territories. Smaller, independent communities in New York, such as Ganienkeh (established 1974 near Altona) and Kanatsiohareke (reestablished 1993 near Fonda), focus on cultural preservation and sovereignty assertions outside federal reservation systems, though their populations remain limited, typically under 100 residents each based on historical accounts of their founding groups. The largest community is Akwesasne, which straddles the international border across New York, Quebec, and Ontario, encompassing the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation in the United States. As of July 2024, it had 13,442 registered members, with approximately 10,226 residing on reserve lands that total over 12,000 residents overall. The U.S. portion, managed by the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, reported a population of 3,657 in the 2023 American Community Survey. Kahnawà:ke, located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec, serves as a major cultural and economic hub, with 11,802 registered members as of July 2025, including 8,125 on reserve. Kanesatà:ke, near Oka in Quebec, has 3,161 registered members, with 1,347 on reserve. These figures reflect registered status under Canadian Indian Act provisions, which may undercount non-registered or urban-dispersed individuals. Population distribution shows a concentration in , where over 20,000 Kanien'kehá:ka members reside across communities, compared to several thousand in the U.S. Many Mohawk individuals live off-reserve in nearby cities such as , , and Albany, engaged in industries like , gaming, and , contributing to a broader estimated in the tens of thousands worldwide, though precise global totals lack comprehensive enumeration beyond community-level data.
CommunityLocationRegistered Population (approx., recent)On-Reserve Residents (approx.)
NY// border13,442 (2024)10,226
Kahnawà:ke11,802 (2025)8,125
Kanesatà:ke3,161 (2025)1,347
St. Regis (U.S. part of )New YorkN/A (census: 3,657 in 2023)N/A
Smaller reserves like Wáhta (Quebec/Ontario) exist but host fewer than 500 members, emphasizing traditional governance under the Haudenosaunee Confederacy where applicable.

Pre-Columbian and Early History

Origins within Iroquois Confederacy

The Mohawk, known in their language as Kanien'kehá:ka ("People of the Flint"), formed one of the five original nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, alongside the Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca. As the easternmost nation, the Mohawk served as the "Keepers of the Eastern Door," tasked with vigilance against external threats from Algonquian-speaking groups to the east and north. This positional role within the confederacy's longhouse metaphor underscored their strategic importance in maintaining the alliance's eastern flank, with decision-making centered at Onondaga but Mohawk sachems holding veto power in council deliberations. Haudenosaunee oral traditions attribute the confederacy's origins to the Peacemaker (Dekanawida), aided by the Mohawk adoptee and the Onondaga leader Atotarho, who united the warring nations through the (Kaianere'kó:wa), a emphasizing consensus, wampum diplomacy, and matrilineal clan structures to end cycles of intertribal vengeance. These accounts, preserved through belts and recited by faithkeepers, describe a pre-contact formation motivated by mutual exhaustion from warfare, with the Mohawk initially resistant but ultimately joining after Hiawatha's influence. However, empirical dating from archaeological and ethnohistorical analysis places the confederacy's effective consolidation later, around 1450–1600 CE, aligning with evidence of synchronized settlement patterns and reduced intra-Iroquoian conflict rather than the traditional oral claim of circa 1142 CE tied to a . Archaeological excavations of Mohawk sites, such as the Moon Site (ca. 1500–1525 CE), Jiminy Hill (ca. 1525–1550 CE), and Shea Site (ca. 1550–1580 CE) in New York's , reveal palisaded villages with maize-based economies, architecture, and artifact distributions indicating cultural continuity and emerging confederative ties through shared pottery styles and absence of warfare markers among core nations by the mid-16th century. These findings support a gradual coalescence driven by defensive needs against Huron and Algonquian rivals, with Mohawk sites showing population nucleation and trade networks predating European contact, though full political unity likely postdated initial cultural alignments. Early 17th-century European records, including Jesuit accounts from 1615 onward, depict the Mohawk already operating within the confederacy framework during initial Dutch interactions.

Pre-contact social and economic systems

The Mohawk maintained a matrilineal , wherein membership, , and family lineage were transmitted through the mother's line, fostering extended networks that extended across Haudenosaunee nations. Mohawk society centered on three primary clans—, , and —each linked to a common female ancestor and symbolized by animal totems representing land or water moieties. Mothers, as senior female leaders, presided over affairs, preserved , selected male sachems (chiefs) for consensus-based roles, and enforced rules prohibiting within the same to maintain alliance-building ties. Extended matrilineal families resided in longhouses, communal bark-covered dwellings housing multiple related households under the Mother's authority, with sons relocating to their wives' longhouses upon while retaining ties to their birth . Local operated through councils, incorporating input from women's councils, warriors' councils, and elders, with decisions requiring unanimity to ensure collective harmony and prevent internal conflict. As the easternmost Haudenosaunee nation, the Mohawk integrated into the pre-contact Iroquois Confederacy (formed circa 1142–1450 CE), where representatives participated in a grand council for intertribal , but retained autonomous village-level authority focused on obligations, , and practices. Economically, the Mohawk pursued a mixed subsistence strategy emphasizing , with women responsible for planting, tending, and harvesting crops in communal fields using hoes fashioned from stone or antlers. Primary staples included the "Three Sisters" intercropped system of corn (), beans, and squash, supplemented by sunflowers and ; men cleared fields annually in late March via controlled burns and stone axes, yielding plots from 10 to hundreds of acres that supported village self-sufficiency but necessitated periodic relocation every 10–20 years due to soil exhaustion from slash-and-burn methods. Men conducted seasonal group hunts of 6–12 individuals targeting deer, bear, beaver, and fowl using drives, traps, and bows, while also fishing rivers; women gathered forest resources like berries, mushrooms, roots, and nuts, with all yields shared communally to buffer scarcity. Limited pre-contact trade occurred via kinship networks for prestige goods like shells and flint, reinforcing social bonds without market exchange.

Colonial Era Interactions

Initial European contact and trade

The earliest recorded European contact with the Mohawk occurred in July 1609, when French explorer , allied with Algonquin and Huron warriors, encountered a Mohawk war party near Ticonderoga on . fired his , killing at least two Mohawk chiefs and wounding others, which routed the Mohawk and initiated long-term hostility between the French and the Iroquois Confederacy, of which the Mohawk were the easternmost nation. This violent clash stemmed from pre-existing intertribal rivalries over hunting territories, with Champlain's intervention tipping the balance against the Mohawk and establishing a pattern of French-Iroquois antagonism that influenced subsequent alliances. In contrast, initial Dutch interactions with the Mohawk, beginning around 1614, centered on commerce rather than conflict. Dutch traders from the colony constructed Fort Nassau on the near present-day Albany to facilitate fur exchanges, with Mohawk delegations traveling there to barter beaver pelts—abundant in their homeland—for European goods such as metal tools, cloth, and kettles. This post was replaced by Fort Orange in 1624, solidifying the Mohawk's role as primary suppliers in the burgeoning transatlantic fur trade, driven by European demand for felt hats. Mohawk control of eastern access routes positioned them advantageously, enabling direct overland transport of pelts to Dutch posts while excluding rivals like the Mahican. The trade rapidly transformed Mohawk society, introducing firearms and other technologies that enhanced hunting efficiency but also intensified competition for beaver resources, foreshadowing broader conflicts. By the 1620s, Mohawk exchanges at Fort Orange yielded thousands of pelts annually, fostering with the Dutch while exposing the Mohawk to epidemic diseases that halved their population from pre-contact estimates of around 8,000-10,000. These early partnerships prioritized mutual gain over , with Mohawk leaders negotiating terms to maintain autonomy in trade protocols.

