‘Instructor’s Name’
Mohawks
American Indians are an integral part of the great history of this nation, but many of us in the modern world just view them via various stereotypes. Most people know little about the history of the native tribes who lived for many centuries in this land, and were almost exterminated upon the arrival of Europeans. Before 1492, when Columbus landed on the American continent, historians estimate that there were anywhere between seven to twenty five million Native Americans inhabiting this continent. Sadly ninety percent of this population has been erased by illness, hunger, battles and relocation.
Every tribe has its own history and cultural heritage, and to know about them would equip us to better appreciate their struggle for survival. The core values of Indian tribes, like respecting each other, taking care of elders, respecting all living things and living in harmony with the nature, has empowered them, to weather the challenges faced by them and put up a spirited fight for survival. The history of tribal survival, apart from sharing crucial historical facts about the American history, also imparts some valuable life lessons. The aim of this essay is to delineate the history and the struggle for survival of one such Indian tribe namely the Mohawks.
The Mohawk tribe is one of the six tribes/nations which formed the Iroquois confederacy, which is a powerful alliance which called the shots in the North American policy making for almost 200 years. Almost all colonial powers, such as British, Dutch and the French, tried to get the support of this alliance, and the other tribes feared them. They were a unique polity in the North Western American region and were inseparable till the time of the American Revolution. The territory of the Iroquois was the present day New York and the Mohawks occupied the eastern most part of the territory. The Mohawks called themselves Kanien'kehá:ka and spoke the Iroquoian dialect.
Their geographic location can be traced to present day Upstate New York, and it stretched till Canada covering Southern Quebec and the Eastern Ontario, the region being collectively known as the Mohawk valley. The Mohawks were the eastern door keepers of the Iroquois confederacy, and they extended their influence beyond the Mohawk valley, the effect of which was felt by the Dutch settlers in the Hudson River. Their strategic location as the closest Iroquois nation to Montreal and their monopoly in fur trade gave them a huge influence in the political sphere of North America.
The tribe’s first contact with the European settlers was made during the early part of the seventeenth century, with both the Dutch and the French approaching them for fur trade and for preaching Christianity. The first descriptions about the Mohawks are found in Samuel de Champlain’s written account titled ‘The Savages, Voyage of Sieur De Champlain’. Champlain was a French explorer and is widely regarded as the founder of New France.
Champlain encountered the Mohawks on the banks of Lake Champlain, which is named after him, when he led a war party consisting of Algonquins and Hurons along with two Frenchmen. He was involved in the war because the natives asked him to support them against the mighty and feared Mohawks. On July 29 1609, Champlain saw some 200 Mohawks lined up along the banks of Lake Champlain impatient for fight. He describes Mohawks as skillful fighters who were able to create barricades using trees with a trained ease. Champlain killed two Mohawks chief in the war by shooting them with his handgun, which was a new technology for the Mohawks, and ensured victory to his side. This battle started a rivalry between the French and the Iroquois nations which would last for over 150 years and would eventually end the French dominion in America.
The Dutch enjoyed a very cordial relationship with the Mohawks from the beginning. Many Dutch preachers and traders were allowed inside the Mohawk valley and were treated with respect and hospitality. Johannes Megapolensis, a Dutch preacher, described the Mohawk Land in his account dated August 26, 1644 as, a fertile land which contains almost everything to cater to human needs except clothing. He noted how abundant in natural resources the land was, with trees of all varieties and soil fit for any cultivation like the wine they grew in France or Germany. He writes about the fauna and flora found in the forests of the Mohawk land and notes how the Indians willingly traded them for a loaf of bread for example or a knife.
He goes on in detail about the richness of the soil, availability of meat, rivers filled with fishes, forest with valuable trees and the high mountains that surround the land. He remarks about the extreme weather conditions and the irregularity of the harvest. He mentions how heavily built the men and women were and how they were strong both in body and mind. He notes that women do not lie down after giving birth and they immediately walk to the river water and wash themselves and the newborn child. He also makes an observation that both the women and men have equal rights to leave their partner and enter into a new relationship. Like many other historians, he too makes a note of their nakedness and their nonchalance about it. He makes a vivid recording of the unique Mohawk hairstyle which is famous even to this day. Thus we see that the Mohawks led a self sufficient and organized life till the time of European colonization.
