Mohawk are an Indigenous (native) people who once occupied an area near the Mohawk River in central New York. Today, tens of thousands of Mohawk live in the state of New York and in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. In the United States, Indigenous people are often called Native Americans. In Canada, the Mohawk are recognized as a First Nations people.
Mohawk warriors were known for their fierceness and skill in battle. The term Mohawk comes from an Indigenous word that means people eaters. However, there is no evidence that the Mohawk were cannibals. Mohawk men hunted bear, deer, and other animals. Mohawk women raised corn, beans, and squash and gathered nuts, berries, and edible plants. The Mohawk lived in large, bark-covered dwellings called longhouses.
The Mohawk were one of the five tribes that, by the early 1600’s, had joined together to form an organization known as the Iroquois League or the Five Nations. The other tribes were the Cayuga, Oneida, Onondaga, and Seneca. No one knows exactly when the league was formed. The Iroquois called themselves Haudenosaunee, meaning people who are building a longhouse. The name refers to their traditional dwellings. About 1722, the Tuscarora joined the league, which then became known as the League of the Six Nations. The Mohawk’s land made up the easternmost part of the Iroquois League territory.
The league became divided over which side to support during the American Revolution (1775-1783). The Mohawk and three other Iroquois tribes supported the British, largely because of the influence of a Mohawk leader named Joseph Brant. After Britain lost the war, many Mohawk and other Iroquois moved to Canada. Some Mohawk took up new occupations, including craftwork and lumberjacking. Since the late 1800’s, many Mohawk have specialized in construction work on skyscrapers and bridges.
In 1990, a land dispute broke out between some Mohawk and residents of the town of Oka, Quebec. An armed Mohawk group blocked access to the disputed land, leading to a months-long standoff with police and Canadian armed forces. Other Mohawk, acting in sympathy, blockaded a major bridge over the St. Lawrence River. In 1997, the Canadian government purchased the disputed land and turned it over to the Mohawk. The government also promised to discuss issues concerning treaty rights and the funding of social programs for the Mohawk.
See also Tekakwitha, Saint Kateri.