Beaver Wars and territorial expansion

The Beaver Wars, a protracted series of conflicts from approximately 1620 to 1680, arose from the Mohawk and other nations' need to secure new hunting grounds after local populations were depleted by intensive trapping for the European , compounded by their alliances with Dutch traders who supplied firearms in exchange for pelts. As the easternmost nation in the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and self-designated "Keepers of the Eastern Door," the Mohawk initiated and directed many early offensives to eliminate rivals allied with the French, such as the Mahican, Algonquin, and Huron, thereby gaining access to northern fur-bearing territories. In the 1620s, escalating competition for Dutch trade routes along the led to open warfare between the Mohawk and the Mahican, with the Mohawk leveraging superior access to European guns to decisively defeat their rivals by 1628, displacing the Mahican eastward and monopolizing the Albany-area fur trade until the mid-1650s when regional stocks further declined. This victory expanded Mohawk influence over approximately 6,500 square miles of former Mahican territory west of Fort Orange (present-day Albany), securing a steady flow of trade goods that amplified their military advantage in subsequent campaigns. By the 1630s, Mohawk raids extended into the against Algonquin groups, intercepting French-bound furs and weakening enemy supply lines. The 1640s marked intensified confederacy-wide assaults, with Mohawk warriors joining Oneida forces in strikes on New France settlements and St. Lawrence Valley allies, while coordinating with Seneca kin in devastating attacks on the Huron-Wendat Confederacy; in 1649, over 1,000 Mohawk and Seneca fighters razed multiple Wendat villages, leading to the confederacy's dispersal and the absorption or flight of its estimated 20,000-30,000 survivors. These operations, fueled by Dutch-supplied muskets since the late 1620s, dismantled French-aligned networks and opened vast hunting expanses in the , including parts of the by the 1670s. Through these conquests, the Mohawk not only claimed tributary rights over displaced groups like the Neutral and Erie but also incorporated thousands of via practices, bolstering their population and labor force for sustained procurement; this territorial reach—from the Hudson Valley northward to the St. Lawrence and westward toward the Ohio Valley—positioned the Mohawk as pivotal brokers in the Anglo-French colonial rivalry, though French retaliatory expeditions, such as the 1666 burning of Mohawk villages by the Carignan-Salières Regiment, temporarily disrupted their gains before the 1701 stabilized boundaries.

18th-Century Conflicts and Alliances

French and Indian War involvement

The Mohawk people, as the easternmost nation of the Haudenosaunee () Confederacy, predominantly allied with the British during the (1754–1763), driven by longstanding dependencies and territorial rivalries with French-allied tribes. This alignment provided British forces with critical scouting, intelligence, and combat support, particularly in the northern frontier regions of New York and the . Mohawk warriors, numbering in the hundreds at key engagements, leveraged their knowledge of local terrain to counter French incursions aimed at severing British supply lines to Fort Oswego and beyond. A significant internal division emerged among the Mohawks, with Catholic converts residing in mission villages near , such as Kahnawà:ke, aligning with the French due to religious ties and proximity to French colonial centers. These Canadian Mohawks, estimated at several hundred warriors, joined French expeditions, creating rare instances of intra-tribal conflict. This split reflected broader Haudenosaunee efforts to maintain neutrality under the principles but was undermined by Mohawk exposure to British colonial pressures in the . The Battle of Lake George on September 8, 1755, exemplified Mohawk military contributions and fraternal tensions. British colonial forces under Sir William Johnson, bolstered by approximately 200–300 Mohawk warriors led by sachem Hendrick Theyanoguin (Tiyanoga), clashed with a French army of about 1,500 under Jean-Armand, Baron Dieskau, which included Kahnawà:ke Mohawks. The Mohawks initially provided effective ambush and flanking support, but hesitation arose when facing kin from the Canadian missions, leading some to attempt parleys mid-battle. Hendrick's death during a counterattack—reportedly by French musket fire while rallying troops—marked a severe blow, with Mohawk casualties contributing to overall British losses of around 216 killed and 137 wounded. The engagement halted French advances temporarily and solidified British control over the lake approach to Crown Point. Following Lake George, Mohawk participation persisted in British campaigns, including raids on French posts and support for the 1758 capture of Louisbourg and , though numbers dwindled due to losses and war weariness. By the war's 1763 conclusion under the Treaty of Paris, Mohawk alliances yielded British promises of protection against encroachments, yet foreshadowed postwar land disputes that eroded these gains. Their strategic value to the British stemmed from proven efficacy in , contrasting with French reliance on less cohesive native coalitions.

American Revolutionary War divisions

The Mohawk nation, as "keepers of the eastern door" of the Iroquois Confederacy, predominantly allied with the British during the (1775–1783), driven by historical diplomatic ties, British frontier forts offering security, and promises to curb settler encroachment on indigenous lands. This stance contrasted with the Confederacy's overall fracture, where the Oneida and Tuscarora nations supported the American Patriots, while the Mohawk, Seneca, Cayuga, and Onondaga backed , leading to inter-tribal conflict and raids that devastated shared territories. Under the leadership of (Thayendanegea), a Mohawk war chief and British captain, warriors served as scouts, spies, and raiders, organizing Brant's Volunteers—a unit comprising Mohawks and Loyalist settlers—to target Patriot frontier communities. Key actions included participation in Barry St. Leger's 1777 expedition, the on August 6, 1777, where Mohawks fought alongside British and other against American and Oneida forces, and the raid on German Flatts on September 17, 1778. Brant's efforts convinced four of the six nations to align with Britain, though neutrality pleas from some Confederacy members were overridden by wartime pressures. Internal divisions within the Mohawk nation were limited compared to the broader Confederacy split, with most clans and leaders unified under Brant's influence and the influence of his sister , who leveraged kinship networks to sustain Loyalist support. Individual defections occurred amid the chaos of frontier , but the Mohawks' cohesive pro-British orientation reflected calculated self-preservation against American expansionism, as evidenced by prior British policies like the 1763 Proclamation restraining colonial settlement. This alignment, however, exposed Mohawk communities to retaliatory campaigns, such as the 1779 , which razed over 40 villages and crops, forcing many to seek refuge at British-held .

Post-Independence Developments

Loyalist migrations and Canadian settlements

Following the , Mohawk communities allied with the British faced expulsion and land confiscation in the newly independent , prompting migrations northward to British-controlled territories in beginning in 1783. , a prominent Mohawk leader, negotiated land grants from British officials to facilitate resettlement for Loyalist , including Mohawk, under the of 1784, which allocated approximately 950,000 acres along the Grand River in present-day to the Six Nations. Starting in October 1784, Brant oversaw the relocation of around 1,800 to 2,241 Mohawk and other individuals to this tract, establishing the foundation for the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve, where a Mohawk village developed near the Mohawk Chapel and Brant's residence. Concurrent with the Grand River settlement, a group of approximately 20 Mohawk families from the Fort Hunter band, displaced from the , received a grant of 92,700 acres on the in 1784, forming the in . This tract, deeded by in 1793 via the Crawford Purchase, became a key Loyalist Mohawk enclave, with initial settlements focused on and along the lakefront. These migrations preserved Mohawk cultural continuity amid displacement, though subsequent land surrenders reduced reserve sizes; for instance, Tyendinaga shrank to about 7,362 hectares by the due to sales and encroachments. British compensation for Loyalist Mohawk included annuity payments and tools, reflecting recognition of their wartime service, such as in raids and battles alongside British forces. By the early , these Canadian settlements had stabilized, with Mohawk populations integrating traditional while adapting to new environments, marking a pivotal shift from New York Valley homelands to Ontario and frontiers.

19th-century treaties and land losses

In Canada, the Mohawk-inhabited Grand River territory, granted under the 1784 Haldimand Proclamation as approximately 950,000 acres to the Six Nations for their loyalty to the British Crown, underwent substantial reductions in the 19th century through unauthorized grants and expropriations. In 1807, 30,800 acres in Block No. 5 of Moulton Township were allocated to the Earl of Selkirk without Six Nations consent, exemplifying early encroachments that diminished communal holdings. Further losses occurred between 1829 and 1835 when about 2,500 acres were taken for the Welland Canal without compensation to the Six Nations, prioritizing infrastructure development over Indigenous title. Additionally, starting in 1834, the Grand River Navigation Company exploited Six Nations lands and funds without proper authorization, contributing to financial and territorial erosion when the venture collapsed. These actions, often lacking broad consensus among clan mothers and chiefs, reflected settler expansion pressures and inadequate enforcement of perpetual grant terms, reducing the effective reserve to roughly 46,000 acres by mid-century. In the United States, the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation faced illegal land acquisitions by New York State in the 1820s, contravening the 1790 Nonintercourse Act that mandated federal oversight for tribal land transfers. State purchases in 1824 and 1825 encompassed around 2,000 acres, including the Hogansburg Triangle (also known as the Bombay Triangle) and a one-square-mile parcel in Massena, located in St. Lawrence and Franklin counties. These transactions bypassed congressional ratification required under federal law, stemming from the 1796 Treaty with the Seven Nations of Canada that had reserved the original reservation boundaries. A 2022 federal court ruling affirmed the illegality of these takings, highlighting New York's direct dealings with select Mohawk individuals without communal or national approval, which perpetuated disputes over sovereignty and title integrity. The U.S. Department of Justice later endorsed the Mohawk claims, noting thousands of acres affected across multiple invalid sales.