The Mohawks were generally a powerful tribe feared by the other Indian nations. During the 1650s the Mohawks had defeated the Huron missions, a country along the Lake Erie and extended their attack as far as the St. Maurice Rivers, and in doing so posed a threat to the Quebec City. They were a major roadblock for extending the French colonization, and thus France decided to send the Carignan-Sallières regiment to defeat the Iroquois confederacy. In the year 1666 the Mohawks were attacked by the French forces in the central New York region, and their villages and winter food storage were burnt and reduced to ashes. The Mohawks entered into a peace treaty, and one of the important conditions of the treaty was that they should allow Jesuit missionaries to preach among them. Thus starting from 1669, the Jesuit missionaries tried to teach the Pagan Mohawks about Christianity and many of them converted to Catholicism. The notable of them was Kateri Tekakwitha who was later beatified and went on to become the first Native Indian Catholic saint in 2012.
Kateri Tekakwitha, who changed her name into Catherine Tekakwitha, was born in Auriesville and was orphaned at the age of four. She survived a small pox epidemic and was adopted by her uncle. When she was eleven years old she met the Jesuit missionaries and influenced by their teachings she converted into Catholicism, in the age of twenty. She has been attributed with various supernatural events and she practiced the virtue of chastity all through her life. She died in the year 1680, at a tender age of twenty four, succumbing to the wounds inflicted by her self-mortification and is famously known as the ‘Lily of the Mohawks’.
Not all accounts of the Mohawks are rosy. There are many recordings of the inhumane treatment rendered by the Mohawks, to the enemies of the tribe and sometimes to the French Jesuit missionaries. Father Joseph le Mercier’s writings give a chilling account of the treatment meted out to him and his friend at the hands of the Mohawks. He and his fellow missionary were beaten and his left index finger was cut off, according to him, by a Mohawk child, during the year 1653. Megapolensis also mentions about their cruelty to enemies in his account and mentions how the missionary’s finger was cut out and all his nails were removed. He says that the Mohawks do not harm children in the age group of ten to twelve and spare women. But if the women are very old, then they decide to kill them. He adds that though the Mohawks showed undue cruelty to their enemies, yet they were very kind to their allies and treated them with respect and compassion.
The Mohawks who were traditionally the allies of the Dutch and maintained a long friendly relationship with them converted into English allies, once New Netherland fell to the British in 1649. The alliance that the Iroquoians entered with European powers was denoted by term covenant chain (It was renewed by Queen Elizabeth II in the year 2010) and the alliance of the Mohawks with the Dutch was denoted as a silver covenant chain. Many Mohawks were converted and given English surnames and the alliance lasted for many years. In fact the Mohawks sided with the British in the French and Indian War. Mohawks such as Hendrick Theyanoguin and the Englishmen such as British Superintendent of Indian affairs, Sir William Johnson, kept this alliance going. The eighteenth century saw the American Revolution and the Mohawks were among the very few tribes who sided with the British. The reason for this alliance is the growing encroachments of the Mohawks valley by the colonists and the treaty obligations the Mohawk had with the British crown.
Under the inspired leadership of the Mohawk tribe chief Joseph Brant, the Mohawks scored many important victories. Thayendanegea or Joseph Brant was born in 1743, and is among the most well known Native Indian personalities of the history. He was one of the few Mohawks of his time who got formally educated and whose potential was noticed by Sir Johnson who took him under his wing. He bravely fought the war against the American force but lost the battle because of the divisiveness that existed between the Indian tribes and the betrayal of the British Crown. Joseph Brant played a major role during this period by not only his efforts in warfront but also his role in unifying the Indian nations to fight for their rights and due to his connections with political personalities. He died in the year 1807, and reportedly his last words uttered, to his nephew John Norton, were "Have pity on the poor Indians. If you have any influence with the great, endeavor to use it for their good."
