First contact with European settlers 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 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, 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 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, in engagements in North America.
American Revolutionary War 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.
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 ) 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. 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 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 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. 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. About 10% of all ironworkers in the New York area are Mohawks, down from about 15% earlier in the 20th century. The work and home life of Mohawk ironworkers was documented in
Don Owen's 1965
National Film Board of Canada documentary
High Steel. 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. 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. 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. ==Contemporary issues==