20th-Century Transformations

World Wars military contributions

During the First World War, Mohawk individuals from Canadian communities including Kahnawà:ke and Six Nations voluntarily enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force despite initial restrictions on Indigenous . Approximately 50 Mohawks from Kahnawà:ke joined the 114th Battalion (Grand River), raised primarily in the Six Nations territory, contributing to infantry operations on the Western Front. Charlotte Edith Anderson Monture, a Mohawk woman from the Six Nations of the Grand River, overcame barriers to training in and served in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps from 1917 to 1919, treating wounded soldiers in ; she was the first Indigenous Canadian to become a . Dr. Gilbert Monture, also Mohawk from Six Nations, held a commission as an officer and served in administrative roles supporting Canadian forces. In the Second World War, Mohawk service expanded across Canadian and U.S. forces, with notable contributions in combat, signals intelligence, and independent Haudenosaunee declarations of war. On June 13, 1942, the Iroquois Confederacy—including the Mohawk Nation—formally declared war on Germany, Italy, and Japan from the steps of the U.S. Capitol, asserting sovereignty while aligning against the Axis powers. Mohawk code talkers from Akwesasne, such as Louis Levi Oakes, enlisted in the U.S. Army in January 1943 and transmitted secure messages in the Mohawk language, supporting General George Patton's Third Army during the European invasion; Oakes was wounded in action, received the Purple Heart, and was the last surviving Mohawk code talker when he died in 2019. In Canadian service, Huron Brant, a Mohawk from Ontario, earned the Military Medal on July 15, 1943, for displaying courage under fire while serving with the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment during the Allied invasion of Sicily. Dr. Gilbert Monture continued his service, acting as executive officer in combined Canadian-American-British operations. These efforts reflected a pattern of high voluntary enlistment rates from Mohawk reserves, building on historical alliances with Britain and emphasizing individual and communal commitment to the Allied cause.

Urban migration and ironworking profession

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Mohawk men from communities such as began seeking employment in industrial construction, marking the onset of their involvement in ironworking. This profession originated in 1886 when approximately 100 Kahnawake residents were recruited as laborers for the Victoria Bridge reconstruction over the near , where they transitioned from unskilled tasks to handling . Despite a catastrophic collapse of the in 1907 that killed 33 Mohawk workers—nearly half of the community's skilled ironworkers at the time—the survivors and their descendants persisted, honing expertise in high-elevation steel erection. By the 1910s and 1920s, seasonal and temporary migration intensified as Mohawk ironworkers, often traveling in work gangs, relocated to urban centers across the and for bridge and projects. They contributed to landmarks including the in starting in 1916 and the in 1925, drawn by demand during the post-World War I construction boom. This "booming out"—a Mohawk term for outbound labor migration—primarily involved men leaving reserves for weeks or months, returning home periodically, though economic pressures led some families to follow, forming enclaves in cities like New York, Buffalo, and . In , Mohawks comprised up to 15 percent of the ironworking workforce by mid-century, leveraging skills passed through family networks and unions like Local 40 of the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers. Post-World War II urbanization accelerated this pattern, with an estimated 700 Mohawk families relocating to Brooklyn's and Atlantic Avenue areas during the 1940s and 1950s to proximity to job sites and union halls. By 1960, around 800 Mohawks resided in these neighborhoods, temporarily dubbed "Little Caughnawaga," supporting work on structures like the World Trade Center towers in the 1960s and 1970s. While migration was often cyclical—workers remitting earnings to support reserve economies—it fostered cultural adaptations, including urban longhouses and community organizations, amid challenges like and hazardous conditions that claimed numerous lives. Today, descendants continue the trade, maintaining a presence in about 10 percent of New York City's ironworkers.

Contemporary Society and Governance

Traditional vs. elected governance structures

The traditional governance of the Mohawk people operates within the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, established under the , a consensus-based system where clan mothers select male chiefs (known as sachems or hoyaneh) for life terms based on character and wisdom, with the authority to remove them if they fail to uphold communal harmony. These chiefs represent clans and nations in the Grand Council, comprising 50 members from the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora, where decisions require unanimity to prevent factionalism and ensure collective welfare. This structure emphasizes matrilineal clan authority, with women holding veto power over war and diplomacy, prioritizing long-term sustainability over short-term gains. In contrast, elected governance structures were externally imposed by colonial and national governments, such as Canada's of 1876, which mandated band councils with chiefs and councillors chosen by majority vote for fixed two-year terms, shifting authority from consensus to electoral competition and aligning Indigenous administration with settler bureaucratic models. In the United States, similar systems emerged under oversight, as seen in the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe's elected council, which handles federal interactions but diverges from traditional selection by prioritizing popular mandates over clan vetting. These elected bodies often manage reserve services, economic dealings, and legal negotiations, but critics within Haudenosaunee circles view them as eroding by enforcing adversarial incompatible with the Confederacy's emphasis on unity. Mohawk communities frequently maintain parallel systems, leading to jurisdictional tensions; for instance, at , the elected Mohawk Council of Akwesasne coexists with the traditional Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs, where disputes have arisen over resource decisions like casino operations in 2012, with traditionalists asserting precedence under . Similarly, in , the elected Mohawk Council navigates conflicts with traditional elements, as evidenced by post-1990 internal divisions over membership rules and legitimacy, prompting some chiefs to advocate blending traditional protocols with elected frameworks to counter impositions. At , recent instability culminated in a 2025 Federal Court ruling authorizing a caretaker council of five chiefs after electoral irregularities, highlighting ongoing volatility between elected mandates and traditional oversight. These dualities reflect broader Haudenosaunee resistance to elected systems as foreign constructs that fragment authority, with traditional persisting for cultural and spiritual matters despite elected dominance in fiscal and regulatory domains. The Mohawk people, as members of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, assert inherent sovereignty rooted in their traditional governance under the Kaianere'kó:wa () and early treaties such as the Two Row (Kaswénta), agreed upon with Dutch settlers around 1613–1618, which symbolizes parallel vessels representing distinct nations traveling side by side without interference in each other's laws or affairs. This framework underpins contemporary claims that Mohawk supersedes Canadian and U.S. federal authority on their territories, including rights to , land control, and exemption from certain taxes or regulations; however, Canadian and U.S. courts have generally not recognized the Two Row Wampum as conferring enforceable or overriding modern statutory frameworks. Land claims represent a primary arena for Mohawk sovereignty assertions, often invoking historical treaties like the 1760 Treaty of Oswegatchie and the 1796 land reservations. In the United States, the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe (encompassing Akwesasne) pursued a claim filed in 1982 against New York State for unlawful land sales and appropriations violating federal treaties, culminating in a 2025 settlement agreement that returns approximately 9,200 acres in Franklin County and 3,200 acres in St. Lawrence County as restricted Indian land, with immediate conveyance of 3,400 acres in Franklin County and 1,300 acres in St. Lawrence County, alongside $70 million in payments from the New York Power Authority over 35 years ($2 million annually) and recurring county payments. The deal also includes tuition waivers for tribal members at State University of New York institutions and access rights to St. Lawrence River islands, effectively acknowledging historical grievances while subjecting the resolution to congressional ratification under proposed legislation like H.R. 2916. In , the Mohawk Council of has repeatedly reaffirmed over the Seigneury of Sault St. Louis, an unceded territory granted in 1680 but allegedly alienated through subsequent provincial actions, demanding restitution over monetary compensation and opposing developments like those in Chateauguay as of March 17, 2025. Federal courts have mandated that negotiate in good faith, including considering return, under reforms to the Specific Claims Policy and the Declaration on the Rights of Act, though progress remains stalled amid calls for policy overhaul. Similarly, Mohawks have contested a 301-year-old dispute, highlighting systemic delays in 's claims . A separate 2005 settlement with the Mohawk Nation resolved earlier treaty violations through transfers and financial compensation, expanding territory but not fully resolving broader tensions. Beyond land, Mohawks have invoked in trade and immunity disputes. In Mitchell v. Minister of National Revenue (2001), the rejected a Kahnawà:ke Mohawk's claim to an aboriginal or right for duty-free importation of goods across the , ruling no historical evidence supported such an exemption and affirming federal regulatory authority. In the U.S., the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe asserted tribal to shield pharmaceutical patents from inter partes review by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board in cases like Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe v. Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. (2018 Federal Circuit), but courts denied the claim, leading to a 2018 congressional law (part of the SUCCESS Act) explicitly barring such tactics and prompting a failed appeal in 2019. These rulings underscore judicial limits on extending to evade domestic administrative or commercial processes, despite tribal arguments for nation-to-nation status.