The British ceded the North Western frontier at the end of the war, which traditionally belonged to the Iroquois nations, to the Americans breaking their promise to the Iroquois. The treaty of Fort Stanwix was signed on 1784 which was the first of a series of treaties between the Native Indians and the American Government. The treaty forced the Mohawks to surrender many of their traditional territories, which were promised to them through the earlier treaty of Fort Stanwix entered between the British and the Iroquoians in 1768, to America. This treaty was rejected by many of the tribes saying that the representatives who signed the treaty did not have the authority to surrender the lands. The continental congress was keen on driving the four Iroquois tribes that fought for the cause of the British out of their lands. But some reservations were allotted in the areas of Oneida, which is a nation that fought alongside of the American rebels.
In 1792 the congress promised a yearly payment of $1500 for the six Iroquois nations, which continues even to this day. Many other treaties followed like the Treaty of Fort McIntosh in the year 1785, Phelps and Gorham Purchase in the year 1786, and the Treaty of Big Tree in 1797. The notable of those treaties was the Treaty of Canandaigua which was signed on 1794. It was signed by Timothy Pickering, representing the American president, 50 war sachems and all the 6 tribal leaders of the Iroquois confederacy. The treaty also known as the calico treaty, confirmed the Mohawks’ land rights in the province of New York, and recognized the geographical boundaries defined during the Phelps and Gorham Purchase that took place in the year 1788.
The Mohawks sided with the British again in the war of 1812 and fought bravely, particularly in the crucial battle of Beaver dams. There is a famous quote associated with this war effort saying, "The Caughnawaga got the victory, the Mohawks got the plunder and FitzGibbon got the credit". But most historians opine that both British and the Americans won the war of 1812 while the Indians lost it. This is because of the fact that the Indians did not get the independent statehood they wanted for the Indian nations, which was promised to them by the Crown.
The contributions of the Mohawk tribe in the survival of the Europeans cannot be underestimated, and they were one of those tribes who had managed to weather both the hostility of the colonists and their good intentions, which sometimes could be more deadly. Even in the present century the Mohawks have managed to retain their centuries old culture and manage to be modern without giving up their tradition. Their language, songs, beliefs, dances and ceremonies are passed on from elders to children and are maintained even today. “The Great law” which they believe to be the norm of life is still being religiously adhered to and revered. The traditional systems of clan mothers and chieftains are still maintained and the clan system is very much intact.
For centuries the history of the Mohawk Valley has been determined and shaped by the complicated relationships between the Mohawks and the European settlers. As we see from our discussion the Mohawks have had cordial relationship with the Dutch and a hostile one with the French. They negotiated peace with France and thus allowed the Jesuit missionaries who managed to convert a part of the populace into Catholicism, with one of the Mohawk being granted sainthood. With the end of the French influence in the North American continent and with the defeat of the Dutch by the British, the Mohawks entered into an alliance with the British. They fought two major wars on the side of the British against the American rebels mainly with the aim of getting the deeds to their land. But those promises mostly were unfulfilled, yet a number of treaties signed during the course of these wars gave them many compensations and a degree of autonomy.
Their exclusive location near Albany made their place unique in the dealings between the Iroquoians and the Colonists. Many primary documents of the past centuries managed to survive and they teach us a great deal about this unique tribe. By turning back the pages of history and learning about the struggle this tribe underwent, to stand up against the Europeans who had clear intentions of eliminating them and grabbing their land, is inspirational and educational. By learning about the history of Mohawks the present generation would appreciate the fact that there is more to this proud tribe than just an eccentric haircut.
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Champlain, Samuel De. The Savages, Voyage of Sieur De Champlain vol. 1. MEDELLÍN CIUDAD INTELIGENTE, Hayes Barton Press, 1603, 67.
Megapolensis, REV. Johannes. August 26, 1644. A short Account of Mohawk Indians. In “In Mohawk Country: Early Narratives about a Native People”. Edited by Dean Snow et al. New York: Syracuse University Press, 1996, 39-43.
Murphree, Daniel S. Native America. California: ABC-CLIO, 2012, 812.
Stone, William Leete. Life of Joseph Brant-Thayendanegea.Massachuttes: Applewood Books, 1838, 22.
Secondary Sources
Houghton, Gillian. The Oneida of Wisconsin. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, 2003, 25.
Johnson, Sir John. Orderly Book of Sir John Johnson During the Oriskany Campaign, 1776-1777. Albany: J. Munsell's Sons, 1882, 202