Cultural Practices

Clan system and matrilineality

The Mohawk maintain a matrilineal kinship system, wherein descent, inheritance, and affiliation pass through the female line, with children inheriting their mother's identity for life. This structure positions women as custodians of family lineage and resources, including long-term rights to clan territories, which were allocated based on communal needs rather than individual . Matrilineality fosters networks that emphasize mutual support, with members viewing one another as siblings irrespective of direct blood ties, thereby reinforcing social stability amid historical migrations and conflicts. Mohawk society divides into three exogamous clans—Bear (Ohkwa:ri), Turtle (A'nó:wara), and Wolf (Okwaho)—each symbolized by an animal totems representing archetypal qualities and historical origins tied to clan founders. These clans form the foundational units of social organization within the broader Haudenosaunee Confederacy, where inter-clan marriages were mandatory to prevent and cultivate alliances across lineages, a practice that persisted into the among traditional communities. Clan membership dictates reciprocal obligations, such as aid in subsistence activities and , while prohibiting intra-clan unions to preserve genetic and relational diversity. Clan mothers, the eldest or most respected women in each matrilineage, exercise core authority by nominating and, if necessary, deposing male sachems (covenant chiefs) who speak for the in confederacy councils. Selected for their wisdom, impartiality, and adherence to Kaianere'kó:wa (), mothers mediate internal conflicts, allocate labor for or warfare, and decisions endangering community welfare, such as imprudent wars. This mechanism, rooted in pre-colonial traditions documented in oral histories and early ethnographies, empowers women to enforce accountability, as sachems serve at their discretion and can be removed for misconduct like corruption or failure to consult the people. Contemporary Mohawk communities, including those at Kahnawà:ke and , continue to uphold mothers' roles in traditional ceremonies, though tensions arise with elected band councils influenced by colonial models.

Religious traditions and longhouses

The traditional religious worldview of the Mohawk people, as part of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, emphasizes and the interdependence of humans, nature, and spiritual forces, with a focus on renewing life-sustaining powers through rituals that counter forces of decay or evil. Pre-contact beliefs centered on a cosmology featuring a Creator who formed the world via Sky Woman descending to a turtle's back, creating the earth, and ongoing spiritual energy () inherent in all beings, where dreams revealed divine will and required fulfillment to maintain balance. Longhouses serve as the focal point for Mohawk spiritual practices, functioning historically as communal dwellings but evolving into dedicated ceremonial and centers symbolizing Haudenosaunee unity, with interior arrangements reflecting and seats. Ceremonies conducted in longhouses follow a seasonal cycle of thanksgiving to the Creator, natural elements, and spirits, typically spanning 1 to 8 days and incorporating offerings, songs, dances, prayers, and shared feasts to express gratitude for sustenance and prosperity. Key rites include the Midwinter Ceremony in the second week of , marking renewal with dream-sharing and invocations; the Ceremony in February for sap flow; Planting and Ceremonies in spring and mid-June for agricultural beginnings; Corn and Harvest Ceremonies in August and October for crops; and others like the Thunder Dance in to honor thunder beings. In the late 18th century, the Gaiwiio or "Good Message," revealed to Seneca prophet between 1799 and 1815, revitalized Haudenosaunee spirituality amid post-colonial disruptions, blending traditional cosmology with moral precepts against alcohol, gambling, witchcraft, and abortion, while promoting family ethics and salvation through confession and adherence. This Religion, recited during Green Corn and Midwinter festivals, spread to Mohawk communities such as and Kahnawà:ke, where adherents known as "Longhouse people" maintain it alongside older rites like the Great Feather Dance. European contact from the introduced via Jesuit missions, leading to widespread Catholic conversions among Mohawk, particularly in settlements like established in 1690, though traditional elements persisted through , such as Mohawk-language hymns in churches. Today, Mohawk religious life reflects pluralism: traditionalists uphold ceremonies for cultural continuity, while many follow , with communities like hosting both longhouses and missions without mutual exclusion.

Warfare, subsistence, and family customs

The Mohawk people, as the easternmost nation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, maintained a strong tradition, acting as guardians of the "Eastern Door" against external threats. Warfare involved raiding parties for captives, territory, and resources, particularly during the 17th-century , where they allied with Dutch traders to acquire firearms and expand influence over routes. Tactics emphasized mobility, ambushes, and formations like the half-moon for encircling enemies, enabling effective assaults on fortified settlements. In colonial conflicts, such as the (1754–1763) and the (1775–1783), Mohawk s, often led by figures like (Thayendanegea), allied with the British, conducting guerrilla raids in the and contributing to British victories at battles like Oriskany in 1777. Rites of passage for young men included initiation into warrior societies, reinforcing male identity through combat prowess and endurance tests. Subsistence among the Mohawk centered on agriculture, with women responsible for cultivating maize, beans, and squash—the "Three Sisters"—in nutrient-rich fields cleared by slash-and-burn techniques, yielding staple crops that supported village populations of up to several hundred. Men supplemented this through hunting large game like deer and bear using bows, traps, and later firearms, as well as fishing in rivers and lakes with weirs and spears; gathering wild fruits, nuts, and maple syrup provided seasonal variety. This mixed economy allowed semi-sedentary longhouse communities, though overhunting and colonial disruptions later strained resources, prompting shifts toward trade dependencies. Family customs followed matrilineal descent, with children belonging to their mother's —typically , , or —determining , residence, and social obligations. mothers wielded authority over land allocation, leader selection, and , while extended families resided in longhouses where sons remained until , after which husbands joined their wives' households in a matrilocal pattern. required exogamy and community consent, often sealed by exchanges of goods and vows invoking spiritual harmony, though women could initiate divorce by returning a husband's belongings, reflecting female autonomy in domestic affairs. Warfare and subsistence roles reinforced gender divisions, with men as hunters and warriors, and women as agricultural stewards and custodians, fostering -based reciprocity over isolation.

Economic Activities

Historical fur trade and agriculture

The Mohawk people, as part of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, practiced agriculture as their primary subsistence activity prior to extensive European contact, with women managing cultivation of the "Three Sisters"—corn (Zea mays), beans (), and squash ()—using a hill-planting method where corn kernels were sown first, followed by beans to climb the stalks and squash to suppress weeds and retain soil moisture. This system, supplemented by sunflowers, , and gathered wild plants, supported semi-sedentary villages in the , where fields were cleared via controlled burning and enriched with fish or ash fertilizers, yielding harvests estimated at 20-30 bushels per acre—three to five times higher per acre than contemporary European farming due to fertile alluvial soils and efficient labor organization. Villages relocated every 10-20 years to allow , reflecting a sustainable slash-and-burn horticulture adapted to the region's ecology, though overhunting and trade demands later strained local resources. European contact, beginning with Dutch traders at Fort Orange (near present-day Albany) around 1624, integrated the Mohawks into the colonial , where they supplied beaver pelts (Castor canadensis) in exchange for metal tools, cloth, firearms, and , leveraging their eastern position as "keepers of the eastern " to control access to interior hunting grounds. By the 1630s, Mohawk-Dutch alliances dominated the Albany trade, with annual pelt exports reaching thousands—peaking at over 10,000 beavers in some years—fueling New Netherland's economy but depleting local beaver populations and prompting expansionist wars. This trade intensified during the (1640-1701), as Mohawks, armed with Dutch-supplied muskets, raided Huron and Algonquian territories allied with the French to monopolize pelts, resulting in the displacement of rivals and Mohawk dominance over mid-Atlantic fur flows until English takeover in 1664 shifted partnerships eastward. Agriculture persisted alongside fur trading, providing food security amid trade volatility, but European goods reduced reliance on stone tools and deerskin while introducing dependencies on imported iron and textiles; Mohawk fields continued producing surplus corn for trade or storage in granaries, though warfare and migration disrupted cultivation cycles. Later Mohawk communities, such as Kahnawà:ke near , extended fur trade participation westward from 1790-1850, with over 1,300 documented contracts for voyageur labor in the Montreal-based networks, blending traditional skills with salaried roles until scarcity ended the era. This dual economy underscored Mohawk adaptability, yet overexploitation and colonial competition eroded pre-contact self-sufficiency by the mid-18th century.

Modern industries: Ironworking and gaming

Mohawk ironworkers, primarily from the Kahnawà:ke and Akwesàsne communities, entered the trade in the late , beginning with railway bridge construction across the in 1886, where their reputation for balance and fearlessness on high structures developed after surviving early accidents like the 1907 collapse that killed 33 workers. Over six generations spanning more than 120 years, they contributed to major North American projects including the , , and original World Trade Center towers, though they comprised no more than 15% of New York City's total ironworkers at peak involvement. In Kahnawà:ke, approximately 600 to 800 adult males worked as ironworkers around 2002, representing about one-quarter of the community's male workforce, with historical peaks where up to 70% of Kahnawà:ke men engaged in high-steel work. Despite their skills, fatality rates remain high, with ironworkers overall experiencing 35 to 50 deaths annually, mostly from falls, and fewer Mohawks entering the field in recent decades due to improved safety protocols, education alternatives, and generational shifts. Mohawks from these communities also participated in post-9/11 World Trade Center cleanup, with around 50 workers from Kahnawà:ke and Akwesàsne aiding recovery efforts starting in September 2001. In gaming, the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe at Akwesàsne operates the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino Resort, opened in 1999, which generates revenue through slots, table games, and hospitality, contributing an estimated $119 million annually to the local economy via direct operations, employment, and supplier spending as of recent studies. The casino's gaming-led expansion has funded tribal programs addressing poverty and health, including quarterly revenue-sharing payments equivalent to 25% of slot machine proceeds, supporting infrastructure like Generations Park for community recreation and land repurchases. Kahnawà:ke focuses less on land-based casinos but hosts the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, which licenses online gambling operators since the 1990s, regulating servers on reserve territory to generate fees and economic activity without direct casino operations. Overall, Native American gaming, including Mohawk contributions, reached $46 billion in 2022 across 252 tribes, though local impacts like increased crime and bankruptcy in surrounding counties have been documented in some analyses.

Controversies and Challenges

Land claims disputes and Oka Crisis

The Mohawk Nation has pursued land claims against both the and Canadian governments, asserting rights derived from pre-colonial occupancy, treaties such as the 1794 , and allegations of unlawful state appropriations in the 19th century. In the , the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, representing the community, has litigated claims over approximately 14,000 acres in northern New York, including parcels in St. Lawrence and Franklin counties seized without federal approval around 1815–1830; a 2022 federal ruling affirmed the illegality of New York's taking of about 2,000 acres from Mohawk proprietors during that period, citing violations of the . These disputes often hinge on whether state actions bypassed required federal oversight for Indian land transfers, with the U.S. Department of the Interior intervening in multiple Mohawk-related cases since the 1990s to defend tribal interests against New York. A September 2025 agreement between New York Governor and the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe resolved a 43-year claim over lands in Franklin, St. Lawrence, and counties, providing financial compensation and clarifying boundaries without returning territory, amid ongoing assertions of . In Canada, Mohawk communities like Kanesatake have contested federal and provincial control over territories granted in the 18th century but eroded through seigneurial sales and non-recognition of Indigenous title. The Kanesatake specific claim to the Seigneury of Lake of Two Mountains, filed in 1975, was rejected in 1986 on the grounds that Mohawks lacked formal ownership deeds despite historical occupancy and missionary allocations dating to 1717; this decision ignored oral traditions and continuous presence, prioritizing Euro-Canadian legal formalities. Similar disputes persist at Kahnawà:ke and other reserves, where encroachments on hunting grounds and waterways fuel negotiations under the federal specific claims process, often stalled by bureaucratic requirements for proving "wrongful" government acts. The , occurring from March to September 1990, exemplified these tensions as a violent confrontation over 1.5 hectares of disputed land in , known to Mohawks as "The Pines," proposed for expansion of a nine-hole into an 18-hole facility by the Town of Oka. Mohawk protesters, including members of the from and neighboring Kahnawà:ke, established barricades in March 1990 to halt tree-cutting, citing the site's use as a sacred burial ground and communal hunting area absent any valid surrender under treaty law. On July 11, 1990, provincial police (Sûreté du Québec) attempted to dismantle the barricades, resulting in an exchange of gunfire that killed Corporal Marcel Lemay; the shot's origin remained disputed, with Mohawk accounts attributing it to police ricochet or , while official inquiries leaned toward a warrior's but led to no convictions. The standoff escalated with Mohawk reinforcements blocking the Mercier Bridge linking Kahnawà:ke to , paralyzing traffic and prompting federal involvement; troops, numbering up to 2,500 under Operation Salon Passage, surrounded the sites by August 1990, imposing a cordon but avoiding direct assault after negotiations. The 78-day crisis ended on September 26, 1990, with the surrender of approximately 30 warriors at Oka following the collapse of talks mediated by figures like Tom Siddon; no golf course expansion occurred, and Quebec purchased The Pines in 1997 for preservation, but the underlying land claim remains unresolved, with no comprehensive settlement as of 2020 despite intermittent federal acknowledgments of historical grievances. Most participants faced charges, but acquittals prevailed by 1997, highlighting evidentiary challenges in attributing actions amid the chaos. The event spurred policy reviews, including the 1996 on Aboriginal Peoples, which critiqued Canada's land claims framework for favoring extinguishment over coexistence, though implementation has been limited.

Internal divisions over gaming and leadership

In the late 1980s, the introduction of casinos on the Mohawk Territory sparked profound internal divisions, pitting traditionalists opposed to on moral and cultural grounds against proponents who viewed it as essential for economic self-sufficiency. Anti- factions, emphasizing adherence to the and concerns over crime and moral decay, established road blockades in fall 1989 to halt casino traffic, leading to standoffs with and pro- supporters. These blockades escalated into violence, including the deaths of two Mohawk men in 1990 amid clashes involving the and armed enforcers protecting the casinos. Leadership fractures deepened the conflict, with figures like Mike Mitchell, a sub-chief advocating for gaming as a path to and revenue generation, clashing against traditional council members and elders who accused pro-casino leaders of undermining tribal unity and inviting external interference. The disputes transcended mere policy, encompassing elemental rifts over power distribution, revenue control—allegedly favoring American Mohawk interests over Canadian ones—and the legitimacy of elected versus hereditary authority structures. By 1993, the casino issue had formalized splits within the community, with traditionalists decrying the erosion of matrilineal governance norms in favor of profit-driven decisions. These divisions influenced broader Mohawk governance, as seen in federal recognitions of representative structures; in 2004, the Bureau of Indian Affairs affirmed the Akwesasne three-chief system as the tribe's legitimate authority amid gaming-related claims against operators like Harrah's, sidelining rival factions. Revenue from facilities like the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino Resort, operational since 1999, has since funded tribal services but perpetuated debates over equitable distribution and leadership accountability, with occasional flare-ups tied to regulatory closures or profit-sharing disputes. In Kahnawà:ke, similar tensions emerged more recently, exemplified by a 2025 lawsuit from Magic Palace Casino owners against the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke for over $220 million in damages after license revocation linked to alleged money-laundering ties, highlighting ongoing frictions between community regulators and gaming enterprises over oversight and economic control.

Border issues and cross-border identity

The international boundary between the United States and Canada, established by treaties such as the Jay Treaty of 1794, bisects traditional Mohawk territories, notably the Akwesasne reserve, which spans New York state, Quebec, and Ontario. Article III of the Jay Treaty grants Indigenous peoples, including the Mohawk, the right to freely cross the border for purposes of trade, travel, employment, and residence, a provision incorporated into U.S. law via the Immigration and Nationality Act but implemented in Canada through requirements like proof of 50% Indigenous ancestry or status cards. This artificial division, imposed without Mohawk consent, has led to ongoing disputes over sovereignty, as communities assert that the border infringes on their inherent rights as Kanien'kehá:ka, or "People of the Flint," within the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Practical border enforcement creates significant challenges, including delays, harassment, and family separations for Mohawk individuals lacking readily accepted documentation. Canadian Border Services Agency arming policies, implemented around 2007, prompted protests in , where residents blocked roads in 2009 to oppose perceived threats to community safety and . Smuggling activities, such as untaxed in the 1990s and recent human and drug trafficking—exacerbated by the reserve's 12-mile "black hole" of under-patrolled waterways—have intensified scrutiny, with incidents like the March 2023 drowning of eight migrants highlighting risks but also straining relations as Mohawk peacekeepers navigate dual jurisdictions. U.S. and Canadian authorities often face resistance from Mohawk who view external policing as illegitimate on lands, though some community members cooperate to curb . Despite these frictions, Mohawk identity remains inherently cross-border, rooted in shared matrilineal clans, language, and governance structures that predate colonial boundaries. Communities like Kahnawà:ke and Akwesasne maintain fluid social, economic, and ceremonial ties, with individuals traveling for longhouse ceremonies, marriages, and trade without regard for the line, reinforcing a pan-Mohawk nationhood under the Kaianere'kó:wa, or Great Law of Peace. Recent initiatives, such as Canada's 2024 temporary measures easing entry for U.S.-based Indigenous peoples and U.S. legislative pushes for streamlined Jay Treaty processes, aim to mitigate disruptions, yet Mohawk leaders emphasize that true resolution requires recognition of their unceded sovereignty rather than administrative fixes.

Recent Developments

21st-century land settlements

In the early 2000s, the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, representing the Akwesasne Mohawk community, pursued negotiations and litigation to resolve land claims stemming from 19th-century transactions where New York State acquired approximately 14,000 acres in Franklin and St. Lawrence Counties without federal approval, in violation of the Nonintercourse Act of 1790. A tentative agreement in 2004 proposed $100 million in compensation from state and federal governments for lands in these counties, but it did not materialize, leading to continued federal court proceedings initiated in 1982. A significant advancement occurred in 2013 when U.S. District Judge Lawrence Kahn ruled in favor of the Mohawks, upholding their claim to roughly 2,000 acres near Hogansburg, New York, based on the invalidity of historical state acquisitions and affirming elements under . This decision reinforced the tribe's position in broader negotiations, though appeals and stays prolonged resolution, with a litigation pause from 2014 to 2021. Negotiations intensified in the 2020s, culminating in a September 2025 agreement between the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne, New York State, and affected counties, restoring rights to over 14,000 acres of disputed territory—primarily 9,500 acres in Franklin County and 4,800 in St. Lawrence County—through immediate transfers of 3,400 acres in Franklin and 1,300 in St. Lawrence, plus options for the tribe to purchase additional parcels at fair market value. The deal includes $70 million in capital funding for community projects and free SUNY tuition for Akwesasne students, pending federal ratification via legislation introduced by Congresswoman Elise Stefanik in April 2025, which cleared a House subcommittee in June 2025. Parallel efforts by other Mohawk communities, such as Kahnawà:ke, focused on feasibility studies for reclaiming historically lost lands—totaling over 559 acres identified in recent assessments—but no major ratified settlements emerged by late 2025, with campaigns emphasizing ongoing dispossession from colonial eras rather than finalized 21st-century resolutions. These Akwesasne-focused outcomes addressed specific illegal conveyances while highlighting persistent challenges in validating broader aboriginal claims against state sovereignty assertions.

Ongoing social and environmental concerns

In Akwesasne, industrial activities since the 1950s, including operations by General Motors, Reynolds Metals, and Alcoa, have discharged polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), volatile organic compounds, and fluoride into the St. Lawrence River and adjacent lands, resulting in multiple Superfund site designations and persistent ecosystem damage. Remediation efforts include a 2013 settlement yielding US$20 million from Reynolds and Alcoa, and a 2024 confidential agreement with Monsanto and Bayer for PCB health claims. Community activism persists, as evidenced by arrests of land defenders on May 21, 2024, reclaiming Barnhart Island—a rare uncontaminated site used for traditional harvesting—to prevent its transfer to New York State under a proposed US$70 million deal. In Kahnawà:ke, 2025 independent testing by residents detected manganese levels up to 10 times Health Canada's safe limit in soil and fluoride at 28 times acceptable concentrations in water near the JFK Quarry, alongside air quality indices exceeding 394—over eight times regional norms—attributed to quarry operations and legacy infrastructure like the St. Lawrence Seaway. These pollutants pose ongoing health risks, with PCB exposure via traditional fish consumption linked to altered thyroid hormone levels (e.g., thyrotropin, , thyroxine) and neurobehavioral impairments affecting school performance and social adjustment among youth. Acute symptoms reported include rashes, , and headaches, while chronic exposure raises concerns for tremors, muscle spasms, and cognitive deficits. Fish consumption advisories since the 1980s have reduced serum and PCB levels but disrupted cultural practices central to Mohawk identity and subsistence. Socially, environmental injustice compounds intergenerational trauma, contributing to strains in Mohawk communities amid broader Indigenous patterns of rates 2.5 times the U.S. national average and the second leading for ages 10–34. The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe received $3 million in 2022 for youth-focused training and intervention programs, addressing ideation, attempts, and postvention needs. These efforts underscore persistent challenges from historical population losses—estimated at three-quarters due to —and current stressors like pollution-induced cultural erosion.

Notable Individuals

Key historical leaders

Hendrick Theyanoguin (c. 1691–1755), a Mohawk sachem of the Bear Clan, emerged as a key diplomat and ally of the British during the colonial wars against France. Adopted into the Mohawk after early life in the Westfield region, he converted to Christianity around 1690 and participated in military campaigns, including Queen Anne's War (1702–1713). Theyanoguin traveled to London in 1710 as one of the "Four Kings" to seek British support, enhancing Mohawk prestige in imperial circles. At the Albany Congress of 1754, he delivered a speech criticizing colonial disunity and Iroquois frustrations with British trade policies, highlighting tensions in the alliance. He died at the Battle of Lake George on September 8, 1755, while fighting alongside British forces. Joseph Brant (Thayendanegea, March 1743–November 24, 1807) led the Mohawk as a war chief and statesman during the (1775–1783), aligning with the British Crown against American independence. Born along the but relocated to Mohawk lands in New York, Brant received education at Eleazar Wheelock's Moor Charity School and served as an interpreter for Sir William Johnson. He commanded Mohawk and allied warriors in raids, including the on August 6, 1777, where his forces inflicted heavy casualties on American militia. Following the British defeat, Brant negotiated the on October 25, 1784, granting 950,000 acres along the Grand River in to Mohawk Loyalists. He advocated for Mohawk sovereignty, translated portions of the into Mohawk, and hosted European dignitaries at his Burlington estate until his death. John Norton (Teyoninhokarawen, c. 1770–after 1831), a Scottish-Mohawk adopted into the Mohawk nation around 1791, rose as a cultural and military leader bridging Indigenous and British interests. Educated in before returning to , Norton served as an interpreter for the Indian Department and promoted traditional Mohawk governance amid assimilation pressures. During the , he led Mohawk warriors alongside Brant’s successors in battles such as Queenston Heights on October 13, 1812, supporting British defenses. Norton authored ethnographic works on Mohawk history and advocated for land rights, influencing early 19th-century Six Nations policies despite internal clan divisions.

Prominent modern figures

Ellen Gabriel (born 1959), a Mohawk activist and artist from the Kanehsatà:ke community, gained international prominence as the English-language spokesperson for Mohawk defenders during the 1990 , where she advocated for land rights against a proposed golf course expansion on sacred grounds. Her role involved negotiating with Canadian authorities amid a 78-day standoff that resulted in one police officer's death and heightened awareness of Indigenous sovereignty issues. Gabriel has continued advocacy work, including critiquing colonial policies and linking Kanehsatà:ke struggles to global Indigenous resistance, as evidenced by her 2024 reflections on persistent land encroachments. She also produces visual art and films addressing Mohawk identity and matriarchal traditions. Shelley Niro (born 1954), a Turtle Clan Mohawk from the and Six Nations of the Grand River, is a multidisciplinary known for , , and that challenge stereotypes of Indigenous women and explore personal and cultural narratives. Her works, such as those in the 2021 exhibition 500 Year Itch at the National Museum of the American Indian, incorporate self-portraiture and to address colonialism's intergenerational impacts, drawing from her upbringing on the reserve. Niro's art has been exhibited internationally, including at the , emphasizing Mohawk resilience through over 70 pieces probing identity and sovereignty. She received recognition from institutions like the for her contributions to contemporary Indigenous . Robbie Robertson (1943–2023), a of Mohawk and Cayuga descent raised on the Six Nations Reserve, co-founded and shaped by integrating Indigenous influences into albums like (1998), which blended traditional stories with modern sound. His mother's Mohawk heritage informed his early exposure to reserve life, influencing compositions that bridged cultural divides, as seen in his guitar work on hits like "" and later solo projects honoring Haudenosaunee roots. Robertson's career, spanning over five decades, included producing for Indigenous-themed projects and earning accolades for elevating Native perspectives in mainstream music. Kakwirakeron, also known as Arthur Montour Sr. (1942–2017), was an Mohawk leader and activist central to 1970s Native rights movements, including fishing rights disputes and land reclamations that asserted treaty obligations against state overreach. As a figurehead in protests, he navigated internal community divisions while advancing , leaving a legacy among 59 grandchildren and influencing subsequent Mohawk governance. His efforts highlighted practical defenses of traditional economies amid federal encroachments.

References

  1. https://www.srmt-nsn.gov/culture-and-history
  2. https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/indians-at-the-post-office-murals-encounter/mohawk-valley-early-st-johnsville-pioneers
  3. https://nysm.nysed.gov/exhibitions/ongoing/first-peoples
  4. https://www.haudenosauneeconfederacy.com/who-we-are/
  5. https://mbq-tmt.org/mohawk-culture/
  6. https://americanindian.si.edu/environment/pdf/07_01_Teacher_Background_Akwesasne.pdf
  7. https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1018&context=indigenous-exhibit
  8. https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/883530
  9. https://www.haudenosauneeconfederacy.com/the-league-of-nations/
  10. https://www.etymonline.com/word/Mohawk
  11. https://www.quebec.ca/en/government/quebec-at-a-glance/first-nations-and-inuit/profile-of-the-nations/mohawks
  12. https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mohawk
  13. https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/kanyenkeha-mohawk-language
  14. https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=mhc_pubs
  15. https://www.languagegeek.com/rotinonhsonni/mohawk.html
  16. https://www.dawsoncollege.qc.ca/wp-content/uploads/Social-Science-Week-2020-Mohawk-Language-Sound-Chart.pdf
  17. https://www.lddjournal.org/article/id/1264/
  18. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1465177.pdf
  19. https://www.[researchgate](/page/ResearchGate).net/profile/Robert-Malouf/publication/2330674_Noun_incorporation_and_the_Mohawk_lexicon/links/0deec53372171d133c000000/Noun-incorporation-and-the-Mohawk-lexicon.pdf
  20. https://archipel.uqam.ca/17530/1/03-Brinklow%252C%2520Dufresne%252C%2520Lessard%2520%2526%2520Dechaine_2024_Left%2520Margin%2520Syntax%2520of%2520Kanien%2520keha.pdf
  21. https://lisatravis2012.wordpress.com/2017/11/16/complex-predicates-in-mohawk/
  22. http://www.kahnawakelonghouse.com/index.php?mid=2
  23. https://kahnawake.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/2020-06-10-HistoryOfLanguage.pdf
  24. https://inthesetimes.com/article/mohawk-language-revival-ganienkeh-indigenous-land-iroquois-treaty
  25. https://easterndoor.com/article/thirty-years-of-kanienkeha-immersion-at-karihwanoron
  26. https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/akwesasne-kanien-keha-immersion-graduates-1.6111407
  27. https://akwesasne.travel/our-stories/mohawk-cultural-revitalization-in-akwesasne/
  28. https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/CJAL/article/view/34536
  29. https://mje.mcgill.ca/article/download/9472/7414/32258
  30. https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2021/10/new-timeline-clarifies-indigenous-history-mohawk-valley
  31. https://exhibitions.nysm.nysed.gov/publications/bulletin/503-14603.pdf
  32. https://www.thearchcons.org/bookreviews/three-sixteenth-century-mohawk-iroquois-village-sites/
  33. http://read.upcolorado.com/read/ancient-households-of-the-americas/section/95066a10-8459-4aed-baa8-cae84fa2319b
  34. https://www.schenectadyhistory.org/resources/mvgw/history/005.html
  35. https://read.dukeupress.edu/ethnohistory/article/71/2/271/386284/Ganienkeh-Out-of-the-City-and-Away-from-the
  36. https://www.mohawkcommunity.com/home/ourhistory.html
  37. https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mohawks-of-akwesasne
  38. http://censusreporter.org/profiles/06000US3603364727-st-regis-mohawk-reservation-franklin-county-ny/
  39. https://www.sac-isc.gc.ca/eng/1634312499368/1634312554965
  40. https://libguides.colgate.edu/nativeamerican/Haudenosaunee
  41. https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/essays/league-iroquois
  42. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/iroquois-confederacy-established
  43. https://teachinghistory.org/history-content/ask-a-historian/24099
  44. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8519479/
  45. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249007020_The_Iroquois_Archaeological_patterning_on_the_tribal_level
  46. https://www.haudenosauneeconfederacy.com/clan-system/
  47. https://www.haudenosauneeconfederacy.com/historical-life-as-a-haudenosaunee/family-structure/
  48. https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/mohawk
  49. https://www.haudenosauneeconfederacy.com/historical-life-as-a-haudenosaunee/food-and-hunting/
  50. https://www.americanheritage.com/champlain-among-mohawk-1609
  51. https://www.lcmm.org/explore/lake-champlain-history/contact-period-1609-1664/
  52. https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/timeline/samuel-de-champlain
  53. https://lermuseum.org/new-france-1600-1730/1600-1649/iroquois-dutch-trade-established-1614
  54. https://www.historic-albany.org/news/2021/3/29/the-mohawks-and-mahicans-in-new-netherland-a-look-at-their-history-and-architecture
  55. https://scholars.unh.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2173&context=thesis
  56. https://www.mpm.edu/educators/wirp/nations/oneida
  57. https://www.nps.gov/articles/adirondacks-native-americans.htm
  58. https://www.americanhistorycentral.com/entries/beaver-wars/
  59. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/iroquois-wars
  60. https://www.ohiohistory.org/the-great-beaver-wars/
  61. https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/people-involved-french-and-indian-war
  62. https://mohawkvalleymuseums.us/writing-series/the-french-and-indian-war/
  63. https://petticoatsandpistols.com/2015/02/24/the-mohawk-the-french-indian-war/
  64. https://www.lakegeorge.com/history/battle-of-lakegeorge/
  65. https://www.americanhistorycentral.com/entries/battle-of-lake-george-1755/
  66. http://www.wampumchronicles.com/darkestday.html
  67. https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/roles-native-americans-during-revolution
  68. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/the-six-nations-confederacy-during-the-american-revolution.htm
  69. https://www.amrevmuseum.org/liberty-exhibit-big-idea-5-native-american-soldiers-and-scouts
  70. https://american-revolution-experience.battlefields.org/people/thayendanegea
  71. https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/tyendinaga-mohawk-territory
  72. https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/joseph-brant
  73. https://grandriver.uelac.ca/grand-river-settlement-and-the-loyal-six-nations-settlement/
  74. https://tworowtimes.com/news/local/haldimand-tract-1784-settled/
  75. https://mbq-tmt.org/history/
  76. https://www.cwjefferys.ca/brant-and-the-six-nations
  77. https://www.sixnations.ca/LandsResources/lsuSNvCo.htm
  78. https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/45540/20220314/judge-rules-new-york-took-mohawk-land-illegally-in-the-1800s
  79. https://ictnews.org/archive/federal-government-supports-mohawk-land-claim/
  80. http://www.gwpda.org/comment/nativee.html
  81. https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/charlotte-edith-anderson-monture
  82. https://www.ictinc.ca/blog/indigenous-war-heroes-good-men
  83. https://www.beachesofnormandy.com/didyouknow/Did_you_know_the_Iroquois_declared_their_own_war_on_the_Axis_in_World_War_II/?id=3757d771a5
  84. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jun/03/last-of-mohawk-code-talkers-dies-after-finally-hailed-war-hero
  85. https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/people-and-stories/indigenous-veterans
  86. https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/services/military-history/history-heritage/popular-books/aboriginal-people-canadian-military/world-wars.html
  87. https://www.ictinc.ca/blog/kahnawake-skywalkers-a-brief-history-of-mohawk-steel-workers
  88. https://www.pendleton-usa.com/blog/the-mohawks-who-built-manhattan-and-the-pendleton-skywalkers-blanket/
  89. https://www.6sqft.com/men-of-steel-how-brooklyns-native-american-ironworkers-built-new-york/
  90. https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/archivedexhibits/boomingout/about.html
  91. https://thinkbigpicture.substack.com/p/mohawk-skywalkers-indigenous-us-history
  92. https://www.sites.si.edu/s/topic/0TO36000000TzV0GAK/booming-out-mohawk-ironworkers-build-new-york?
  93. https://www.history.com/articles/mohawk-skywalkers-ironworkers-new-york-skyscrapers
  94. https://flatironnomad.nyc/history/mohawk-ironworkers-give-rise-to-nyc-skyscrapers/
  95. https://canadaehx.com/2025/04/01/the-mohawk-steelworkers/
  96. https://americanindian.si.edu/sites/1/files/pdf/education/haudenosauneeguide.pdf
  97. https://www.tvo.org/article/seven-centuries-before-confederation-there-was-the-haudenosaunee-confederacy
  98. https://briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/view/the-meaning-of-elections-for-six-nations
  99. https://fiveable.me/indigenous-issues-across-the-americas/unit-9/indigenous-governance-structures/study-guide/sbtAfzl11CaPb56x
  100. https://www.srmt-nsn.gov/about
  101. https://images.ourontario.ca/Partners/SixNPL/SixNPL003070214pf_0001p.pdf
  102. https://www.akwesasne.ca/about-us/
  103. https://ictnews.org/archive/mohawk-elected-government-and-traditional-longhouse-council-in-casino-rift/
  104. https://kahnawake.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/2020-06-10-MCK-History.pdf
  105. https://realpeoples.media/elected-mohawk-chiefs-call-for-canada-to-respect-traditional-leadership-and-see-beyond-the-indian-act/
  106. https://globalnews.ca/news/11482968/federal-court-cancelled-election/
  107. https://www.aptnnews.ca/investigates/some-assembly-required-first-nations-governance-from-the-haudenosaunee-to-the-afn/
  108. https://digitalcommons.law.ou.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1302&context=ailr
  109. https://www.onondaganation.org/culture/wampum/two-row-wampum-belt-guswenta/
  110. https://decisions.scc-csc.ca/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/1869/index.do
  111. https://www.nystia.org/news/governor-hochul-announces-agreement-reached-with-saint-regis-mohawk-tribe-ending-decades-long-dispute
  112. https://codifylegalpublishing.com/blog-article/codify-analysis-of-to-authorize-ratify-and-confirm-the-agreement-of-settlement-and-compromise-to-resolve-the-akwesasne-mohawk-land-claim-in-the-state-of-new-york-and-for-other-purposes-us-119th-congress
  113. https://kahnawake.com/kahnawake-continues-assertion-of-sovereignty-over-lands/
  114. https://indianlaw.org/molr/landrights/mohawk
  115. https://www.patentdocs.org/2018/07/saint-regis-mohawk-tribe-v-mylan-pharmaceuticals-inc-fed-cir-2018.html
  116. https://indianz.com/News/2019/01/16/st-regis-mohawk-tribe-appeals-loss-in-pa.asp
  117. https://www.onondaganation.org/government/clan-mothers/
  118. https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/iroquois-religious-traditions
  119. https://www.haudenosauneeconfederacy.com/ceremonies/
  120. https://akwesasne.travel/our-stories/akwesasne-culture-and-traditions/
  121. https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/handsome-lake-religion
  122. https://journals.psu.edu/wph/article/download/4105/3922/3950
  123. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/11612/pdf
  124. https://www.nps.gov/fost/blogs/a-forgotten-civil-war-the-revolution-begins-in-the-mohawk-valley-part-3.htm
  125. https://mds.marshall.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1049&context=etd
  126. https://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/cultures/nm09/summary
  127. https://electriccanadian.com/history/first/iroquois/economicsofiroqu00stit.pdf
  128. https://www.everyculture.com/North-America/Mohawk.html
  129. https://cornellpress.manifoldapp.org/read/iroquoia-haudenosaunee-life-and-culture-1630-1783/section/896395fc-4338-4225-9d74-bd7ae2a92564
  130. https://www.nal.usda.gov/collections/stories/three-sisters
  131. https://read.dukeupress.edu/agricultural-history/article-pdf/85/4/460/1501936/ah.2011.85.4.460.pdf
  132. https://web.pdx.edu/~caskeym/iroquois_web/html/furtrader.htm
  133. https://www.newyorkalmanack.com/2021/11/dutch-mohawk-mohican-fur-trade/
  134. https://nhbp-nsn.gov/timeline/1640-1701/
  135. https://www.mpm.edu/educators/wirp/nations/oneida/early-historical-background
  136. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/617817/summary
  137. https://www.npr.org/2005/07/01/3048030/mohawk-ironworkers-walking-high-steel
  138. https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/pmuyso/we_hear_that_mohawk_ironworkers_built_new_york/
  139. https://www2.ljworld.com/news/2002/aug/18/the_legacy_of/
  140. https://www.npr.org/2012/04/04/150008075/fewer-tribal-ironworkers-reaching-for-the-sky
  141. https://www.americanindianmagazine.org/sites/default/files/2018-01/NMAI-WINTER-2002.pdf
  142. https://www.albanygovernmentlawreview.org/api/v1/articles/23987-tribal-nations-indian-gaming-and-the-rigged-economy.pdf
  143. http://nativephilanthropy.issuelab.org/resources/33234/33234.pdf
  144. https://thenewshouse.com/borderlines/mohawks-use-new-casino-wealth-to-buy-back-ancestral-land-fund-social-programs/
  145. https://dvc479a3doke3.cloudfront.net/_uploads/site_files/BenefitsOfGaming20112013web.pdf
  146. https://www.akwesasne.ca/media/gqcde1sy/mca-annual-report-2023-2024.pdf
  147. https://www.americangaming.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/2023-Gaming-Industry-Economic-Report.pdf
  148. https://www.nber.org/digest/feb03/social-and-economic-impact-native-american-casinos
  149. https://indianlaw.org/molr/home
  150. https://www.doi.gov/ocl/ny-land-claims
  151. https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/kanesatake-mohawk-specific-claim-process-1.5245268
  152. https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/siegekanehsatake30th/
  153. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/oka-crisis-timeline-summer-1990-1.5631229
  154. https://lethbridgenewsnow.com/2020/07/10/30-years-after-oka-crisis-kanesatake-land-claims-remain-unresolved/
  155. https://peacemagazine.org/archive/v06n5p07.htm
  156. https://www.connexions.org/CxLibrary/Docs/CX5023-Akwesasne.htm
  157. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-05-27-mn-517-story.html
  158. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1990/04/27/gambling-dispute-makes-reservation-a-war-zone/60d12914-ad81-43c6-b2d5-630f00a43c08/
  159. https://www.nytimes.com/1993/03/21/nyregion/casino-issue-divides-mohawk-reservation-in-new-york.html
  160. https://ictnews.org/archive/bia-decision-supports-mohawks-claim-against-harrahs/
  161. https://www.nny360.com/news/tribe-no-longer-sharing-casino-revenues-with-ny/article_89dc8c22-c666-51d0-a062-354ebc68d24b.html
  162. https://www.casino.org/news/magic-palace-casino-owners-file-220m-lawsuit-against-kahnawake-council-over-shutdown/
  163. https://ptla.org/border-crossing-rights-under-jay-treaty
  164. https://sencanada.ca/content/sen/committee/421/APPA/Reports/APPA-JayTreatyReport_e.pdf
  165. https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1506622719017/1609249944512
  166. https://ictnews.org/archive/mohawks-continue-struggle-at-border/
  167. https://repository.law.miami.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2693&context=umialr
  168. https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/news/2024/10/supporting-cross-border-mobility-for-indigenous-peoples.html
  169. https://www.daines.senate.gov/2024/07/09/daines-and-colleagues-introduce-bipartisan-legislation-to-support-tribal-communities-travel-across-the-u-s-canada-border/
  170. https://www.srmt-nsn.gov/news/mohawks_win_landmark_ruling_in_land_claim_litigation
  171. https://www.wwnytv.com/2025/09/06/akwesasne-mohawks-get-14000-acres/
  172. https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/4831/20041007/mohawks-state-reach-tentative-land-claims-deal
  173. https://indianlaw.org/news/victory-mohawk-land-claim
  174. https://www.nyfedstatetribalcourtsforum.org/pdfs/Law360-Mohawk-Nation-Rejects-1796-Land-Agreement.pdf
  175. https://www.akwesasne.ca/news/posts/mohawk-council-finalizes-updated-ny-state-land-claim-settlement/
  176. https://stefanik.house.gov/2025/4/stefanik-introduces-legislation-ratifying-the-akwesasne-mohawk-land-claim-settlement-agreement
  177. https://tribalbusinessnews.com/sections/real-estate/15104-stefanik-introduces-bill-to-return-3-500-acres-to-saint-regis-mohawk-tribe
  178. https://northcountrynow.com/stories/legislation-to-finalize-akwesasne-land-claim-clears-house-committee-review-ready-for-approval-on%2C305817
  179. https://kahnawake.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/2025-01-27-DOC-v2-Summarized-BC2-Feasibility_Study.pdf
  180. https://thenarwhal.ca/akwesasne-mohawk-monsanto-barnhart-island/
  181. https://therover.ca/mohawk-researchers-find-contamination-in-kahnawakes-air-soil-and-water/
  182. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1314929/
  183. https://www.northwell.edu/news/the-latest/helping-native-communities-among-rising-suicide-rates
  184. https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/pages/akwesasne-the-mohawk-nation
  185. https://indianz.com/News/2020/03/19/doug-georgekanentiio-how-the-mohawks-res.asp
  186. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/theyanoguin_3E.html
  187. https://historycooperative.org/journal/searching-for-hendrick-correction-of-a-historic-conflation/
  188. https://president.williams.edu/college-spaces-and-institutional-history/timeline-the-log/
  189. https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/joseph-brant
  190. https://www.nps.gov/people/joseph-brant-thayendanegea.htm
  191. https://accessgenealogy.com/native/mohawk-indian-chiefs-and-leaders.htm
  192. https://thephilanthropist.ca/2025/06/ellen-gabriel-35-years-after-the-so-called-oka-crisis/
  193. https://thenarwhal.ca/ellen-gabriel-indigenous-resistance/
  194. https://breachmedia.ca/ellen-gabriel-colonialism-memoir/
  195. https://halesgallery.com/artists/176-shelley-niro/overview/
  196. https://americanindian.si.edu/explore/exhibitions/item?id=992
  197. https://www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/exhibitions/shelley-niro-500-year-itch/
  198. https://www.gallery.ca/collection/artist/shelley-niro
  199. https://nativenewsonline.net/opinion/robbie-robertson-a-transcendent-musician-who-bridged-cultures-but-never-forgot-his-native-roots
  200. https://www.thenation.com/article/culture/americana-indigenous-roots-robbie-robertson/
  201. https://collegefund.org/blog/in-memory-robbie-robertson-native-musician-and-college-fund-supporter/page/24/?et_blog
  202. https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/35139/20171128/remembering-kakwirakeron-a-modern-mohawk-icon
Add your contribution
Related Hubs
User Avatar
No comments yet.